Houston Rockets rock as New York Knicks lose 4th straight
The Houston Rockets took the New York Knicks down in a 104-89 clash at the Toyota Centre, Houston, TX. The game had a sellout of more than 15,000 tickets and the show lasted for a duration of just two hours.
Stats
The Rockets won their third straight game as they lowered the New York Knicks in the encounter. New York have now lost four games straight. The Rockets were rocking Wednesday night as they entered with a 107.5 points average. The team scored 39 points in
the second half.
Scoring
The lead changed just once meanwhile the Rockets flared up in a balanced attack against the rivals.
Box score
Houston Rockets (20-23)
Kevin Martin scored 21 in the clash for the conquerors. Kyle Lowry added 18 on an 8-14 shooting from the field. Louis Scola and Chase Budinger contributed 13 to the box score. The Rockets grabbed five team rebounds.
New York Knicks (22-19)
Amar’e Stoudemire trounced 25 points for the losing team. Raymond Felton clinched 14 shots and Toney Douglas added 13 from off the bench. The losing team could only grab two team rebounds.
Stoudemire was surrounded by the Rockets throughout the night. Chuck Hayes came out with a possible solution to limit the player from accelerating. NBA’s second leading scorer was replicated by the opponent as the player went for 12 rebounds against the
leading scorer. Stoudemire was forced into giving five turnovers to the Rockets as well.
"We just tried to make every shot hard whether it was a contested three or in the paint...Amare is a load. He is having an MVP type season. I just wanted to take away his space, beat him to the spot and make him shoot over me." Hayes later said.
Martin led the winners, pulling out 21 points on a 6-18 shooting from the field. The Rockets fuelled up for a defensive edge against the Knicks. Shane Battier later said, "[The Knicks] can put points up in a hurry. It shows that we can come out and maintain
our concentration on our rotations and play good individual defense. ... It shows what we're capable of when we really concentrate on the defensive end."
Turning point
With shorter than 11 minutes remaining in the game, the Knicks had come closer to the Rockets with as much as five points difference between scores of both the rivals. The Knicks, however, failed to put up a strong offence in the following minutes, because
they missed the next eight out of nine shots that came their way. Of course, Rockets blocked four of the shots and so the victors took a course through a 96-83 in just 5:30 on the clock.
Hottest player
The first three quarters went awesome for Houston Rockets because of Lowry. The 24-year-old made 12 field goal attempts. The player has made an average of 16.8 points in five out of his last six games and has reached double figures in those games.
Weakest player
(Knicks) Chandler has been stumbling on the field lately and this game proved to be no different. The player shot 4 for 13 from the field and could only score 10 points in 40 minutes. The player has only made 24 out his 62 attempts in previous four games.
Rookies under spotlight
(Knicks) Landry Fields tossed nine points while shooting 3-for-6 from the field. The player grabbed six rebounds and had the ball stolen twice for the losing team. He played for a duration of 32 minutes overall.
More to watch
For the Knicks, Friday @ San Antonio (ESPN), Saturday @ Oklahoma City, Monday vs. Washington (NBA TV).
For the Rockets, Friday @ Memphis, Saturday vs. Orlando, Monday @ Minnesota.
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