The Rockets had a plan. They would go home, get to work and make things right.
It was a good idea, one they had cited throughout those weeks trudging through the road games of their much-discussed, brutal five-week stretch of schedule.
But no one said anything about the Rockets first dropping themselves into a 13-point crater before putting their plan in motion.
After stumbling badly early, the Rockets finally did all they had so often said they wanted to do when they got back to town, blowing past the New York Knicks 105-96 on Saturday night to end their three-game losing streak with a seventh consecutive home victory.
“I told them at halftime we could devise the greatest game plan in the world, if we don’t go out there and play hard and understand who you’re guarding and try to take things away, we don’t have a chance,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “The difference between that first half and second half was night and day.
“It really hits home, at least I hope it does. That’s how we have to play if we’re going to win.”
This was what the Rockets had talked about so often in recent weeks, and especially in often-sluggish performances in New Orleans, Los Angeles and Phoenix to start the new year.
Then the Rockets did the same thing in the first half, showing none of the urgency they had said they would have when they got home. The Knicks easily got open looks. David Lee made nine of 10 shots for 20 points in the half. With two minutes remaining before halftime, the Knicks led 55-42, and the Rockets did not appear to mind.
But in those final minutes of the half, the Rockets had a rush of scoring. Aaron Brooks pulled up for a jumper and hit 3-pointer. After Carl Landry put in a pair of free throws, Luis Scola (23 points) finished a drive. And the Rockets had recaptured the level of play they had before they left town after the New Year’s Eve win over Dallas.
“Our energy, I think that’s where it’s all at,” said Brooks, who had 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting. “We have to play with aggression and play harder. Luckily, we didn’t wait too long to start it. Once we did, we kept pressing. We kept playing hard and we kept running.”
First-half struggles
The Rockets overcame a dreadful first half, rallying back to a brief lead in the third quarter. Chuck Hayes shut down Lee in the third quarter.
The Rockets took control in the final minutes when they finished the game as they could not close similar games on the road trip.
They had begun the fourth quarter with a quick 6-1 run, with David Andersen putting in a lefthanded hook before Chase Budinger hit from 20 feet and followed that with a steal that he took to a breakaway slam for a four-point lead
But with 4½ minutes remaining, the Knicks were within three points. That’s when the Rockets took command down the stretch.
Lowry excels
With the Rockets leading by five points, Kyle Lowry poked the ball loose from Chris Duhon, the Rockets worked the shot clock down to its final ticks and Lowry nailed a long jumper, giving him 16 points off the bench.
Landry had gotten off to a 1-of-6 start, but with one last drive, he turned to his brother Marcus on the Knicks’ bench and told him to take notes, having scored 10 fourth-quarter points to push the Rockets’ lead to nine points heading into the final minute.
“I hope after tonight’s effort, we can really look at the difference in the halves,” Rockets forward Shane Battier said. “I hope we can look at ourselves and say we need to play like we played in the second half all the time. It’s been a while since we had an example to draw upon. Tonight, we did.
“It was big, really big. We lost three playing poorly. To get this one tonight, will hopefully give us momentum. This is the time to make our move. We have to play like we played in the second half for this month.”
At least that’s the plan.
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