Category: Houston Rockets Blog

Houston Rockets power forward/center Dwight Howard received the March Community Assist Award in recognition of his charitable contributions and efforts in the Greater Houston area, the NBA announced today. The award recognizes an NBA player each month who best reflects the passion that the league and its players have for giving back to their communities.

Last month, Howard’s D12 Foundation launched its grassroots program, “Block Out Violence,” within participating junior and senior high schools in Houston to promote anti-bullying, nonviolence, respect and acceptance. Howard began the campaign by hosting an assembly and a flash mob at Carnegie Vanguard High School, encouraging kids to help create safer campuses and communities. Thirty-two Houston schools have participated in the program, spurring thousands of students and their families to host events in their neighborhoods and post 800,000 positive messages of nonviolence on social media using the #BOV hashtag.

In addition to the “Block Out Violence” program, Howard has dedicated his time and resources to helping disadvantaged children and their families throughout Houston. Howard purchased 50 season tickets for kids as part of the Rockets for Youth ticket program. He also hosted a breakfast and provided gifts for homeless mothers and their children at the Salvation Army Residence Center in Houston. Extending his charity beyond his community, Howard worked with the D12 Foundation to provide $10,000 to the BETA Center in Orlando, an organization that provides support to teen moms and at-risk families.

“I’ve made it a point to give back to the community since my career began, and now that Houston is my home I want to make a difference here. I’ve been concerned about the violence and bullying that seems to be taking control of our schools and communities – not only in Houston, but throughout the country,” said Howard. “My hope is that the “Block Out Violence” campaign will motivate students to start grassroots movements in their schools that get them thinking and talking about the way they treat one another – ultimately, making safer schools and communities.”

During tonight’s home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA Cares Ambassador Bob Lanier and Houston Rockets and Toyota Center CEO Tad Brown will present Howard with the David Robinson Plaque during an oncourt ceremony. In addition, and the NBA will donate $10,000 on Howard’s behalf to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston.

The Houston Rockets on Thursday beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-98. It was the 26th straight loss for the Sixers. Rockets star James Harden put up 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win. Here are some Harden video highlights:

Here’s a quick video feature from the league with Rockets center Dwight Howard. The team has a terrific 46-22 record, and Howard is averaging 18.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, with 58.9 percent shooting.

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced that the team re-assigned guard Troy Daniels to Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley.

Daniels (6-4, 204, Virginia Commonwealth), who was recalled by Houston on Mar. 2, scored the first five points (2-4 FG, 1-3 3FG) of his NBA career in 5:32 off the bench vs. Indiana (3/7/14). The D-League Gatorade Call-Up was signed by the Rockets on Feb. 21 and assigned back to the Vipers.

Overall this season, Daniels has averaged 22.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.98 assists in 36 games (25 starts) with Rio Grande Valley. At the time of his recall, Daniels led the D-League in 3-pointers made (190) and ranked tied for fourth in the league in scoring average (22.8). The Vipers co-leading scorer actually broke the NBA D-League record for 3-pointers made in a single season with his 153rd on Jan. 29 vs. Tulsa. He also tied the NBA D-League record for 3-point field goals made in a game with 10 treys on Jan. 4 at Idaho. The D-League rookie placed second in a sudden-death round of the 2014 Boost Mobile NBA D-League 3-Point Competition. He was also selected to play in the 2014 NBA D-League All-Star Game, where he scored 21 points for Team Prospects in a 145-142 win over All-Star Weekend in New Orleans.

Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting on the Rockets:

The Rockets had a familiar face on the practice court on Saturday afternoon.

Hakeem Olajuwon was in the gym working with several players. He spent a lot of time with Omer Asik, Terrence Jones and Dwight Howard.

“Its a great learning experience – a Hall of Famer, one of the best bigs to ever play this game and he has so much knowledge and experience,” Jones said. “It’s so much to take in.”

Jones said he and Olajuwon worked specifically on post moves.

Here’s the Houston Chronicle on the Rockets, who will have to be at their best these next few weeks:

The Rockets did a lot of things well in their 118-110 win over Detroit on Saturday.

They are going to have to do that and much more over the next weeks to come out on top in one of their toughest stretches of the season.

In the next two weeks, the Rockets face several of the league’s top teams. They will see Miami twice, Indiana, Portland and Oklahoma City. They also face Chicago and Orlando in that time.

“It is definitely going to be a tough couple of weeks,” guard James Harden said. “It will be a good test.”

The Rockets got off to a good start in March after going 8-2 in February.