PrintRockets Storm Back And Blow By Wolves
Yao and Alston combine for 52 to help lead Houston to 107-90 win
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Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer
Houston - Al Jefferson was having his way with Houston’s defense and the Timberwolves were rolling, having sprinted out to a 15-point second quarter lead.
In fact, Jefferson had been so destructive on the offensive end (17 points and 8 rebounds in the first quarter alone), Yao Ming later joked that, if he were coaching the Rockets, he would have fired the player responsible for defending Minnesota’s big man.
Thankfully, instead of firing himself, Yao simply went back to work and put on an offensive show of his own, outscoring Jefferson 28-19 the rest of the way, while helping the Rockets overwhelm Minnesota 107-90.
“That’s the thing about it,” explained Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “[Yao] is playing a guy who, in a lot of ways, you’re surprised he was not on the All-Star team. The way [Jefferson] has played this year is unbelievable. Yao just has to keep playing and then he’s got to make him work at the other end. In the second half, that’s what he did. Jefferson got 36, but Yao had 30 and really made him pay.
“I thought tonight, too, he did a nice job of finding the right guy with his kick-outs, which opened it up for a lot of other things for us, too. That’s one thing that’s crucial: If he can find other people on the floor, we’re going to have good opportunities.”
Indeed, the Rockets had their inside-outside game working to near perfection Saturday night. Houston not only piled up a whopping 52 points in the paint, but also connected on 9 of its 19 attempts from beyond the arc, with Rafer Alston (4-4) and Tracy McGrady (3-4) doing most of the damage. It was a welcome sight for a Rockets team desperately trying to capture some consistency on the offensive end.
“We're trying to establish the low post with the big fella,” said McGrady, who finished with 15 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. “We have got to get him the ball. That’s how we play. The ball goes through him and once we get it going, once it goes to him, it opens up for our perimeter guys. That's why we hit so many threes tonight, because once he establishes himself down there, we've got to help.
“I think tonight was one of those nights where we put it all together. We didn't do it for 45 minutes, we didn't do it for 40 minutes. We played for 48 minutes. If we play with that type of energy - scrambling, helping each other on defense and covering for one another - that's what we do, that's who we are.”
Saturday night’s effort was also noteworthy due to the fact the Rockets finally demonstrated their ability to forcefully put away an opponent in the fourth quarter. Houston’s crunch time issues this season have been well-documented, so Coach Adelman was pleased to see his club lay down the hammer in the final frame.
“That’s what we talked about in the fourth quarter: We’ve got to keep going after them; we can’t let them get back in it. Even with two minutes to go, I told the guys who were out there, ‘Let’s see you get a stop before I take you out – just one more stop, just for the heck of it,’ and they did.
“I’ve said it so many times to them: What kind of season do you want? It’s up to you. You can stay together, get better, stay consistent and start getting better as a team, or you can have a tough game and start pointing fingers and looking at each other saying, ‘Ah, this guy’s not doing it.’ Well, that’s not going to get us there. [We’re] going to have to do it as a team.”
The Rockets did just that against Minnesota, en route to registering their largest comeback victory of the season. Their next challenge: To sustain that same sort of effort on a nightly basis in order to establish some momentum heading into the All-Star break.
“We’ve got to just start building on something and it should be something that’s there in us,” said Adelman. “It was there last year and it’s got to get there this year. Every game we’ve got to play the same. We can’t drop back down when we go to Milwaukee. We have to have a solid game there.
“It’s one thing if you lose a game on the road, because you’re going to lose games on the road. But you have to play well. You have to put your best effort out there and we haven’t done that on the road in awhile, so let’s see how we respond on Monday.”
QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN
(On the game) “I was real pleased, especially with the last six minutes of the second quarter and then right on through the second half. We made great runs in the second quarter. In the first quarter it looked like we got off to a start with energy and we just missed shot after shot after shot and it seemed like it snowballed. Fortunately, we cut it to 7 (points) and they made a run again and then in the second quarter we started to make a move and we really got a good rhythm going and played a really solid second half.”
(On the Rockets defense) “Like Jack (Sikma) said, with the way he's (Al Jefferson) going, let's just let him be (Muhammad) Ali and let him score until he tires himself out because we didn't have any answers for him. I thought we were much more active and I think we got after it a little bit. We were coming after him and trying to pick our spots at him. He was making a lot of shots but we went to the small lineup for the second quarter and the second half and I think that really helped us. We got really active, that's a pretty good lineup. We haven't had a chance to use it a lot, or practice it a lot, but I think when we can match up we've got good size and it's a pretty good offensive team. So, it's just something we always wanted to do and I thought in the second half we did a really nice job.”
(on Rafer): He played terrific tonight. He made all four threes and, in between shots, I thought he was really solid because Aaron was really under the weather again. In the first half, he got really weak and sick again. Rafer was terrific.
YAO MING
(did you feel helpless early against Jefferson?): I can’t say I did my best. I should do better than that. What did he have, 17 points in the first quarter? Ooh, man, if I’m a coach I fire that defensive player.
(making Jefferson play defense): I didn’t want to stay on the defensive side and just be a target, a sitting duck right there where he just comes to attack and attack and attack.. I want him to play defense, too.
(on hurting his left arm in the third quarter): I knew it was not very serious but at that moment my arm really felt like it was not mine. My forearm felt like I was getting burned.
(On the Rockets ability to find the open man) “It was not just me. I think the whole team did a good job of finding the open man. Our three point field goal percentage was almost fifty percent. We were trying to touch and pass and we were trying to find the open man very early.”
RAFER ALSTON
Right from the start, I wanted to give us a different flow tonight. I wanted to race the ball up, give us some quick-hitting plays and just get us up and down the floor. We forced each other to get into the offense early, move the ball and work our bodies.
(feeling hot from the get go?): Yeah, I felt great right from the first three – which I didn’t want to take. I felt good. I just wanted to come out and be aggressive early. I tend to try to do that early in games.
CARL LANDRY
(On the Rockets coming back from behind) “We were trying to be aggressive today, but as always, Minnesota always plays us tough. They played us tough tonight and they went on a nice little run in the first quarter and had us down, but we regrouped, we went over some of the things that we needed to go over to take control of the game and that’s what we did.”
(On the Rockets outscoring Minnesota in the paint 52 to 30) “We felt like we were a strong inside team and lately we have been going to the hoop kind of soft and sometimes getting our shot blocked. But we wanted to be aggressive today and go up and finish the ball and that’s what we did.”
TIMBERWOLVES COACH KEVIN MCHALE
(on the game) “They made shots and we missed ours. Scola gave them a big lift in the third quarter and they got to the offensive glass. We settled for jump shots and we didn’t get into the paint. We went through a period when we couldn’t make any shots. We weren’t able to sustain any offensive or defensive pressure in the second half.”
(on Al Jefferson’s play against Yao ) “Al more than offset Yao tonight. Al did everything he could possibly do and even more. He was spectacular!”
(on the Rockets) “Rafer made some big three’s to get Houston going in the third quarter. Houston spreads it out and they have Yao in the middle and they are very tough to beat when they make their shots.”
AL JEFFERSON
(on his play) “I just play my best. That’s all I could do.”
(on the game) “We were moving the ball and attacking them in the first half and then we got away from it. I attacked all that I could.. I knew I had an advantage with Yao. I wanted to get him on the move and I was able to hit my jumpers. Houston played through Yao in the second half. They didn’t lose their composure and kept playing and it worked for them.”
RANDY FOYE
(on the key to the game) “At the end Rafer (Alston) started knocking down 3’s and it changed the complexion of the game. We were in there but we have to learn to finish off games strong.”
KEVIN LOVE
(on the game) “We missed some shots and we let up at the end. It was a tough game. How do you stop 7’6”? I tried to do my best to contain him as much as possible.”
NOTES
Houston registered its largest comeback in a win this season by prevailing 107-90 (+17) over Minnesota. The first-half runs began with an 8-0 opening by the Rockets, which was followed up by a 16-0 run by the Timberwolves. Houston then erased a 15-point deficit in the second quarter by outscoring Minnesota 26-11 to even the game at 50-50 heading into halftime. The Rockets largest deficit overcome in a win prior to tonight was 12 points in the first quarter of a 103-91 victory at Washington (11/21/08).
The Rockets posted a season-high 10 blocked shots tonight, surpassing their pervious best of nine vs. Atlanta (12/9/08) and nine in the last home outing vs. Chicago (2/3/09).
Houston recorded a 52-30 edge in the paint tonight, marking the 10th time this season for the Rockets to post 50 or more points in that area. In Minnesota’s last four visits to Toyota Center, the Rockets have now outscored the Timberwolves by a combined 198-118 (ppg: 49.5-29.5) in the paint. The Timberwolves actually had a 52-point night in the paint against the Rockets at Minnesota (12/20/08).
The Rockets outrebounded the Timberwolves by a 51-39 (+12) count tonight. Houston also posted a 52-34 (+18) advantage off the glass last year vs. Minnesota (1/11/08) and pulled down a 2007-08 season-high 58 rebounds (+20, 58-38) vs. the Wolves (3/26/08).
Yao Ming notched 30 points (12-18 FG, 6-7 FT), six rebounds and a season-high-tying five blocked shots tonight, which marked his sixth 30-point outing of 2008-09. Yao’s only other five-block game this season came at the L.A. Clippers (11/7/08). Prior to his lone miss at the line in the second quarter, Yao had made 19 consecutive free throw attempts.
Rafer Alston had 22 points (8-10 FG, 4-4 3FG, 2-2 FT) and six assists tonight, giving him five 20-point outings this season. The Rockets now hold a record of 17-6 when Alston reaches at least 12 points in a game.
Tracy McGrady finished with 15 points (3-4 3FG), a team-high three steals and two blocks, which marked his second multi-block performance of the season. McGrady now has at least one blocked shot in each of the last four games he has played.
Shane Battier matched his season high in assists with six tonight. Battier also dished out a season-best six assists at the L.A. Clippers (12/13/08) and equaled that total with a team-high six assists vs. Miami (1/17/09). Ron Artest also had six helpers tonight, giving the Rockets three players with six assists.
Al Jefferson recorded 36 points (16-30 FG), a career-high-tying 22 rebounds, four steals and two blocks tonight. He equaled the opponent single-game record for rebounds at Toyota Center, which is shared by Marcus Camby (22 on 1/20/07 vs. Denver) and Zach Randolph (22 on 1/5/08 vs. New York). Jefferson also posted 34 points (15-31 FG), 13 rebounds and three blocks at Minnesota (12/20/08).
Al Jefferson actually recorded 17 points, eight rebounds, two steals and one block in the first quarter alone of tonight’s game. It marked the best first-quarter output against the Rockets this season, as well as matching the highest overall point total in a quarter by an opponent in 2008-09 (17 in fourth by J.R. Smith on 1/19/09 vs. Denver).
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