I'm not sure what the hell got into this Houston Rockets squad, but whatever it is, I like it.

An article came out about a week or two ago about how the Rockets wanted to follow the "Denver model" with this year's team. It's safe to say the envy didn't last long. The Rockets beat Denver on the road, beat fellow starless darlings Portland on the road and now stand in fourth place in a tough Western Conference with a record of 16-11.

The season is in a stage where you can get away with saying it's still "early," but it's really not. The Rockets are nearly halfway through their schedule (the tenth toughest in the league, mind you). A month ago, we were wondering when the Rockets could be written off and when Tankapalooza 2012 could begin. Suddenly, the Rockets have put together a legitimate playoff resume with a team that isn't getting as much as usual from former consistency kings, Kevin Martin and Luis Scola.

There was a point back near the beginning of the season where I tried to defend this squad for what it was: unproven. The youngsters had taken off so quickly that we had forgotten they were still youngsters and had plenty of room to grow. They appear to be growing, and in doing so, they're saving the starters' hides with some fantastic bench play.

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All Star reserves were announced before the game. Kyle Lowry didn't make it, but he deserves a spot. Our illustrious commentators speculated that he would want to come out and play great against one of the guards who took his spot: Steve Nash. And that kind of happened at the start of the game -- Lowry shot well enough, after all, but the Rockets' starters largely sputtered and died on offense as the game wore on.

Steve Nash is an all-star, and he deserves it. Anyone watching this game can see the massive difference between the Nash Suns and the Sebastien Telfair Suns. Yes, his defense is bad, but he's still one of the most efficient players in the NBA and a brilliant passer at the age of 38.

So I guess Lowry vs. Nash could be the all-important "storyline" coming into this game, but it was instead a story of another sort: that of the Master vs. the Student: Nash against Goran Dragic. And, like Vader slaying Obi-Won (wait, that's predictable) like Sauron betraying the Elves, the student was the victor tonight.

Dragic pulled off an excellent game, 11 points (on 9 shots, which is kind of meh) with 11 assists (very good), 2 steals, and just 2 turnovers. Altogether very solid. The 11 assists are the key -- he kept finding the open man (usually a wide-open Patterson) and kept the ball moving for the second unit. Yes, there is a reason they are the Dragon Army (NOTE: McHale's Navy is stupid. It's what Basketbawful calls the Rockets. C'mon) and not Patterson's Bears or something. Dragon is absolutely Nash's student -- you can see it in the clever passes, after all -- and his ferociousness on the break, combined with his smart decisions (like a mid-air touch pass to Budinger at the rim) is proof of his lineage.

Goran Dragic played very well, but Nash put together something a little better. 14 points on perfect shooting and 13 assists (with 4 turnovers) is a great game, though one that will perhaps go unnoticed because of the loss. The difference, of course, was that the guys around Nash (Marcin Gortat excepted) just aren't as good as the guys around Dragic.

Dragic may have been the bench leader, but the bench as a whole was just wonderful. All were great. But the best performer (after Dragic) was certainly Patrick Patterson. Patterson played like the Rockets' power forward of the future, knocking down everything he was given, rebounding well, and just rarely making a mistake. We talked about this in the OALABII post -- Patterson plays very intelligent basketball. The game-icing rebound (I like thinking of it that way) was a clever little tip from Patterson (against Gortat) towards Lowry. Oh, and he scored 14 points (on 8 shots, half of which must have been wide-open jumpers he found). So, you know, P-Squared was great.

Dragic-Patterson reminds me of the '09 bench one-two of Lowry-Landry. That was pretty cool back in the day, too.

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Start Time: 8:00 PM CST

Useful Links:

Bright Side of the Sun

Game Preview

Useful Notes:

We're going to get this started a little early, because the full All-Star rosters are going to be announced on TNT at 6:00 PM (CST).

Don't forget that Lee (UofTOrange) will be on 1560AM at 6:30, too.

I like when the Rockets win games that they were not favored to win. I especially love it when we win games that the referees were blatantly trying to take away from us. And I love that our bench proves how great they can be.

I do not like when Kyle Lowry gets injured. I do not like it one bit. Especially when he was coming back alive.

I like when Luis Scola hits jumpers and attacks the basket on cuts and fast breaks.

I do not like when Luis Scola tries to dribble, pass, or "create."

We could keep doing this, but we've got another game tonight. Goran Dragic returns to Phoenix to take down the team that traded him. It's just like Air Bud, except if the ballhog kid who transferred was a good guy. And the team with the dog lost. Oddly enough, this analogy isn't working.

Let's just get to the matchups before I embarrass myself any more than normal.

One last thing though: five teams in the West have 11 losses. One more has 12, two have 13, and two have 14. The difference between fourth and thirteenth in the West is five games. Yeah, at least 12 teams in the West still have at least marginal playoff hopes. I wish the Rockets were in the East. I wish this a lot.

Extra random facts about the Suns: since the defeat in Houston, they are 3-0 with road wins over Atlanta and Milwaukee. Since the game against the Rockets, Michael Redd has played 20+ minutes in each game. Hakim Warrick did not play in any of those three games, and Shannon Brown didn't see any time in the road wins.

Seems like Gentry has found a lineup he likes. Kinda.

And remember, tip is at 8pm CST.

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Tonight makes two consecutive road wins in places that are traditionally pits of despair for the Rockets (despite being lovely cities). We can be grateful for any sort of win we might grab in either Denver or Portland, despite Denver being mostly injured and Portland being out of sorts because they lost to OKC.

When the Rockets came out to start the game tonight they were assuredly not out of sorts. The first team moved the ball well, and Scola was stroking shots, not missing anything in the first half. The first quarter was up and down, with Portland (seemingly for the first time in years) pushing the pace of the game. The Rockets shot well, Portland shot well, and between them both teams put up 58 points in the first, with the Rockets leading by 2, 30-28.

In the second quarter McHale went to the bench, and the bench proved too much for Portland. The second team was just amazing, moving the ball well, playing great D, hustling constantly. The Rockets shot the lights out in the half at 60%, but I contend that it isn't that hard for an NBA team to do that, given open shots and easy shots. The Rockets worked the ball so well that there were lots of open and easy shots, especially when you have shooters like Budinger and Lee. We saw the best version of Jordan Hill thus far in the first half. He rebounded like a maniac, played good D on LaMarcus Aldridge and even notched 3 assists.

The Rockets lead by 14 at the half. They shot exactly one free throw, a Patterson +1. The refs seemed determined to make up the OKC loss to Portland in the half, with what was an entirely bizarre series of calls. To put it in perspective, Samuel Dalembert was whistled for two fewer fouls than the entire Blazer team at the half. Be that as it may, hot shooting and solid D cover a multitude of whistles.

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Portland is tough at home, Rockets are bad on the road. Let's change that tonight.

Usually we get some really great prices for some, well, how do I put it "easy wins". This time we have some really good games.

If you think Kevin Durant is the best player in basketball (you should), then have we got a deal for you.

We all know that the Jazz, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Jerry Sloan suck, right? Well you can see ONE of those three live get beaten by your Houston Rockets, I'll let you guess which on.

What about Bears from the middle of Tennessee? Yep, got that too.

How about proof that you don't need a superstar to compete? (You know, besides our team), The Denver Nuggets may be your choice.

No matter how you choose, one, or multiple, you'll get to see two teams on the court at a time that have legitimate playoff chances.

From the Ticket Office:

Don’t miss as the Rockets take on some of the best in the west. Come out and see as we take on the OKC Thunder on February 15^th, Utah Jazz on Sunday February 19^th, Memphis Grizzlies on February 20^th or the Denver Nuggets on Friday March 2^nd. Upper level seats starting at $13 and the lower bowl starting at $35.

Click on the link below or go to www.rockets.com/tickets and enter promo code: thedreamshake

Call John Donovan at 713-758-7453 to order over the phone.

Email questions to jdonovan@rocketball.com

http://tinyurl.com/6nkfn9c