Houston Rockets Blog – Page 47 – NBA Blog

Jeremy Lin, Rockets beat Knicks in New York

His old fans booed him. His old friend clobbered him.

Otherwise, it was Linsanity all over again at Madison Square Garden.

Jeremy Lin had 22 points and eight assists in his return to New York, leading the Houston Rockets to a 109-96 victory Monday night that ended the Knicks’ 10-game home winning streak to open the season.

Cheered then jeered, and later floored by Tyson Chandler’s flagrant foul, Lin added another masterpiece to the ones he put together last season during the height of his memorable run. No longer the fan favorite he was when wearing the home uniform, Lin got a mixed reception when he left the game with 2:25 remaining and the Rockets leading by 16.

”It was a lot of fun playing out there and I think our team, we took a step in the right direction,” Lin said. ”And for me, it was great to be back and it was a lot of fun to play on that court again.”

James Harden had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who blew out the Knicks for the second time this season. They have won the last seven meetings, including a 131-103 rout in Houston on Nov. 23.

Rookie Chris Copeland scored a career-high 29 points for the Knicks, who played without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony and had their four-game winning streak snapped. They fell to 18-6, matching the record they finished last season with under Mike Woodson…

Felton scored 14 points but shot 7 of 18. Kidd was 2 for 9, and both committed three turnovers.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Jeremy Lin says season has been terrible so far

Jeremy Lin says his season has been terrible so far

On the eve of his return to Madison Square Garden, Jeremy Lin didn’t mince words. The ex-Knick point guard said he has been “terrible’’ this season, not living up to his potential and can’t wait to get the Garden game over with.

Lin’s rip job on himself occurred after yesterday’s Rockets loss in Toronto in which Lin scored just seven points with two assists while Raptors point guard Jose Calderon went off for 18 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

Asked to assess his season, Lin said: “Terrible. I think I’m not doing close to what I’m capable of doing and it’s a matter of figuring out how to get myself to play more like myself within the system with the change of scenery. I’ll be my harshest critic but I’ll go ahead and say it: I’m doing terrible.’’

The undrafted Harvard point guard is averaging just 10.8 points, 6.0 assists and shooting 39.5 percent. Lin had lots of fans yesterday in Toronto — which has an enormous Asian population and where he hit his most memorable shot as a Knick last season, a 3-point buzzer-beater to win a game against the Raptors.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Jose Calderon triple-double helps Raptors beat Rockets

Add tight defense to a triple-double, and it was quite a game for Jose Calderon.

Calderon had 18 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds to lead short-handed Toronto over the Houston Rockets 103-96 Sunday, giving the Raptors consecutive wins for the first time in eight long months.

Calderon started for the third straight game in place of the injured Kyle Lowry, who has a tear in his right triceps.

The 31-year-old Spanish guard, who’s the longest serving Raptor, has been a perennial backup in Toronto…

Alan Anderson had 24 points, while DeMar DeRozan added 19 points for the Raptors, who hadn’t won consecutive games since April 13 and 15 of last season.

Ed Davis added 13 points for Toronto.

James Harden scored 28 points for the Rockets, while Marcus Morris added 19.

The Raptors took a 77-71 lead into the fourth quarter, and stretched their advantage to nine points. But Houston made for some tense moments late in the game, cutting Toronto’s lead to four points with a couple of minutes to go.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Rockets recall Terrence Jones from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled forward Terrence Jones from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Jones is scheduled to be active for this afternoon’s game at Toronto (12/16/12).

Jones (6-9, 252, Kentucky ), who was assigned to the Vipers on Dec. 14, has averaged 22.5 points and 17.5 rebounds in two starts with Rio Grande Valley this season.

Rockets re-assign Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones to D-League

The Houston Rockets today re-assigned rookies Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets’ NBA Development League affiliate. The assignments are the 51st and 52nd of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons, while Motiejunas and Jones are two of 34 NBA players to have been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.

Motiejunas (7-0, 222, Kaunas, Lithuania) returns to the Vipers having played in two games for the team in November, averaging 24.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 37.0 minutes. Originally selected in the first round (20th overall) by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2011 NBA Draft and later traded to Houston, Motiejunas has appeared in four games for the Rockets this season, scoring three points in 10 minutes.

Jones (6-9, 252, Kentucky) rejoins the Vipers following a two-game assignment earlier in the season. In those two games he averaged 22.5 points, 17.5 rebounds, 1.0 block and 36.0 minutes. Jones has appeared in eight games for the Rockets this season, averaging 4.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 10.0 minutes. Selected in the first round (18th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft by the Rockets, Jones averaged 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 76 career games for the Wildcats. A member of the 2012 NCAA Championship team, Jones earned Second-Team All-SEC honors last season and was selected the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2010-11.

Motiejunas and Jones are expected to join the Vipers today and be available on Saturday, Dec. 15 when the team travels to face the Texas Legends at 8:00 p.m. ET.

OJ Mayo scores 40, Mavs beat Rockets in Kevin McHale`s return

Chris Kaman scored half as many points as O.J. Mayo for the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Considering the way Kaman’s left ankle looked, those 20 points were just as impressive to coach Rick Carlisle.

Mayo tied a career high with 40 points, including 10 in the last three minutes, to lift the Mavericks to a 116-109 victory over the Rockets in coach Kevin McHale’s return to the Houston bench.

Kaman left the Mavericks’ last game on Thursday night with a sprained left ankle. He started Saturday night and played more than 18 minutes despite the left side of his ankle being almost completely covered by a deep purple bruise…

Kaman also had seven rebounds for Dallas, and Vince Carter and Darren Collison had 12 points apiece…

Harden had 30 points at halftime, but the Mavericks slowed him down in the second half. He scored just nine points in the second half.

McHale rejoined the team on Saturday after almost a month away from the team, and two weeks after the death of his daughter…

The Rockets battled back from a 19-point deficit with a strong second quarter to lead at halftime and were up by nine points with 7 1/2 to go. But Mayo got hot and the Rockets came up short as Dallas extended its winning streak in the series to eight games…

Chandler Parsons made the second of two free throws for the Rockets before Mayo scored five quick points to extend the Mavericks’ lead to 107-101 with less than three minutes left.

Parsons finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Harden had nine assists and six rebounds.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Kevin McHale set to return to Rockets

Rockets coach Kevin McHale will return to the team tonight, a person with knowledge of the decision said Saturday.

It was unclear whether McHale, who has been on a leave of absence since Nov. 10, whether McHale would entirely resume his coaching duties or would coach during the game tonight against the Dallas Mavericks, but will likely meet with the team at its pregame walk through and could resume coaching as soon as tonight.

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Blog)

Douglas leads Rockets over Lakers 107-105

Interim Houston coach Kelvin Sampson is always reminding his reserves that there will be some nights when the team’s stars will struggle and the Rockets will need them to pick up the slack.

Tuesday was one of those nights.

Toney Douglas had a season-high 22 points and Greg Smith added a career-best 21 to help the Rockets overcome a tough outing by James Harden and rally for a 107-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers…

The Lakers had a 13-point lead with less than 10 minutes to go. But Houston used two big runs, including a 9-2 spurt capped by a 3-pointer from Douglas to take its first lead of the game – 100-99 – with about 2 1/2 minutes left…

Harden finished with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, but entered the fourth quarter with just eight points after shooting 2 of 18 through the first three quarters. Jeremy Lin also struggled offensively, going 2 of 8 for four points…

Bryant led the Lakers with 39 points and Howard had 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Rockets fouled Howard repeatedly in the last 3 1/2 minutes, gambling that sending him to the line would be better than allowing the Lakers to get the ball in Bryant’s hands.

Howard went 5 for 10 from the line in that stretch and was eight of 16 overall.

— Reported by Kristie Rieken of the Associated Press

Rockets recall Terrence Jones from D-League

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has recalled forward Terrence Jones from Houston’s single-affiliation NBA D-League partner Rio Grande Valley.

Jones (6-9, 252, Kentucky), who was assigned to the Vipers on Nov. 30, averaged 22.5 points and 17.5 rebounds in two starts with Rio Grande Valley. In his D-League debut at Tulsa (11/30/12), Jones posted 27 points (9-17 FG, 3-7 3FG, 6-10 FT), 16 rebounds and two blocks. Jones followed that up with 18 points (8-21 FG) and 19 boards at Texas (12/1/12).

Rockets forward Patterson developing into consistent scoring option

“The ball seems to be dropping,” Patterson said. “I’m capitalizing on my opportunities, taking shots, got a couple offensive rebounds for putbacks. My teammates are looking for me a lot more than prior to the season and my shots have been falling.”

His offensive surge is not quite that simple, though it has been indisputable. Patterson has scored at least 20 points in the Rockets’ past three games (and four of five games) after never reaching 20 in consecutive games before. He had a career-high 27 Tuesday against Toronto despite sitting out the bulk of the first quarter with foul trouble and most of the fourth as the Rockets closed out the rout.

This does not seem to be an aberration. In the past 10 games since a slow start while adjusting to the retooled offense and his role as a first-time starter, Patterson has made 55 percent of his shots overall, 42.9 percent from beyond the arc while averaging 17 points per game.

After attempting just five 3-pointers in his first two seasons, most to beat the shot clock and all missed, he has made 12 of 32 3-pointers this season, 6 of 12 last week.

— Reported by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Blog)