Houston Rockets Blog – Page 94 – NBA Blog

Nash, Barnes, Alston suspended for fight

The AP reports: The NBA has suspended Steve Nash and Matt Barnes of Phoenix and Rafer Alston of Houston for their roles in a fight. Alston and Barnes were suspended for two games without pay and Nash for one. The league also fined Shaquille O’Neal $35,000 and Tracy McGrady $25,000 on Friday for their actions during the Rockets’ 94-82 win in Phoenix on Wednesday.

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: The scuffle broke out in the final seconds of Wednesday’s third quarter, just as Houston opened its biggest lead of 19 on a McGrady 3-pointer. On the shot, Alston set a high screen on Barnes, who lowered his shoulder hard into Alston. After the shot went in, Alston ran up on Barnes, prompting Nash to race from several feet away toward Alston and Barnes. Once he got close, McGrady shoved him to the ground and more players came to the scene with O’Neal shoving McGrady to the ground and pushing Alston and Yao Ming.

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: “It’s just overblown,” Barnes said. “They went above and beyond the call of duty here. They didn’t call a foul in my situation. We got in a little pushing match and I get suspended for two games? Rafer gets two games and Rafer threw two punches at Steve. Basically, what they’re saying is you might as well throw two punches because you got the same suspension as someone who threw two punches. Steve comes and tries to break it up and gets thrown to the ground and he gets suspended and T-Mac (McGrady) doesn’t get anything. Ridiculous.”

Fans are reacting to the suspensions here in this topic.

Nov 12: Rockets 94, Suns 82

The AP reports: Tracy McGrady scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half, 15 in a brilliant third quarter, as the Rockets pulled away to lead by as many as 19 points… McGrady, 1-for-16 shooting in his previous two games, made 11 of 18 shots, going 9-of-14 in the second half as the Rockets used a tough defense to dominate the Suns and spoil O’Neal’s big night. The Suns center scored 18 points to move past John Havlicek into 10th on the NBA career scoring list. O’Neal also grabbed 13 rebounds… What was mostly a shoving match broke out just after McGrady’s 3-pointer put Houston ahead 74-55 with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. Houston’s Rafer Alston, upset after getting a shoulder from Matt Barnes, shoved the Phoenix player at midcourt… Steve Nash rushed into middle of things and was pushed to the court by McGrady, who in turn was shoved down by O’Neal, who with one arm moved the entire scrum several feet… Yao added 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets, who led by 19 entering the fourth quarter. Aaron Brooks scored 19 and Alston 15 for Houston. The Suns’ Leandro Barbosa scored 18 on 5-for-14 shooting.

Nov 9: Lakers 111, Rockets 82

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 23 points, Pau Gasol added 20 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots, and the Lakers shot 65.8 percent in the second half in a 111-82 victory over the Houston Rockets. Jordan Farmar added 16 points and six assists, and Andrew Bynum had 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the Lakers (5-0), who trailed by 16 points early in the second quarter… Aaron Brooks, a reserve, paced Houston (4-3) with 20 points and four assists. Yao Ming, Luis Scola and Carl Landry had 12 points apiece for the Rockets, who shot 37.8 percent and were outrebounded 50-36… Houston’s Tracy McGrady, a two-time NBA scoring champion and seven-time All-Star, had his second brutal shooting performance in a row at Staples Center, going 1-of-11 for three points two days after missing all five of his field goal attempts and scoring two points in a 92-83 victory over the Clippers.

Nov 7: Rockets 92, Clippers 83

The AP reports: In a game where Tracy McGrady was merely a footnote and Ron Artest had a lackluster first half, the Houston Rockets nearly blew an early 15-point lead before reserve Carl Landry came to the rescue. Artest finished with 23 points, Landry added six of his 20 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes, and the Rockets sent the Los Angeles Clippers to their sixth straight loss with a 92-83 victory Friday night… Yao Ming had 16 points and nine rebounds. McGrady, a two-time NBA scoring champ and seven-time All-Star, missed all five shots and finished with two points in 26 minutes after averaging 22 points in the Rockets’ first five games… Chris Kaman had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles. Baron Davis also scored 23 points and Marcus Camby had 13 rebounds.

Nov 6: Blazers 101, Rockets 99 OT

The AP reports: Brandon Roy made a 30-foot jumper as time expired in overtime to lift the Portland Trail Blazers to a thrilling 101-99 win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night. LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who snapped a five-game losing streak to the Rockets in a game that featured three dramatic shots in the final 1.9 seconds. Roy first hit a turnaround 21-footer that put the Blazers up 98-96 and sent a sold-out Rose Garden into a frenzy. But Yao Ming scored and drew a foul against Roy on the other end with 0.8 seconds left, then made the free throw to give Houston the lead. Portland called timeout and the inbounds play went to Roy, who swished the winner to send a charge through the delirious crowd.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Portland, Aldridge had 27 and 9 plus 3 blocks. Brandon Roy (just 6-of-18) had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists (but 5 turnovers). Rudy Fernandez (5-of-9, 3-of-5 three-pointers) scored 15 off the bench. Travis Outlaw (5-of-12) had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks off the bench. Steve Blake had 8 points and 8 assists. For Houston, Tracy McGrady (11-of-23) had 30 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Luis Scola (7-of-10) had 14 points and 4 rebounds. Aaron Brooks (5-of-9) scored 14 off the bench. Yao Ming (4-of-13) had just 13 points and 6 rebounds. Ron Artest had a mere 10 points and 4 assists.

Nov 4: Celtics 103, Rockets 99

The AP reports: Ray Allen scored 29 points, Kevin Garnett added 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Celtics shut down Ron Artest and Yao Ming to hand Houston its first loss of the season. Tracy McGrady scored 26 points, but couldn’t rally the Rockets down the stretch… Paul Pierce added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics. Yao went 4-for-14 from the field and scored eight points for Houston. “Probably one of my worst games of all time,” Yao said… Aaron Brooks scored 12 for the Rockets, but starting point guard Rafer Alston had an off night, going 1-for-6 from the field and scoring four points.

Nov 1: Rockets 89, Thunder 77

The AP reports: Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets made up for a sputtering offense with some sparkling free-throw shooting. McGrady had 22 points, Yao Ming added 16 and the Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 89-77 on Saturday night for their third straight win. Carl Landry had 14 points and tied a career best with 11 rebounds for Houston. Ron Artest, Luis Scola and Rafer Alston added 10 points apiece… Kevin Durant, the reigning Rookie of the Year, had 26 points, five rebounds and four steals for Oklahoma City. Johan Petro and Jeff Green had 10 points each.

Rockets-Thunder team connections

Rockets Assistant Coach Jack Sikma joined Houston after spending four seasons on the coaching staff in Seattle … Sikma, who was selected by the Sonics with the eighth overall pick of the 1977 NBA Draft, had his jersey #43 retired by Seattle-Oklahoma City franchise on Nov. 21, 1992 … Houston Assistant Coach R.J. Adelman worked as an NBA advance scout for the former Sonics before coming to Houston … Gerald Madkins, Houston’s as Director of Scouting, joined the Rockets after serving as the Director of West Coast College Scouting for Seattle in 2007-08 … Brent Barry still ranks fifth all-time in Seattle-Oklahoma City franchise history with 669 3-pointers made … originally chosen by Seattle in the second round (31st overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Houston obtained the draft rights to forward Carl Landry on June 28, 2007 … Scott Brooks, an assistant coach with the Thunder, played three seasons with the Rockets (1992-95) … Oklahoma City Assistant Coach Mark Bryant also played one season with Houston (1995-96) … Thunder guard John Lucas III played two season with the Rockets (2005-07).

Oct 30: Rockets 112, Mavs 102

The AP reports: Ron Artest scored seven points during a 16-2 run late in the fourth quarter that sent the Rockets to a 112-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night. But that’s not the only way he ingratiated himself to the big guy. During the spurt, Yao caught an elbow from Dallas’ Josh Howard. When the two started to go face-to-face, Artest came running in between them… Yao finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds, and Artest scored 29 as the Rockets won their second game in as many nights… Dirk Nowitzki scored 36 points and Josh Howard added 28 points and 11 rebounds, but they scored a combined three points on 1-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter. As a team, Dallas was 6-of-24 in the period… Kidd had seven points, seven rebounds and 12 assists. Jason Terry scored 15 points. Houston’s Tracy McGrady scored 16 points, making only three of 10 shots, and sat out the fourth quarter.

Rockets exercise Aaron Brooks option

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced tonight that the team has picked up the option on the contract of guard Aaron Brooks.

Brooks (6-0, 161, Oregon) led the Rockets this preseason in scoring average (14.4) and assists per game (4.1). He was the only Houston player to post two 20-point games this preseason, as well as topping the Rockets in assists a team-best four games. Brooks also registered a game-high 23 points (7-16 FG, 4-8 3FG, 5-6 FT) vs. Sacramento (10/17/08). He holds a regular season career high of 22 points vs. New York (1/5/08), which includes a career-best four 3-pointers made.

Selected by Houston in the first round (26th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Brooks averaged 5.2 points and 1.7 assists in 51 games of his rookie season with the Rockets. He was also one of the top-10 young NBA players named to a USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that was chosen to help prepare the 2007 USA Senior National Team for its gold-medal run at the FIBA Americas Championship 2007. In addition, Brooks earned T-Mobile Rookie of the Month honors for 2007 NBA Summer League.