2/26 - 3/3 Rockets Games
- Jennifer Mazina
- Mar 5, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 15, 2018
Rockets vs. Jazz
With it being the second night of a back-to-back, the Rockets needed to match the energy and then some of the Utah Jazz to continue their winning streak. On February 26th, they flew to Salt Lake City, Utah to face the Utah Jazz for the fourth time this season.
The Rockets were having a slow start in the beginning with them missing a few 3-pointers, but as the first quarter continued the Jazz were missing multiple shots in a row until they weren’t. The Rockets had a 7 point lead up until the Jazz started to come back and eventually tie the game at 16 points with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. The Jazz took the lead for a short bit, but Joe Johnson tied it back up with a perfect 3-point shot. The moment the buzzer went off to end the first quarter, Chris Paul shot and made a 3-pointer but it didn’t count so the Jazz lead the first quarter by 2 points. This first quarter for the Rockets was the lowest scoring first quarter for them all season.
Four minutes into the second quarter and the Rockets are down 13 points. Halfway through the second quarter and the Rockets are doing whatever they can to catch up to the Jazz. James Harden started to step up and get his team back on track by getting the deficit under double digits at halftime.
With a 9-2 Houston run at the beginning of the third quarter, the Rockets are only one point down, and Harden has 18 points so far. Mbah a Moute shoots a 3 getting the Rockets in the lead. A couple plays later, Harden gets a steal and Mbah a Moute knocks it down, but the game is back to a tie. Finally, they end the third quarter with a 7-point lead.
With a 10-point lead in the first half of the fourth quarter, the Rockets are on fire. Nenê tries to shoot, misses, catches his rebound, loses the ball, gets the ball back, throws it to Ariza, he shoots, misses, catches his rebound, but misses again and the Jazz catch the ball but the whistle was blown for a foul. With 12 seconds left and a 11-point Rocket lead, the Jazz get the ball back after Paul high fives Harden’s mom in the crowd, but the Rockets still win.
Rockets vs. Clippers
Harden knocked down Wesley Johnson, a Clippers player, stared him down for a few seconds and then knocked down the 3-pointer; his signature move of the night. They won, raising their winning streak to 14 games; the second time for them this season. February 28th, the Rockets played the LA Clippers in Los Angeles. Eric Gordon and Clint Capela were both back after being sick, but Ryan Anderson was still out with his injury.
Harden on the reverse scored the first 2 points for the Rockets. Jordan, a Clippers player, pulled down Tucker, didn’t draw a foul, but it was still Rockets ball and Harden knocked down a 3-pointer. Coming back after being sick, Capela already knocked down two dunks in the first quarter. The Rockets continued to score point after point ending the first quarter with a 22-point lead after the Clippers can’t seem to score.
Continuing the second quarter with an even larger lead, the Rockets seemed to be on fire after having a day break between games. Gordon shot the 3, made it, and Ariza got the rebound but the shot was missed. At that point, you might consider the game to be a blow out, but it’s so early in the game you never know what could happen. With two minutes left, the Rockets still have a 21-point lead and are going strong. Harden being 7 for 7 at the free throw line scored the Rockets an extra point as they finished out the quarter the same way they started, on fire.
Continuing the second quarter with an even larger lead, the Rockets seemed to be on fire after having a day break between games. Gordon shot the 3, made it, and Ariza got the rebound but the shot was missed. At that point in the game, you might consider the game to be a blow out, but it was so early in the game to know what could happen. With two minutes left, the Rockets still had a 21-point lead and were going strong. Harden being 7 for 7 at the free throw line scored the Rockets an extra point as they finished out the quarter the same way they started, on fire.
Paul scored his first points in the game at the beginning of the third quarter with a 3-pointer. The Rockets continued to keep roughly a 20-point lead up until around the 4-minute mark of the quarter when the Clippers started to get it together and come back making it only a 10-point game. Gordon shot another 3 multiple feet away from the 3-point line and made it; a huge shot for him.
The fourth quarter began with the Rockets still in the lead by 11 points. The Clippers tried to come back, but there was no stopping the Rockets. They ended up winning 105-92, making it their 48th win of the season and 14th win in a row.
Rockets vs. Celtics
Houston Rockets vs. Boston Celtics; a highly anticipated game because the Rockets are the number one team in the West, and the Celtics are the number two team in the East. This home game on March 3rd, was a thriller to say the least with the Celtics in the lead for the majority of the game.
Capela dunked the first 2 points of the game, and Kyrie Irving missed his first 3. Halfway through the first quarter, Harden made a wide open 3 bringing the Rockets to a 4-point lead. The Rockets and the Celtics continued to stay neck and neck throughout the quarter but the Celtics slowly crept up to get the lead by 2 points.
Not even half way through the second quarter and the Celtics were up 9 points, but Gordon made his first 3-pointer of the game making it a 6-point game. With two seconds left on the shot clock, Harden shot and made a 3-pointer. The Rockets not giving up, continued to keep the score close and even tied it, but they never regained the lead during the rest of the quarter.
The third quarter didn’t start off too well. Paul shot for a 3 and missed, Ariza caught the rebound and threw it to Harden who then lost the ball, but Paul got it back and shot and received a 24 second violation. Mbah a Moute went for a shot, and a technical foul was drawn on Morris of the Celtics. Harden shot for one point and Mbah a Moute shot for two more. The Rockets kept the score close, but by the end of the quarter they were still behind.
Gordon shot 3 after 3, helping the Rockets to catch up for the chance to win the game, and they slowly regained the lead. At the tail end of the fourth quarter with the Rockets in the lead, both teams go for the tactic of fouling each other for the chance to get more points in, but the Celtics couldn’t stop the Rockets from winning the thriller of a game with a score of 123-120 raising their winning streak to 15 games in a row. Within their 15-game winning streak, the Rockets have definitely stepped up their defense which showed during the game.
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