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Dwight Howard leaves Lakers for Houston Rockets

Dwight Howard has agreed to terms with the Houston Rockets, joining an up-and-coming team with one of the NBA’s most dynamic young players while becoming the biggest free-agent name to ever turn his back on the Lakers.

He ditched the Lakers despite their very public campaign to retain him, including numerous billboards around Los Angeles with his image and the simple slogan “STAY.”

But Howard left, eschewing pitches from Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and a team of Lakers executives in a lengthy meeting Tuesday in Beverly Hills…

Howard declined a five-year, $118-million contract offer from the Lakers to accept a four-year, $88-million deal with the Rockets, his third team in an 11-month period.

“Walt Disney said, ‘Big risks, big rewards,’” Howard said. “He put everything he had into ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,’ and the sky was the limit. Now there’s Disneyland and Disney World.

“It’s a big sacrifice leaving $30 million. Really, really a big sacrifice. But I want to win a championship and I want to get back to being the person who I am and have some fun and enjoy playing basketball. And I think that’s what I’ll find in Houston.”

Reported by Mike Bresnahan and T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times

Rockets meet with Dwight Howard as NBA free agency opens

Rockets meet with Howard as NBA free agency opens

The Houston Rockets have met with Dwight Howard to begin the NBA’s free agency period.

With Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler joining them, the Rockets pitched Howard on leaving Los Angeles and joining All-Star James Harden in Houston.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey wrote on Twitter early Monday that it great meeting with Howard and that having Olajuwon and Drexler there ”made it obvious how (Howard and Harden) could be the next (great) big/wing combo.”

Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Houston Rockets waive Aaron Brooks and Carlos Delfino

With NBA free agent negotiations starting tomorrow, the Houston Rockets are parting ways with a pair of players.

Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has waived guard Aaron Brooks and guard/forward Carlos Delfino.

Brooks (6-0, 161, Oregon) returned for his fifth season with the Rockets in 2012-13, averaging 1.4 points and 0.9 assists in seven games with Houston.

Delfino (6-6, 230, Argentina) averaged 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.01 steals in 67 games (five starts) in his lone season with the Rockets.

Rockets Select Isaiah Canaan in 2013 NBA Draft

The Houston Rockets used the 34th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft to select Murray State guard Isaiah Canaan (pronounced Cannon).

“I was so hyped to see my name come across the board and just glad to be a part of the Houston Rockets,” said Canaan on being drafted by Houston. “I’ve always been the underdog and I’m thankful that Houston believes in me. I’m really looking forward to getting there and showing what I’m capable of doing. I’m a competitor. I’m a winner.”

Canaan (6-0, 188, Murray State) played in 132 career games over four seasons at Murray State, averaging 15.5 points, 2.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds. Overall, Canaan scored over 2,000 points in his collegiate career (2,050) while shooting 304-of-725 (.419) from beyond the arc. He was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year as a junior and OVC Co-Player of the Year as a senior. The Biloxi, Mississippi native also earned Honorable Mention All-America honors from the Associated Press as a senior after ranking first on team in scoring (21.8 ppg), assists (4.3 apg) and steals (1.5 spg). Canaan, who scored in double figures in all 31 games in 2012-13, netted a season-high 35 points against Morehead. He added 22 points, a career-high 10 assists and nine rebounds against Belmont State. As a junior, Canaan also ranked first on team in scoring (19.0 ppg) and assists (3.6 apg).

“Isaiah is one of the best shooters to come out off college in awhile,” said Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey on Canaan. “He is not just an elite 3-point shooter, but he can take people off the bounce and fill it up, and do it efficiently. He is a tough kid and a really good kid. Isaiah is someone ready to play. I really see a player who is going to succeed.”

Thunder beat Rockets 103-94, advance to second round of NBA playoffs

Kevin Durant scored 27 points and Kevin Martin added 25 to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-94 victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday night, sending them to the second round of the playoffs for the third straight season.

The Rockets were looking to become just the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0.

But the Thunder opened the fourth quarter with a big run to take the lead and cruised to the victory.

Martin finally gave the Thunder someone to take scoring pressure off Durant for the first time since All-Star Russell Westbrook had season-ending knee surgery. He had 21 points by halftime and Westbrook’s replacement, Reggie Jackson helped out by scoring 17.

James Harden, who the Rockets said had strep throat on Thursday, led Houston with 26 points.

Oklahoma City used a 14-4 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter to take a 92-81 lead. Derek Fisher and Durant both hit 3-pointers in that stretch. Houston missed six shots, including two layups, and had two turnovers as the Thunder built the lead…

Houston got 25 points from Chandler Parsons, while Omer Asik had 13 points and 13 rebounds…

Martin came one point shy of his career-high points in the playoffs of 26.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Durant, Thunder struggling to close out Rockets

Without All-Star Russell Westbrook running the point, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are struggling to close out the Houston Rockets.

So much for a sweep. This is suddenly a series.

James Harden scored 31 points and sank seven 3-pointers while fighting flu-like symptoms, and the Rockets beat Oklahoma City 107-100 Wednesday night to pull within 3-2 in their first-round playoff series.

Harden made the first seven 3s he tried and Houston led by as many as 16 to win its second straight, getting halfway to becoming the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit.

”We just came out here and played pressure free. Go out there and just hoop, that was our mindset going into the game,” Harden said. ”The same thing back at home: just go out there and hoop. We’re an eighth seed. Nobody’s expecting us to win. So just give it what we’ve got. Simple.”

The Rockets have made it look much easier since Westbrook was lost for the rest of the playoffs to knee surgery before Game 3. With back-to-back wins, Houston had Durant blaming himself for just about anything that went wrong for the Thunder even though he scored 36 points and almost single-handedly kept his team in the game.

When asked about how first-time starter Reggie Jackson has done filling in for the injured Westbrook, Durant faulted himself for demanding the ball too often from the young point guard. When questioned about Kevin Martin’s awful three-point performance on 1-for-10 shooting, Durant offered that he needed to be more encouraging to the sixth man.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

Rockets survive with 105-103 win over Thunder

The Houston Rockets finally found a way to close out a game in their playoff series with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And it allowed them to escape playoff elimination with a 105-103 win over the Thunder on Monday night.

Chandler Parsons scored 27 points and Patrick Beverley added 16 points with point guard Jeremy Lin out with a bruised chest muscle. Houston avoided a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven series.

The Rockets led in the fourth quarter of each of the last two games only to end up losing.

”We felt the pain and frustration from the last two losses … and we didn’t want that to happen for the third straight time,” Parsons said.

It almost did.

Kevin Durant scored five quick points to cut the Rockets’ lead to two. James Harden missed two shots for Houston after that and the Thunder had a last chance.

Reggie Jackson missed a jump shot and Serge Ibaka grabbed the rebound, but missed a layup at the buzzer…

Durant scored 38 points in Oklahoma City’s second game without injured All-Star guard Russell Westbrook…

Harden scored 15 points, but also had 10 turnovers. He had two chances to extend Houston’s lead with less than a minute left, but missed both of them, including shooting an air ball…

Jackson finished with 18 points in his second start in place of Westbrook, and Kevin Martin added 16.

Houston got 17 points from Omer Asik and 13 from Carlos Delfino.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Rockets elder statesmen provide more than veteran presence

The youthful Rockets may be on the verge of playoff elimination, but it’s not for lack of effort by their oldest players on the court.

Francisco Garcia, 32, and Carlos Delfino, 30, had 18 and 11 points, respectively, to spark a second-half Rockets rally that fell short by the margin of Kevin Durant’s seeing-eye 3-pointer, the critical blow of Oklahoma City’s Game 3 victory Saturday night.

With Jeremy Lin rendered ineffective by his bruised chest, Rockets coach Kevin McHale’s frequently tweaked rotation came down in the second half to heavy doses of Garcia, who played 32 minutes, and Delfino, who nursed his aching elbow through 22:07.

Each did enough, absent Durant’s final 3-pointer plus the 38 points that preceded it, to get the Rockets back in the game and avoid a 3-0 deficit that in NBA history is tantamount to playoff elimination.

“We played so hard in the second half,” Garcia said. “I’m proud of my guys.”

— Reported by David Barron of the Houston Chronicle

Rio Grande Valley Vipers win 2013 D-League championship

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers defeated the Santa Cruz Warriors 102-91 to capture the 2012-13 NBA Development League Championship for the second time in four seasons. The Vipers were led by D.J. Kennedy’s game-high 27 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists, while Glen Rice, Jr. chipped in 25 points and 13 rebounds. The Warriors’ Travis Leslie scored a team-high 16 points and added 13 rebounds in defeat.

The Vipers dominated the first half, leading by as many as 17 points as Rice, Jr. and Kennedy combined for 33 of the team’s 56 points heading into the halftime break. Santa Cruz was led by Jeremy Tyler, who was four-of-five from the floor, scoring 10 points in the second quarter.

The Warriors charged out of the halftime break, outscoring the Vipers 26-17 in the period on the back of eight Travis Leslie points, his first of the game. Santa Cruz cut the Rio Grande Valley lead to as few as five points, 69-64, with 2:00 minutes to play in the third before settling for a six point deficit at the end of three, 73-67.

Scott Machado scored six points as part of a 12-0 Warriors run in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter, taking Santa Cruz on his back and leading the team to a one-point disadvantage, 82-81 with 7:31 to play. The next two minutes of the game were all Vipers, though, with Toure Murry, Tyler Honeycutt and Kennedy connecting on back-to-back-to-back buckets, scoring a quick six points and stretching the Rio Grande Valley’s lead to seven, 88-81, with 5:28 to play in the game. From there, the teams traded buckets before a Rice three pointer gave his team a 93-88 advantage. The Vipers never looked back en route to the Championship win.

For Rio Grande Valley, Murry finished with 13 points and Mike Singletary scored 10 in the win, while Machado finished with 15 off the bench for Santa Cruz.

Rockets head home with some answers, needing more

The Rockets seemed to find some answers in Game 2, starting Patrick Beverley for the first time and using a three-guard lineup for all but a few brief moments. McHale felt the change allowed Houston to penetrate the lane more frequently, with one of his perimeter threats often matched up against one of the two Thunder big men, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins.

”They kind of put a tight shell out there, but once you break that shell and get on the inside, a lot of stuff can open up,” McHale said. ”We had a lot of good catch and shoot 3s, open 3s and that’s how we have to play.

”We don’t have a dominant inside presence. A lot of our inside points are finishing on dunks and tipped dunks. It’s our guys going in there and making plays against their bigs and then kicking it out.”

McHale also found success by going with a 2-3 zone after Oklahoma City had built its biggest lead at 89-74 early in the fourth quarter. Houston responded by scoring 21 of the next 23 points, even taking the lead.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press