Houston Rockets: Player grades against the New York Knicks

The Houston Rockets defeated the short-handed New York Knicks 117-102 to win their fourth game in a row.

The Houston Rockets defeated the New York Knicks 117-102 in a matchup with a lot of ups and downs.

New York looked like the 90’s Knicks in the first quarter, jumping out to a 29-7 lead at the 4:36 mark. The Knicks closed out the opening period up 39-29, with 16 of those points coming from Michael Beasley.

The Rockets eventually got it going, and they closed the half trailing New York 61-58, led by 14 points from Ryan Anderson off of the bench. James Harden had 14 third quarter points to put the Rockets up 95-74 heading into the 3rd quarter, and the game was never in question after that.

Despite Houston’s conference-leading record, this was their first game at full strength since the opener against Golden State. Despite constant changes in the rotation, guys like P.J. Tucker aren’t worried about the Rockets’ chemistry, via Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle.

“We don’t think, ‘Oh, how’s our chemistry? We figure it out on the go, especially with a team with all vets, who know how to play.”

The Houston Rockets look like a team that’s firing on all cylinders, but they aren’t even in mid-season form yet. With that being said, let’s get into the player grades for Saturday night’s win over the Knicks.

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