Rockets make history....win 20 in a row

[Bull's-eye]

Rockets tie the Bucks for the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history. Rockets defeat Atlanta 83-75, led by T-Mac with 28 points. The Rockets had to fight hard to keep a young talented Atlanta team from breaking their streak. Atlanta has defeated Utah, Dallas, LA Lakers, Cleveland, Phoenix & Denver at home and wanted nothing more than to put another notch on their belt.

[zebrablue2]

Congrats to Houston. I got greedy in the end and wanted them to win by 10 to keep that streak alive but, oh well. Would have been 11 straight and a NBA record I think...

[Bull's-eye]

Rockets are now leading the Southwest division, as San Antonio loses to New Orleans 100-75.

[Bull's-eye]

Here's a quote from Rick Adlman on their 20th straight win: “It may be the ugliest thing we’ve done, but it might have been the best one, the way we fought through it.”

Two players that showed lots of fight were Scola & Hayes. Both players each recorded 12 rebounds including 6 on the offensive glass.

[Reds fan]

Last night's game looked like an old Eastern Conference playoff game, defense oriented, low scoring, most times ugly basketball but it's sure good to see the Rockets pull it out! Watching Matumbo's enthusiasm on or off the court is great to see.

[crzyjournalist03]

I'll have to admit, I haven't seen a heck of a lot of their games lately, but I do have a sincere question for Rockets fans.

They've won 20 in a row, most by blowouts. Do you guys worry at all though that once they fall, they might fall hard?

I mean, teams that are basically .500 don't go on 20 game winning streaks...heck, nobody goes on 20 game winning sreaks, not even the 90s Bulls.

Is this team just really streaky, or are they this good? If they're streaky, you have to at least have some concern about them losing five or six in a row once they drop a game.

And if they are really as good as they've been playing lately, doesn't it worry you that it took them half a season to start playing good basketball?

I hope nobody thinks I'm trying to stir something up here, but I'm truly interested in the diehard Rocket fan's perspective on this.

[pirate4state]

When do they play again & who do they play?

[crzyjournalist03]

I believe Charlotte is up next...tomorrow?

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by crzyjournalist03
I'll have to admit, I haven't seen a heck of a lot of their games lately, but I do have a sincere question for Rockets fans.

They've won 20 in a row, most by blowouts. Do you guys worry at all though that once they fall, they might fall hard?

I mean, teams that are basically .500 don't go on 20 game winning streaks...heck, nobody goes on 20 game winning sreaks, not even the 90s Bulls.

Is this team just really streaky, or are they this good? If they're streaky, you have to at least have some concern about them losing five or six in a row once they drop a game.

And if they are really as good as they've been playing lately, doesn't it worry you that it took them half a season to start playing good basketball?

I hope nobody thinks I'm trying to stir something up here, but I'm truly interested in the diehard Rocket fan's perspective on this.

I can't answer for all Rocket's fans, but I'll give you my .02 cents.

The Rockets had several things going against them earlier this year. They had a new coach with a new system and they were playing some rookies. Once the system was in place and the rookies had some game time (Scola learning to play NBA ball) things started clicking.

As far as them being this good or just streaky, if it was just a streak, why haven't more teams done it? I'm not convinced that they are poised to make it to the finals yet, but a team doesn't roll up 20 wins because they are streaky.

That said, 12 of those wins were with the best center in the league, Yao Ming. Some people say that the Rockets are better without Yao. Those same people don't understand basketball. Are they more exciting without Yao? Maybe so. But more exciting doesn't mean better.

Last night's game was a test of this team's character. The next week and a half will be another great test for this team as they face some of the best competition in the West. I don't expect them to make in through the next 6 games undefeated.

It's going to be an interesting end to the regular season in the Western Conference.:)

[Maroon87]

I don't know what the Spurs got in return for Scola, but it wasn't enough.

[JasperDog94]

Originally posted by Maroon87
I don't know what the Spurs got in return for Scola, but it wasn't enough. Spanoulis (sp?)

[Bull's-eye]

Originally posted by crzyjournalist03
I'll have to admit, I haven't seen a heck of a lot of their games lately, but I do have a sincere question for Rockets fans.

I mean, teams that are basically .500 don't go on 20 game winning streaks...heck, nobody goes on 20 game winning sreaks, not even the 90s Bulls.

And if they are really as good as they've been playing lately, doesn't it worry you that it took them half a season to start playing good basketball?

JasperDog94's 2 cents were on the money, but here's some of my views.

First of all the Rockets aren't basically a .500 team. In the past, when Yao & T-Mac stayed on the court, this team has been outstanding. This year the Rockets added several new players and a new system, in which Adelman told everybody don't worry how we start the season, but how we finish. The NBA started Houston off with one of the most difficult schedules in the league and then T-Mac was lost for several weeks. This is when the other players knew they had to do their part and not depend on 1 or 2 players. They started to play as a team and when T-Mac returned, things really started to mesh. Yes, they were 24-20 when this streak started, but in all reality they were better than their record indicated.

Adelman struggled early to fit Yao's post up game into his moving style of offense. It's kind of the same problem Phoenix is facing with Shaq. He finally blended the two styles and the Rockets were a team that could go big or go small. I didn't worry that it took half the season because you could see the consistant improvement. Scola & Landry have made remarkable gains and the Rockets finally learned how to play as a team. They have great chemistry and the only thing that matters is getting the win. I do worry that they really can't go big anymore and that may be their downfall. Momentum has kept this streak alive and I wonder what will happen after a loss or two. Nobody gave them a chance when they had Yao, so I'm sure everybody has written them off by now. That's fine with the Rockets, that's the kind of motivation that makes this team click.

[Necks_Fan]

Originally posted by crzyjournalist03
I'll have to admit, I haven't seen a heck of a lot of their games lately, but I do have a sincere question for Rockets fans.

They've won 20 in a row, most by blowouts. Do you guys worry at all though that once they fall, they might fall hard?

I mean, teams that are basically .500 don't go on 20 game winning streaks...heck, nobody goes on 20 game winning sreaks, not even the 90s Bulls.

Is this team just really streaky, or are they this good? If they're streaky, you have to at least have some concern about them losing five or six in a row once they drop a game.

And if they are really as good as they've been playing lately, doesn't it worry you that it took them half a season to start playing good basketball?

I hope nobody thinks I'm trying to stir something up here, but I'm truly interested in the diehard Rocket fan's perspective on this. I would love to give my opinion.


Sure I worry that once the streak is broken, probably in the next 5 games, that they will fall off some but I still expect them to make the playoffs and get a good seed and probably Home court.

Like 2 previously have said, they are not overly great and they aern't just streaky. They play as a team and fundamently sound and they hustle and that is what wins them games. Last night was a great example. They went down 4-14 in the first but scrapped back and they had 5 offensive rebounds in the last 2 mins I think. Great stat.

They do it on the strength of Role play, knocking down shots, and defense.

It took them this long te get rolling because of a new system, rookies, and injuries to T-mac early in the year. They are really buying into Adelman's sytem now and it's showing.

They play Charlotte on Fri

Then they begin a very tough streak

Lakers(H)
Celtics(H)
Hornets(A)
Jazz(A)????

Anyway, you get the point.

[Bull's-eye]

A lot of people say the Rockets haven't defeated any good teams. Here is a list of the top teams that have lost to the Rockets:

Lakers, San Antonio x2, Utah, New Orleans x2, Phoenix, Dallas, Golden State, Denver x2, Detroit, Orlando & Cleveland x2. They own road victories over LA, Utah, NO, Phoenix, Dallas, Orlando & Cleveland. They only played Boston once and lost 97-93 on the road. Tracy McGrady didn't play in that game.

[Bull's-eye]

Good luck to the Rockets, hopefully they aren't looking ahead to the Lakers.