Houston Rockets hang tough in the fourth to beat Memphis Grizzlies 97 – 93 – NBA Recap
Houston Rockets used effective defence in the 4th quarter to out match the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 97 – 93. With this victory, their second in a row, they halted the Grizzlies 4 game winning streak.
Kyle Lowry continued his phenomenal run in the season and led Rockets with game high 24 points and 9 assists while Kevin Martin poured in 22. Luis Scola had 10 for Houston, who had 3 players with nine points each - Chandler Parsons,
Samuel Dalembert and Courtney Lee.
For the Grizzlies, wingman Rudy g*y was in the groove. He scored a team high 23 points and also chipped in with 7 boards; Mike Conley had 16 while Marreese Speights contributed 12 points. Marc Gasol could not muster his best effort
in the game and managed only 11 and 7 boards for Memphis, who also got 10 points from Tony Allen.
With 9 lead changes and 11 ties, the game remained highly competitive. The Rockets connected on 47.3 percentt shots from the floor while Memphis were slightly better with 48.1. Houston had a better success rate from the charity
stripe as they netted 80.0% in comparison to 77.8%.
After a cold start, Memphis had a 12-6 run midway to carve out a 14-9 lead. The Rockets replied that with a 9 – 4 run that tied the score at 18 apiece. The Rockets extended their lead to 29-24 late in the frame, but Memphis inched
back and ended the period trailing by 28-31.
The Grizzlies tied the game at 39 inside the first five minutes and were trailing by 43-41 when they opened up an 11-6 run stretching their lead to 52-49. Rockets though hit back with a 9-2 run to cap off the segment with 58-54
advantage.
The hosts poured in 3 more points early in the quarter to push their 61-54 but Memphis pulled off a 9-2 run and tied the scores at 63 each. Both the teams netted 13 points each by the end of 3rd stanza as the game entered
into the last quarter with scores tied at 76.
Houston broke out of the stalemate with a 10-0 run early in the decisive quarter and claimed their largest lead of the game. Grizzlies still had some fight left in them and not only scored 6 on a trot, but held the Rockets offense
scoreless for more than 3 minutes. Lowry broke the jinx with a three point play, but the Grizzlies mounted the pressure further with a 7-2 to make it a two point game, 89-91. Grizzlies fouled Lee early on the resulting possession and after he converted both
from the line, g*y took litte time for a drving layup.
Two seconds later, Lee was again on the charity stripe and he once again convereted both freebies. Pondexter replied with a layup with 6.2 seconds to go, but after Lowry made a pair of free throws to increase the lead to 97-93,
the Grizzlies never stood a chance.
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