Game 61 Preview: Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Hornets

by ak2themax on Feb 27, 2011 11:58 AM CST in Game Previews

The Rockets look to keep their winning streak going tonight against Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets are 35-25 and in fifth place in the West.

The Rockets and Hornets have played twice this season, and both games were entertaining. Unfortunately, the Rockets lost both games, one of which they lost in overtime. We can expect lots of runs and a little more defense from New Orleans than the Rockets.

For the Rockets, this is the second game on a back-to-back and the second game in a four-games-in-five-nights trip for the Rockets. After New Orleans, the Rockets travel to Portland and then to L.A. to play the Clippers. I think if they want any shot at sneaking into the playoffs, they'll have to go 3-1 on this trip.

Update: Goran Dragic out tonight (flu-like symptoms) according to Friedman.

Matchups...

PG: Kyle Lowry vs. Chris Paul:

Playing back-to-back against the two best point guards in the league? Good luck Lowry.

Advantage: Hornets

SG: Kevin Martin vs. Willie Green:

Green is one of the those all-purpose shooting guards. His stats don't show it, but he can do a lot of damage to the Rockets.

K-Mart is rocking it as Calvin, so it continues.

Tumblr_l6xz0zzbwq1qzdhvpo1_400_medium

via 24.media.tumblr.com

Advantage: Rockets

SF: Chase Budinger vs. Trevor Ariza:

Handles is averaging 11/6/2/2 and is bothered by an ankle injury right now. I bet he still wants to beat his former team, but at least his team is currently in the playoff hunt.

And Chase! When did you turn into that guy?

Advantage: Rockets

PF: Luis Scola vs. David West:

The guy constantly kills us. I expect it to continue tonight.

On the other side, we haven't had a vintage Scola performance in a while. He played well last night, but I'm waiting for him to have one of those games where he single-handedly keeps us afloat on offense. Oh wait, I don't want that. Nevermind.

Advantage: Hornets

C: Chuck Hayes vs. Emeka Okafor:

The Hornets' playoff hopes really lie with Okafor. If he plays well, they'll have a chance to get out of the first round. If he's corralled, then you can almost guarantee that they'll pull a John Wall: one and done.

Advantage: Hornets

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Bench:

Hornets: Jarrett Jack, Carl Landry, Marco Belinelli, Aaron Gray, Quincy Pondexter, David Andersen

Rockets: Goran Dragic, Courtney Lee, Brad Miller, Terrence Williams, Patrick Patterson, Jordan Hill, Hasheem Thabeet?

Advantage: Rockets

Injuries:

Hornets: None

Rockets: Yao out

Prediction: Rockets need to win this

Rockets vs Hornets coverage

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Comments

t-will will probably get a few more minutes today

looking for a win today

by sohum on Feb 27, 2011 12:08 PM CST reply actions

This will be fun to watch

he was very focused on playing within himself last night. With a solid game behind him, he could do some damage tonight.

by makinmajik on Feb 27, 2011 12:18 PM CST up reply actions

Hoping Free TWill pays off

I hope you guys are right about more TWill minutes translating into success. But I have my doubts. I see style over substance in his game – unnecessary no look passes, superfluous fancy ball handling, and really bad shot selection. Style points don’t win games. Maybe I’m old school like Jerry Sloan, but give me some fundamentals and some hard work and the minutes will come.

by ElocFSU on Feb 28, 2011 12:58 PM CST up reply actions

He's going to have to pull it back some

you’re absolutely right.

How many Biletnikoffs does he have? NOT TWO!

by ak2themax on Feb 28, 2011 1:58 PM CST up reply actions

I think he is just excited to be playing basketball right now, he is not playing smart and just trying to impress

Reminds me of Jermaine Taylor. I think he needs like 1-2 more games to get that out of him, then he will start to play smart basketball within Aldelmans system.

by Texas08 on Mar 1, 2011 8:43 AM CST up reply actions

Start of a huge roadtrip

Win all 3 and they have a real shot at the playoffs. I give Dragic a lot of credit for last night. Played his tail off and had no idea what he was doing, he went hard. Let’s hope Lowry and Scola can pick it up a little bit tonight on defense.

by twinkilling0303 on Feb 27, 2011 12:14 PM CST reply actions

Dude has got a ridiculous amount of energy

"Why waste time learning, when ignorance is instantaneous? " ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

by TheChuckwagonisrolling on Feb 27, 2011 12:22 PM CST up reply actions

I'm sure you meant to put

2-1 on this roadtrip.

by twinkilling0303 on Feb 27, 2011 12:15 PM CST reply actions

I didn't really

I meant the four games in five nights trip. But yeah I hope we go 2-1 on this road trip to give us a 3-1 record for the whole shebang.

How many Biletnikoffs does he have? NOT TWO!

by ak2themax on Feb 27, 2011 2:25 PM CST up reply actions

Landry o.O

Returning to the 6th man role…

If you're a fan of basketball, watch a movie called Sonicsgate. It's free, just google it.

by .Bonzo on Feb 27, 2011 12:36 PM CST via mobile reply actions

I was really impressed by Dragic last night.

I wouldn’t expect to see him being that aggressive on D again. He knew he was going to get limited minutes, so he played aggressive D.

My favorite thing about him is that he drives to the rim so hard. He’s also got a good basketball IQ, and he hustles, which is a must on this team.

I was honestly disappointed by T-Will last night. I’m extremely high on this guy, but last night wasn’t a great performance. He ran the break perfectly and made a great pass to Lowry, and besides the TD pass, he didn’t play that well. His D wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, and his shot selection is what pissed me off. He has a tendency to fall in love with his jumper, and granted, all of his jumpers were open, but he has to realize he’s not a good shooter, yet. He’ll get more minues tonight, as we cannot afford to play Martin at the 3 again, due to his bad stamina.

David West is going to have his usual 30 and 12 against us, and hopefully we can slow down Paul, though it’s not likely.

We don’t pull this one out.

NO- 99

HOU- 95

"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.

by bone31crusher on Feb 27, 2011 1:45 PM CST reply actions

agreed...

T-will has been hyped a lot and he didn’t look all that great last night but it’s not really his fault since they haven’t played him at all. Some were even speculating him starting last night? I think it’s gonna take some time, even Aaron Brooks was having trouble getting his game back after being out for a while. It seems like the offensive scheme is a little complex and it really takes a long time for these guys to get used to which is why you saw a huge drop off in scoring when dragic was in there. I’m really hoping T-will can make better decisions on his shot selection…

by rabrocket on Feb 27, 2011 5:05 PM CST up reply actions

I'm excited for this guy

Looks right at home in the starting lineup. Especially excited that the one guy who can make him look good defensively is who he’s matching up against.

by Patrick Harrel on Feb 27, 2011 1:47 PM CST reply actions

There was supposed to be a picture of Budinger there...

by Patrick Harrel on Feb 27, 2011 1:48 PM CST up reply actions

I thought it was Asher Roth

by NVP on Feb 27, 2011 2:05 PM CST up reply actions

Oh there it is

It wasn’t showing up on my computer for a while

by Patrick Harrel on Feb 27, 2011 2:07 PM CST up reply actions

Who's the faggot in the Celtics jersey...

"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.

by bone31crusher on Feb 27, 2011 3:14 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs

hahahaha

by IrishThrasher on Feb 28, 2011 4:53 AM CST up reply actions

that guy

by bobobourbonface on Feb 27, 2011 2:46 PM CST reply actions

Thabeet

Saw this shirt from another comment back on Thursday

http://juicedapparel.com/collections/basketball-tees

TURN THABEET AROUND!

I think he’s gonna be great for us. I picked up the shirt, I just hope it comes in time for the Pacers game. If anyone’s going, keep an eye out for the guy in the Thabeet shirt.

There should be a Turn Thabeet Around section at the Toyota Center

by StevieFranchise on Feb 27, 2011 3:14 PM CST reply actions

whoa

Just bought it today myself. I’ll be wearing it as soon as it comes in the mail, so if it comes in by the Pacers game and you run into another dude with it, you’ll know it was me.

also, what an awesome shirt.

by andrewwax on Feb 27, 2011 3:49 PM CST up reply actions