Houston Rockets: McHale Trumps Adelman
The Houston Rockets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-92 Monday night for their seventh win a row. The streak is the longest in the NBA and the longest for the Rockets since the famed 22-game streak in 2007-08. It also sets Houston at 10-7, tied for first with the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the Southwest Division. Kyle Lowry notched his second career triple-double and his first of 2011-12 after flirting with the achievement almost every game this season, and Kevin McHale trumped former Rockets coach Rick Adelman in his return to Minnesota, the place where he served as G.M., coach, and partial architect of the current Timberwolves roster. It was perhaps the best game of the season for Houston, as they gave up a big lead, scrapped to gain it back, and closed out the fourth quarter like playoff teams do with lockdown defense and clutch shots. Here are five reasons Houston is the hottest team in the NBA after tonight:
1) Kyle Lowry’s statistical achievement. Lowry finally got over the proverbial triple-double hump when he grabbed a well-earned 10th rebound late in tonight’s contest for a 16, 10, and 10 performance. He has teased fans with frighteningly consistent numbers hovering upon triple-double status all season, so it was gratifying to see him finally earn those numbers. The only thing left for Lowry to achieve is more recognition, and some big games on ESPN. A much-deserved All-Star bid would be nice as well.
2) Kevin Martin. Notice a familiar theme with all these winning streak posts? It’s the same guys playing well night after night for Houston. Martin scored 31 points and played more in the fourth quarter tonight than he did versus the Spurs. He made the most of his time and drained a deep trey to put the game out of reach for Minnesota. It is not a coincidence that the Rockets are playing better as Martin finally finds his scoring touch. Perhaps the lockout rust had more of an effect on Martin’s game than some acknowledged.
3) The defense. The Rockets sealed this game with playoff-caliber defense throughout closing quarter, sparked by the heady floor game and consistent intensity of Chandler Parsons. Patrick Patterson, who played the majority of minutes at backup center and also scored 13 points, also contributed a physicality down low belying his height disadvantages, and a monster block on rookie sensation Ricky Rubio that earned the rabid excitement of the Rockets announcers. The Rockets held the Timberwolves to 41 percent shooting as a team, but even that modest sum is skewed because of Kevin Love’s 13-19 performance. The rest of Minnesota’s starters shot 13-37 — including 2-10 from Rubio — and noted sharpshooting sub Wayne Ellington shot a paltry 2-11.
4) McHale’s coaching. It’s undeniable that McHale out-coached Adelman in this one. Houston’s rotations seemed sharp and adaptive throughout, including the idea to “go small” for much of the second half with Lowry, Goran Dragic, Courtney Lee, Patterson, and Parsons. This lineup was most fast to the ball, athletic, and defensive oriented. With Minnesota’s bigs relatively worthless, it was a smart strategy that played to Houston’s offensive strengths and created a havoc-wrecking defensive unit as well. Chase Budinger didn’t play again, and Luis Scola, who scored 15 points, was able to rest for much of the fourth quarter again. McHale’s willingness to experiment and adapt to the opponent in his rotations is a welcome contrast to Adelman’s stubborn sub patterns.
5) Terrence Williams’ bench support. Need I say more?
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