Spurs vs. Rockets Previews

Houston (46-25) at San Antonio (45-23) Preview
Game info: 3:30 pm EDT Sun Mar 22, 2009
By Mike Lipka

The Houston Rockets weren’t even assured of a playoff berth when Tracy McGrady played his final game of the season Feb. 9, but thanks to an impressive run without their seven-time All-Star, they’re suddenly on the brink of taking over the division lead.

A road victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday afternoon would vault the red-hot Rockets past their in-state rivals and into a slim lead in the Southwest Division heading into their final 10 games of the season.

“Who would’ve thought we’d be here?” Houston forward Shane Battier said. “We’ve stayed the course, stayed together and we’ve set ourselves up for this matchup.”

Coming into the season, the Rockets (46-25) had high hopes of surpassing the Spurs and earning their first division title since 1993-94—a quest seemingly derailed by inconsistency and injuries to McGrady and veteran Ron Artest.

But they’ve been at their best since McGrady’s last appearance, even after the star guard decided on season-ending knee surgery last month. Houston has gone 15-4 since the last time McGrady saw the court.

Although the Rockets lost 88-85 at home to San Antonio last Saturday, they’ve now won three straight while the Spurs (45-23) have dropped two of three, cutting Houston’s deficit to a half-game even though San Antonio still holds a two-game edge in the loss column.

A victory Sunday would give the Rockets a slightly better winning percentage than the Spurs, who’ve played three fewer games.

The teams sit in second and third overall in the Western Conference, although five other clubs are within four games of San Antonio - including New Orleans, which is two games back in the division.

A key road win over the Hornets started Houston’s three-game winning streak, which continued with a double-overtime victory over Detroit and a 107-88 win over Minnesota on Friday night as seven different Rockets scored in double figures.

But the remaining schedule looks especially difficult for the Rockets, who play seven of their last 11 on the road - with five of those seven against teams with winning records. They’re 17-17 on the road this season.

“We know that we have 11 games left and we play a lot of road games against good teams for the most part,” Houston coach Rick Adelman said. “You just have to keep going out, you just have to keep trying to win games and see what happens.”

The Rockets have had major problems winning in San Antonio, where they’ve dropped three straight and 20 of their last 22. Another home victory would give the Spurs the season series after the teams split four games in 2007-08.

But San Antonio continues to play without injured guard Manu Ginobili, and has been struggling to score while dropping three of its last five.

Friday night’s 80-77 home loss to Boston marked the second time the Spurs failed to reach 80 points in the last three games - the other in an ugly 78-76 loss at Oklahoma City on Monday.

“We’re better than the way we played and executed at the end,” Spurs guard Roger Mason said Friday. “It’s a tough loss but we’re in a tight situation right now and Sunday is going to be big for us.”

One major problem has been San Antonio’s bench, which contributed only 15 points against the Celtics after scoring 13 versus the Thunder.

While Tony Parker averaged 26.5 points in those games and has now scored at least 20 points in seven straight games, Tim Duncan has gone 12 straight games without scoring that many and has missed time recently with sore knees.

Notes

Rockets:

The Rockets were 14-of-14 from the free-throw line in Friday's win and 11-of-20 from 3-point range. ... Seven players reached double figures in scoring for Houston.

Spurs:

G Manu Ginobili returned to practice this week for the first time since the All-Star break. Ginobili has missed 17 consecutive games with a right ankle injury but may finally be getting ready to return. ... G Tony Parker had a great all-around Friday, collecting 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Team Stat Leaders

Points

Yao Ming Hou 19.8
Tony Parker SA 21.4

Rebounds

Yao Ming Hou 9.7
Tim Duncan SA 10.7

Assists

Tracy McGrady Hou 5.0
Tony Parker SA 6.8

Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10

Houston 46-25 2nd Southwest / 3rd West 98.6 94.6 Road 17-17 Won 3 7-3

San Antonio 45-23 1st Southwest / 2nd West 96.7 92.9 Home 24-10 Lost 1 6-4

Showdown Sunday: The Rockets can gain first place - and more
Jonathan Feigen

For 48 minutes, the Rockets kept their sights on the Timberwolves, never sneaking a glance to the games ahead.

They could not have known during their pounding of the Timberwolves that the Spurs would lose to the Celtics, making Sunday's game in San Antonio a showdown for the Southwest Division lead. (Nice call by ABC/ESPN on that one, dropping the game from its schedule in favor of Detroit-Miami.) But the Rockets did not let themselves play the Timberwolves as if they had bigger and better things in mind.

As soon as it ended, however, the Rockets knew what was next.

It is not a test.

OK, maybe it is in a way, but it is really something more valuable than that.

The Rockets have played 71 games. They have had tests. These next two games, on the home floors of the Spurs and Jazz, are an opportunity to take another step toward becoming the sort of team that wins in those sort of environments, and at times that really are in the playoffs, rather than merely "a playoff atmosphere."

It doesn't matter if they play well enough to look like a team ready to do something in the postseason. It is not about appearances. It is about actually doing it. And these games against very familiar opponents, are the sort that can use, that perhaps they need to grow into a team that can win anywhere.

"And we will have a few more of those," Luis Scola said. "We will have Utah in Utah, New Orleans at home, Dallas in Dallas. Those type of games are playoff type of games. It's good for us. It's good training. It's a good thing for us."

While the Rockets improved their record and standing in the Western Conference playoff race, they also improved themselves. Funning how those things go together. They have become a solid team able to look forward to games like Sunday as preparations for the playoffs to come. They don't look out of place in third in the West, and if they play well on Sunday, it will not be a shocker.

They know, however, that they must get better still. Fun as seeing their name on top of the division standings would be, the games to come are more valuable as a way to get stronger for the next series of bigger and better things to come.

Thanks Duncan228, good article.

:toast

Here we go baby...Let's get ready to rumble. The rivalry continued. Only this time, it's a REALLY important reg. season game. I'm so ready for this. GO SPURS GO!!

Rockets 86
Spurms 55

Final Score !!!

:lol

Houston never really came together with McGrady, Yao and Artest. With TMac out, they seem to have found some cohesiveness and are playing very well.

They could possibly catch us---or be one of those playoff teams that no one wants to play.

The West has just been battered up with injuries this year.

Just because the Rockets have played like a game or 2 more than us that's why they would pass us in the division standings...they would have one more loss than us anyway if they were to win tomorrow.

At Center Court with Rockets Buzz

Should be a great game tomorrow. Thanks for the reads.:toast

I'll be at the game tommorow afternoon! Should be a dandy!

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Originally Posted by Sausage

I'll be at the game tommorow afternoon! Should be a dandy!

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It should. Have a great time.

Rockets Notes: Artest will help fill Landry's void
By Jonathan Feigen

With Carl Landry out, Ron Artest likely will help fill in behind Luis Scola depending on power forward matchups.

Artest’s play improved considerably when he began getting the majority of his playing time at shooting guard — in a large part because the right ankle that bothered him in the first half of the season has grown stronger since the All-Star break — but he said he can still contribute down low if needed.

“Some minutes,” he said. “You definitely want Luis and Chuck (Hayes) and those guys to do what they do best at the four. I like those guys at the four, playing their position. When I’m at the four, I’m probably a little bit quicker than some of those guys at the four to bring them outside, make them feel uncomfortable. If they go small, I can take the smaller guy in the post. The four is not a bad thing.

“Those guys, Carl and Luis are so much better at rebounding the ball than I am. It’s good when they’re at the four. I’m going to have to rebound the ball, but those guys are very good rebounders, especially on the offensive glass. It’s great when those guys are in the game.”

This game should be on ABC. Not sure what would help the Hornets more. Usually root for the Rockets, but its tight in the division.

Sunday: Rockets (46-25) at Spurs (45-23)
Express-News

Time: 2:30 p.m.
TV: KMYS
Radio: WOAI-AM 1200, KCOR-AM 1350

STARTING LINEUPS
POS - SPURS - ROCKETS

PG - 9 Tony Parker (6-2, 8th yr) - 0 Aaron Brooks (6-0, 2nd yr)
Parker carrying Spurs right now, but missed FTs vs. Boston were costly.

SG - 8 Roger Mason Jr. (6-5, 5th yr) - 96 Ron Artest (6-7, 10th yr)
In past five games, Mason 5 of 16 from 3-point range.

SF - 4 Michael Finley (6-7, 14th yr) - 31 Shane Battier (6-8, 8th yr)
Battier, the No-Stats All-Star, has scored in double figures twice this month.

PG - 21 Tim Duncan (6-11, 12th yr) - 4 Luis Scola (6-9, 2nd yr)
Duncan hasn’t topped 20 points in a game since Feb. 17 loss at New York.

C - 15 Matt Bonner (6-10, 5th yr) - 11 Yao Ming (7-6, 7th yr)
Yao averaged 22.5 points in two games since sitting out with flu.

SPURS RESERVES

12 Bruce Bowen, F, 6-7, 13th yr
90 Drew Gooden, F, 6-10, 8th yr
1 Malik Hairston, G, 6-6, 1st yr
3 George Hill, G, 6-2, 1st yr
7 Fabricio Oberto, C/F, 6-10, 4th yr
40 Kurt Thomas, C/F, 6-9, 14th yr
5 Ime Udoka, G/F, 6-5, 5th yr

ROCKETS RESERVES

7 Kyle Lowry, G, 6-0, 3rd yr
44 Chuck Hayes, F, 6-6, 4th yr
13 Von Wafer, G, 6-3, 4th yr
55 Dikembe Mutombo, C, 7-2, 18th yr
43 Brian Cook, F, 6-9, 6th yr
17 Brent Barry, G, 6-7, 14th yr
8 James White, G/F, 6-7, 2nd yr

COACHES

Spurs: Gregg Popovich
Rockets: Rick Adelman

INJURIES

Spurs: Ian Mahinmi (right ankle surgery) and Manu Ginobili (stress reaction, right ankle) are out.

Rockets: Tracy McGrady (microfracture surgery, left knee), Joey Dorsey (plantar fasciitis, right foot) and Carl Landry (surface wound, left calf) are out.

PROJECTED INACTIVE PLAYERS

Spurs: Jacque Vaughn, Ginobili, Mahinmi

Rockets: Dorsey, McGrady, Landry

NOTABLE

With a victory tonight, the Rockets can overtake the Spurs in the Southwest Division and for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Spurs lead by half a game. ..... Spurs can clinch tiebreaker over the Rockets with win. ..... This is the second meeting between these teams in eight days. Spurs won 88-85 in Houston on March 14.

- Jeff McDonald

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Originally Posted by Hornets78

This game should be on ABC.

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ABC dropped the ball again...Spurs/Rockets is much better than Miami @ Detroit. Ideally should have been a double-header.

I miss the NBC/ABC Triple Headers.

Why do they want to show Miami/Detroit instead of Rockets/spurs? Come on this is a division rival game and miami/detroit are both terrible.

Bowen needs to be on Artest a majority of the game

Fight for first
The Rockets today can move past the Spurs and Tim Duncan
By Jonathan Feigen

The Rockets had resisted the urge to look ahead but now were free to let their minds wander.

They thought of the sort of atmosphere and opponent that will be waiting today and in the postseason. They thought of previous struggles against the San Antonio Spurs, a team so often hardened by triumphing in those circumstances. They thought of the closing minutes, when tight and tough games are decided, and seemed to hope to feel that heat again.

They said relatively little about the chance to move past the Spurs and into first in the Southwest Division with a win today in San Antonio.

Ron Artest said that would be “fun.” Fun, he said, is important. The Rockets, however, considered today’s game a chance to measure and toughen themselves for the similar, more important games ahead.

“If we’re going to make it through the playoffs, we have to play against the tough teams,” Rockets guard Aaron Brooks said. “We have a lot of good games on the road.

“Both teams are going to come out and play hard. It’s going to be a playoff-type atmosphere. It will be a good test for us, like a playoff game.”

Though the Rockets listed many postseason similarities they expect to find waiting at the AT&T Center this afternoon, they were most drawn to a chance to make the corrections from their previous game against the Spurs. Today’s game does not come as quickly as in a postseason series, but it has been just eight days since the Spurs took over down the stretch in Toyota Center, much as they did when scoring the final 12 points in their win against the Rockets in San Antonio.

End game matters most

The Rockets blew out the Spurs in their other meeting and played them close in the two losses. But handling those closing moments, when the Spurs execute with the precision of a team that has won championships together, was quickly cited as a next step more important than a chance to move up a notch in the standings.

“The one thing that was a learning process for us in that game is understanding in the fourth quarter what we’re going to do or what we need to do,” said Brent Barry, a member of the past two San Antonio championship teams. “We didn’t handle that well against the Spurs the last time we played them. We didn’t get the ball in effectively or get good quality possessions at the end of the game. Obviously, when you start getting ready for post-season basketball … you have to be very good down the stretch of any close game. If we have another opportunity on the road to do that, I think it will be great for us to see if we can do better.

“We have a lot of young guys that need an experience of having close games and having them make the right play at the right times. For Aaron and Kyle (Lowry), for Ron (Artest) and Yao (Ming) to understand what each is capable of at the end of the game, and most important, for Coach (Rick) Adelman to see who he can trust at the end of the game with the ball and who is going to get it to him and try to be better at that.”

On the other end, the Rockets expect no surprises. The key, they said, is to defend a contender when it is at its best.

“We know what the Spurs are going to do,” Shane Battier said. “They’re going to high pick-and-roll. They’re going to post Duncan. They’re going to spread the floor. Can we eliminate the mistakes we had against them, especially in the fourth quarter, against them this time? That’s the name of the game come playoff time.”

Containing Parker key

When asked the adjustment the Rockets most need to make, Brooks pointed to his position, where Tony Parker ran the San Antonio offense expertly in the fourth quarter.

“I think we need to contain Parker a little bit more,” Brooks said. “Not only did he have 28 points, he had nine assists. I want to contain him a little more. If he gets his points, fine, but make sure he is not creating for the other team. That’s the point guard’s objective.”

Pass or fail, today’s test is not a final examination. The Rockets go from Sunday’s game to face their postseason tormenters, the Utah Jazz, in EnergySolutions Arena on Tuesday.

More than games to test themselves, the Rockets said these are games to prepare them for the similar challenges to come.

“We will have a few more of those,” Luis Scola said. “We will have Utah in Utah, New Orleans at home, Dallas in Dallas. Those type of games are playoff-type of games. It’s good for us. It’s good training. It’s a good thing for us.”

Today, however, they likely will not have to worry about looking ahead to future games. But once freed to consider a March game for the division lead, they allowed themselves a moment to look back at a strange and difficult road that brought them to this point.

“Well, who’d have thought?” Battier said. “Who’d have thought we’d be here? Lo and behold, we stayed the course and stayed together and set ourselves up for this matchup. We haven’t played the Spurs well this year. We’re 1-2 in the series. So we need to get this for tiebreaker purposes, for a lot of reasons. It will be a fun game.”

Finally, they could look forward to it.

Rockets notes: Homecoming for Barry
By Jonathan Feigen

In time for the Rockets’ final game this season in San Antonio, Brent Barry will play at AT&T Center for the first time since he left the Spurs for the Rockets this offseason.

Barry had a sprained thumb in November and did not play in the Rockets’ previous game in San Antonio.

“(It was) a little bit (disappointing,)” Barry said. “I’m looking forward to Sunday just being out on the court and seeing some friends and people that live on my block, razzing them a little bit, and we’ll see if we can put together a win.

“I enjoyed all my time there and look forward to going back there (today) and seeing if we can put together a good game on the road.”

No national TV

Today’s game time was moved from noon to 2:30 when it was dropped from the ABC schedule in favor of today’s game between the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat. It will be televised locally on Fox Sports-Houston.

Starters get rest

The Rockets’ rout on Friday allowed coach Rick Adelman to limit his starters to a combined eight fourth-quarter minutes.

“It’s been 70 games already, and I think some of our players get tired, either their bodies or mentally,” said Yao Ming, who did not play in the fourth quarter. “The second unit played strong. It really helps us to just have some off time and to allow your body to recover.”

Referee Assignments
Sun. Mar. 22
Houston @ San Antonio: D. Bavetta, B. Kennedy, E. Lewis

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Originally Posted by shelshor

Referee Assignments
Sun. Mar. 22
Houston @ San Antonio: D. Bavetta, B. Kennedy, E. Lewis

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D. Bavetta


Hooray!

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Originally Posted by RenaldoBalkman

D. Bavetta


Hooray!

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:wow:wow:wow

Is he still going?!?!

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Originally Posted by Artest_Is_Fearless

Why do they want to show Miami/Detroit instead of Rockets/spurs? Come on this is a division rival game and miami/detroit are both terrible.

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Because the media has been licking d-wade's azz all season. kobe, lebron or d-wade would get priority over the matchup of the day. It would be nice if the league intervened in situations like this but it just shows another example of why espn sucks.

Losing @ATT to Lakers, Cavs, Celts and Rockets, esp post ASB, is a bad omen.

Come on, Spurs, put together 4 qtrs and a crunch time of playoff basketball.

is this game going to be shown in austin? i only have blackout on my league pass. i want to record myself since i am going to be at the game behind the rockets bench. i'll be the guy with the artest jersey and the old school rockets golden t-shirt as an undershirt.

http://blacksportsonline.com/index/2...on_Rockets.gif

LETS GO ROCKETS!

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Originally Posted by Indazone

http://blacksportsonline.com/index/2...on_Rockets.gif

LETS GO ROCKETS!

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Let's do this.

Southwest Showdown: Rockets try to pass Spurs in division

(Sports Network) - The top spot in the Southwest Division is up for grabs this afternoon, as the Houston Rockets try to inch closer to the San Antonio Spurs in a showdown at the AT&T Center.

Houston has won three straight games and sits just a half game behind the Spurs for the lead in the division. It will also visit the Utah Jazz on the quick trek and owns a 17-17 record as the visitor this season. In Friday's 107-88 victory versus Minnesota, Ron Artest led all scorers with 20 points and also had six assists and five rebounds in a winning effort.

Yao Ming had 14 points and eight boards for Houston, which has won seven of nine games overall and got 13 points from both Von Wafer and Aaron Brooks. The Rockets are currently seeded third in the West, a half game behind the Spurs.

San Antonio has alternated wins and losses over its last six games and is coming off Friday's 80-77 setback versus the Boston Celtics.

Tony Parker and Michael Finley combined to miss six crucial free throws down the stretch for the Spurs, who are 1-1 on a four-game homestand and 24-10 in the Alamo City this season. Parker had 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, while Tim Duncan returned from a one-game absence (sore knees) to finish with 15 points and nine boards.

The Spurs, seeded second in the West, will also welcome the Golden State Warriors to town on the current homestand. They continue to play without Manu Ginobili because of an ankle problem and he has missed 17 straight games, last playing in a February 11 setback at Toronto.

San Antonio has won two of three against Houston this season, including a recent 88-85 triumph on March 14 at the Toyota Center. San Antonio has won 12 of 17 and 19 of the last 26 meetings with the Rockets, who have lost three straight, 20 of 22 and 27 of its last 31 trips to the AT&T Center.