Tag: Mike D’Antoni

Rockets decry defensive lapses vs. Dallas in third straight loss

The Rockets made just 10-of-44 three-pointers in Sunday’s loss, but they primarily blamed their leaky defense — which allowed 137 points.

The Rockets gave up 45 points to the Dallas Mavericks in Sunday’s first quarter and couldn’t overcome that early deficit in a 137-123 home defeat (box score) at Toyota Center. It’s the third straight loss for Houston (11-6) following a recent eight-game winning streak.

The Mavs (11-5) were led by 41 points and 10 assists from second-year guard sensation Luka Doncic, along with 23 points and 13 rebounds from 7-foot-3 forward Kristaps Porzingis. They led for the entire game.

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“It’s one of those games where you’ve got to force yourself to have the juice to start,” head coach Mike D’Antoni said postgame. “A 2:30 start coming back from LA [Los Angeles], an emotional game on Friday, and we were flat and they weren’t. They punched us good, and we fall all the way back. A lot of times when you do that, you run out of gas. I had to play James [Harden] extra minutes early to get us stabilized, and you then don’t have the juice to finish it off. Above all, [Dallas] played really well.”

The Rockets trailed by 16 points after the first quarter and by 20 in the third quarter before making a push, clawing back to within five on two occasions early in the fourth quarter. But as D’Antoni alluded to, the Rockets spent so much energy during the comeback that they didn’t seem to have anything left down the stretch.

James Harden led the way with 32 points and 11 assists, but he made just 2-of-15 (13.3%) from behind the three-point arc. Off the bench, Ben McLemore and Austin Rivers were a combined 0-of-9 on three-pointers.

Overall, despite numerous open looks Houston made just 10-of-44 (22.7%) from three-point range — while Dallas connected on 17 of their 44 attempts (38.6%). That 21-point gap on the same number of shots was much more than the final margin between the teams.

However, the Rockets were much more concerned postgame about their lethargic early defense than they were the bad shooting.

“Our defensive was not where it needed it to be from the beginning of the game,” said veteran defensive ace P.J. Tucker, who scored 16 points (7-of-10 shooting) in 36 minutes. “We knew they were one of the best first half teams in the league. We had to assert ourselves early, and we didn’t.”

“We allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do [offensively] from the beginning of the game,” added Harden. “When you give a team like that comfort and the ability to do whatever they want, they gain confidence, and that’s what they did.”

As one might expect given the total of 123 points, the Rockets had plenty of stat-stuffers. Starting center Clint Capela had 21 points and 22 rebounds, which tied Dennis Rodman for the NBA’s longest streak (at seven games) since 1976 of consecutive games with at least 19 rebounds.

Danuel House Jr. returned from a one-game absence due to a sore shoulder and added 16 points, including three of Houston’s 10 three-pointers. Russell Westbrook had 27 points and six assists, and his 40% clip (2-of-5) on three-pointers was his best mark from three-point range since the season opener back on Oct. 24. Westbrook also had several acrobatic layups during Houston’s rally late in the third quarter and early in the fourth as the Rockets cut into the lead.

But none of it was enough to fully overcome the early deficit, and the Rockets are putting the blame squarely on themselves for surrendering 45 points in the first quarter.

“When you have to be perfect, it’s hard,” Rivers said. “We put ourselves in a hole to where we had to be perfect to win the game.”

The Rockets return to action Wednesday at home versus Miami (11-4), which means it won’t be easy for Houston to snap its current three-game slide. The Heat crushed the Rockets by 29 points earlier this month, though that game was in Miami. Houston then won its next eight games.

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