Houston Rockets Take Nets for Granted in Loss

The Houston Rockets gave the Brooklyn Nets their first win of the season with a 106-98 loss Wednesday, in the Toyota Center.

. 98. 169. 106. 147

The Rockets did not have a sense of urgency and took the Nets too lightly from the start of the game. Although Dwight Howard and Marcus Thornton had a good game for the Rockets, it seems like no other player could find their rhythm.

James Harden had a decent 21 points for the night, but shooting 38 percent was not enough to give the Rockets the win.

The Rockets could not find an answer to stop Brook Lopez in the first half, and in the second Joe Johnson turned back the hands of time with 16 points and 10 assists.

Although Houston battled late in the fourth, it was not enough to break the Nets’ momentum who sealed the game with a 3-pointer from Bojan Bogdanovic. If the Rockets wants to become a championship team this season, they must learn how to treat every opponent like the best team in the league.

Rockets Player Grades

20 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 blocks- Howard had a block party in Houston Wednesday night, and everyone in Clutch City was invited. After a dominating performance Saturday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, Dwight Howard continues to dominate the paint. Although it is still early in the season, it is nice to see Howard play at a high level. Hopefully he can continue to play at this level and proving why he is still the league’s best big man. Another double-double for Howard is another victory for the Rockets.. C. Houston Rockets. DWIGHT HOWARD. A

<span style=. SG. Houston Rockets. JAMES HARDEN. B-

C-. 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals- He had a productive night, but it was not one to remember. In 25 minutes Ariza made few perimeter stops on defense, made a few shots from the field. However, Ariza may find himself on Sportscenter’s top 10 plays with a nice circus shot.. F. Houston Rockets. TREVOR ARIZA

What a finish! https://t.co/EO0tmEH45u

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 12, 2015

TY LAWSON. D. <span style=. PG. Houston Rockets

21 points, 7 assists, 4 steals- Thornton came up big for the Rockets and it seems like he has won a starting role in Houston this season. Other than Dwight Howard, Thornton was the best player for Houston against the Nets. Since his breakout game against the Heat, Thornton has been the third best player on the Rockets this season.. F. Houston Rockets. MARCUS THORNTON. A+

Best Reserve

CLINT CAPELA. B-. 8points, 2 blocks- Capela continues to be the most valuable player off the bench for the Rockets and is starting to look more like Houston’s sixth man as the season progresses. McHale is certainly comfortable giving this young man significant playing time this season.. C. Houston Rockets

Best Opposing Player

A-. 14 points, 12 Rebounds, 5 Steals-Lopez and Howard went at each other like it was 2010 all over again. However, for the first time since 2010, Lopez came out on the winning side against Howard. Lopez was quite frankly very good against the Rockets, and held a block party of his own with five. If Lopez can continue this dominating play, the Nets will have a chance to turn their season around and become a force out in the East... C. Brooklyn Nets. BROOK LOPEZ

3 Things We Saw

Playing to their opponent level:

Although the Nets came into the game searching for their first win of the season, the Rockets played like they were the winless team. They did not look like the same team that beat the Clippers Saturday night. With a team like the Nets, the Rockets should have came out stronger and put Brooklyn away early in the first half. However, they let the Nets hang around and eventually gave them the confidence to win this game. If Houston can come out every game with the same intensity they had Saturday, they will become more of a dominating team in this league.

Too many three point shots:

The Houston Rockets were one of the league’s best three-point shooting teams last season. Unfortunately, their hot shooting from downtown has yet to carry over into the new season. The Rockets shot 23 percent from behind the arc Wednesday night and never had an epiphany that said “Hey if you stop taking so many three-point shots, you guys will have a better chance to win the game.” The Rockets have to learn how to take more high percentage shots and stop jacking up so many three-point shots. The Rockets are the fourth worst shooting team in the league at 29 percentage on the season.

Worst 2-on-1 fastbreak all year? https://t.co/IbP9J8pDBG

— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) November 12, 2015

Rebounding:

Maybe because they have Dwight Howard averaging 12.3 rebounds per game, all the other Rockets do not think they should get in the paint and rebound. Other than boxing out to prevent second chance opportunities, guys like Corey Brewer, Trevor Ariza, and Terrence Jones ran down the court hoping to get an easy fast break point. The Rockets lost the rebounding battle 66-55, and gave up 20 offensive rebounds.

Next up the Rockets travel to Denver to face the Nuggets, the team they opened the season losing to. Let’s hope this loss and humility over that opening night loss will have the Rockets recognizing the need to play each team with the same intensity.

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