Houston Rockets Lose To Spurs and 4th In-a-Row: Player Grades

. 103. 169. 121. 29

When you feed your big man the ball, great things tend to happen for your team! Playing against the Spurs has always brought the best out of Dwight Howard, and tonight was no different. Howard was effective on both ends of the floor. On defense he did a great job keeping Duncan scoreless,<span style=. C. Houston Rockets. DWIGHT HOWARD. A

B. Capela had no chance defending LaMarcus Aldridge (scored 24 points) tonight and I fail to understand why Bickerstaff did not assign Howard to guard Aldridge. Although Aldridge man-handled Caplea on the low block he never backed down which he deserves kudos for. He made some good plays on defensive and had one of his best nights offensively. 8 points, 4 blocks, 7 rebounds.. C. Houston Rockets. CLINT CAPELA

TREVOR ARIZA. D. <span style=. SF. Houston Rockets

C-. It was a tale of two halves for James Harden. In the first 24 minutes it seemed like his new year kiss with Khloe Kardashian gave him some luck heading into San Antonio. Playing more of a mid range game, Harden scored 16 points on 85 percent shooting. It did not matter who defended him, Harden was on fire.  However, the second half featured the Spurs picking up their defense specifically on Harden which resulting in him scoring a single point.  As the “Leader” of the team, I felt Harden gave up on the rockets in the fourth quarter. When the Rockets needed him the most, Harden was a no show. He sat on the bench late in the third and never checked back in the game.  Yeah, Rockets were down big as they headed into the final 12 minutes, but if Howard can play through adversity so can Harden! 17 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds.. SG. Houston Rockets. JAMES HARDEN

Houston Rockets. PATRICK BEVERLEY. C. Perhaps Beverley did not get the memo to play until the third quarter. In the first half, Beverley was irrelevant in San Antonio, I forgot he was playing. Second half was much better, but at that time the Rockets were already down by 15 points. 10 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds.<span style=. PG

C. I hate knowing that Brewer played one of his best games in a blowout loss. This was the player Rockets fans fell in love with last season. He had a good offensive game, and did a good job slowing Green down on defense. Hopefully Brewer can carry this intensity to the next game. 11 points. SG. Houston Rockets. COREY BREWER

LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE. A. This was a tough pick with virtually every Spur meriting the award and though I felt it was a toss up between Aldridge and Leonard I ultimately went with the newest Spur.  I chose Aldridge for his higher efficiency rating of 22 and for routinely taking Capela to school. This is the kind of game fans has come to expect from the four time NBA All-Star. Great game for the Texas native. 24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals.. PF. San Antonio Spurs