Houston Rockets Game 52 of 2015-16 Season vs Suns

Houston Rockets Game 52 of 2015-16 featured the Phoenix Suns  in the teams first meeting of the season.

Feb 4, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris (11) reacts to a call made during the game against the Houston Rockets at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

Continuing SCS series of all 82 games from last season next up is the Houston Rockets Game 52 of 2015-16 versus the Phoenix Suns.

The Houston Rockets added draft picks and signed free agents to improve upon an especially mediocre 41-41 campaign. Big man Dwight Howard left for Atlanta while free agents Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon, Nene Hilario and Pablo Prigioni joined Houston in free agency.

Hopes are these additions and the growth of existing assets will translate into a season similar to 2014-15. While fans wait for opening night on October 26th versus the Lakers hopefully this series will appease your cravings.

To that end, this series showcases the Rockets 82 games noting the pregame analysis, post game grades, and relevant video. Furthermore, SCS will highlight significant changes made by their opponents this summer. So, here it is – – enjoy all 82 posts as SCS takes you back over the 2015-16 season.

Game 52 – Phoenix Suns

Pregame Analysis:

News of Dwight Howard’s suspension dominated social media and the SCS game day preview.

It’s been an odd few days for the Houston Rockets as they requested the league to rescind technical fouls given to Dwight Howard that resulted in him being ejected in back to back games. The Association in turn decided to rub salt in the wound fining J.B. Bickerstaff $10,000 for his comments about the officiating and Howard not only didn’t get vindication, he ended up missing yet another game due to a suspension.

This time the Rockets were told his suspension was tied to him “hitting” a ref. If you’ve seen the clip you know Howard was pushing the refs hand off him (which begs the question are referees allowed to touch players?) and it was a very harmless touch. The reality is the league doesn’t want to deal with what happened in the games versus the Thunder or more specifically Washington which included cheap shots and potentially purposely harmful plays.

To be fair the officiating has been absolutely brutal this season and affected many teams. To wit, the second game Tyronn Lue coached and registered his first victory over the T-Wolves was a joke. Lue should be sending the entire zebra crew return presents for that gift. Howard’s situation is just calling into the headlines the fact these bad calls are now bordering on players getting hurt.

Post Game Analysis:

Coty Davis offered player grades and post game report.

Despite their early struggles in the first 12 minutes, The Houston Rockets are now on a two game winning streak after they defeated the Phoenix Suns, Thursday, in the Valley.

In a game against the second worst team in the Western Conference, the Rockets took their opponents for granted during the first quarter. Their sluggish start forced J.B. Bickerstaff to pull all five of his starters out midway through the first, as Houston fell behind by 15 points. On a night were James Harden and Dwight Howard struggled offensively, Corey Brewer and Trevor Ariza took over as the Rockets all-star duo.

Stat Leaders:

NBA box score

Rockets Games vs Suns in 2016-17

• December 21st in Phoenix at Talking Stick Arena
• December 26th at home
• February 11th at home
• April 2nd in Phoenix at Talking Stick Arena

Free Agents

Other than the draft the Suns have been relatively quiet in the offseason. Given the numerous assets Phoenix has stock piled it’s reasonable to assume moves are forthcoming whether prior to the season or shortly after the season begins.

Incoming Free Agents:

• Jared Dudley 3-years, $30M exits Wizards
• Leandro Barbosa  2-year, $8M exits Warriors

Exiting Free Agents:

• Jon Leuer 4-years, $42M to Pistons
• Mirza Teletovic 3-years, $30M to Bucks
• Cory Jefferson played summer league for Cavs
• Phil Pressey received training camp invite from Warriors
• Ronnie Price to Thunder

Unresolved:

• Chase Budinger

Next: Updated Free Agency Report

Next: Free Agency Profiles for all 30 Teams

Due to the large Houston Rockets fan base, SCS is always looking to add new talent to our writing team. To that end, we’re looking for individuals with a specialized focus.  Specifically, the first area  is perfect for someone who constantly surfs for breaking news on injuries, trades, insider info. Consequently this individual would select top news items providing timely quick hits to keep SCS readers in the loop.

The other writer would possess an especially strong social media background and would like to interact with Clutch City Fans. Therefore this person will promote SCS team content on facebook and twitter. As a result the successful candidate will  make sure to promote the best content coming from H-Town fans. In conclusion, if you’re a budding writer who possesses these qualities vist the SCS link, and fill out an application.