Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Hornets Recap

For a moment tonight, I was slightly confused. I was at the Toyota Center when suddenly the Rockets roster (sans Vince Carter's favorite dunking cousin) trotted out of the tunnel and began to warm up.

What dumbfounded me was the way the players acted as though the had an upcoming game, almost as if they weren't all present to partake in the scheduled group interview about Mcgrady.

Then, I saw the New Orleans Hornets come out of the visitors tunnel, only to began taking jumpers and stretching out.

"Strange," I thought to myself. "I didn't know Tracy had any connection with New Orleans. But I guess if they want to join our sermon on Mcgrady, they're welcome."

I'm really running out of ways to go with this little story, so I'll just stop this convoluted mess and move on to the point I'm trying to get across. In the midst of this seemingly all-encompassing drama that is Tracy Mcgrady's recent tenure as a Rocket, we still had a game to play.

So, for lack of a more eloquent way of phrasing the forthcoming statement, I'm glad that, at least for two hours, we were able to shut the hell up about T-Mac and watch an actual basketball game.

Without boring you with any more misguided attempts at an introductory paragraph or any semblance of proper prose or literary structure, I'd let to get to recapping our 108-100 victory over our fellow Southwest Division members, the New Orleans Hornets.

The Good

-I didn't really know where to throw this in, so I'm just going to mention it right here. Anytime your opponent has Darius "How the Hell Is He Actually Still In The League?" Songaila as a rotation player, you're in pretty good shape. In a related note, Songaila is making about 1.5 times as much money as Carl Landry. So yeah, umm, no regrets there.

-Aaron Brooks was magnificent tonight, netting 27 points on just 12 shots. Brooks had an effective field goal percentage of 87.5 while only turning the ball over once. In other words, he watched Trevor Ariza play and decided to do the exact opposite.

-Shane Battier had his out-of-nowhere offensive explosion, going 5 for 8 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points. It's the second time Battier has topped 20 all season, and on a night when Carl Landry wasn't his usual ultra-efficient self, we need every point we could get.

-The Rockets also played excellent defense on Chris Paul. We "held" him to just 16 points on 47 percent shooting, and although the ever-magnificent Paul still managed a triple-double, it never felt like he was truly dominating the game. When you're going against a once-in-a-generation point guard like Paul, that in itself is a win.

The Bad

-Trevor Ariza was Trevor Ariza once again, going 5 of 15 from the field, 2 for 8 from three and missing one of his two late free throws. Nothing new here, just continued disbelief that the man is playing 37 minutes a night. Ariza's become a paragon for offensive futility. If I see him slowly fake left and then drive right one more time in the next 24 hours, I might just throw an elbow at the head of the first guy near me. Wait, no, that's not right. To be fair, though, this dunk did seal the game for the Rockets.

-David West scored a sneaky 44 points on us. I'm not sure about this, and I'm certainly too lazy to do the research, but I think that's a career high for him. This isn't as bad as it seems, since we got 31 from our power forward rotation and, although he was scoring in droves, it never really seemed like West was controlling the game. We were also able to limit him to just eight in the fourth quarter. I'm not sure if this is merely correlation or actual causation, but the Hornets also scored just 18 in the final period.

-The Rockets offense struggled in the third quarter and the Hornets outscored us by 18 in those twelve minutes, the only period they won. It didn't hurt us today, but 13 point quarters won't get it done against the better teams in the league. And, although at this point saying this has to be like continually flogging a dead and substantially decayed horse, we still need to find a guy who can kick-start the offense when we struggle like we did in the third.

The Ugly

-This is a sorry-ass excuse for a cop-out, but for the ugly tonight I'm going with the weather. How the hell this relates to basketball, I don't know, but it was shitty outside today after the game and somebody needs to hear about it. I'm just sorry it had to be you.

I have just a few more random observations/comments I'd like to point out, so bear with me for a few more paragraphs.

For starters, Landry's numbers weren't as stellar as they usually are tonight. I'd like to point out that it really was no fault of his own, had a few rolls and spins gone the right way he would have easily been 12-16.

Trevor Ariza constantly shows flashes, only they're surrounded by much longer periods of sheer darkness. He had two fantastic drives which he finished with dunks, only every other time he got the ball in the lane he tried to finesse his way into finger-rolls and layups. It truly boggles me how he can find a method of scoring that works for him and then blatantly ignore it the next ten times he shoots the ball.

I know it seems like I constantly criticize him, but, at the risk of sounding like a self-important prick, he keeps doing things that warrant criticizing. He turns the ball over on lazy passes twice a game, refuses to change his shot selection and is starting to sulk on the end of the bench by himself more often, an intriguing if not slightly worrying observation.

David West, as good as he is, can't really influence a game. Even though he put up 44 points it never really seemed like it, except for a brief amount of time in the third quarter in which he appeared to score four or five times in a row.

Down the stretch he failed to find the bottom of the net during key possessions and resorted to turnaround jumpers or fade-aways to score points, never really seeming like he had a reliable go to move or method of creating shots for himself. And if you're wondering why I didn't use "score" instead of "find the bottom of the net," it's because I used score in the previous sentence, and, much like Peja Stojakavic's inherent fear of the space inside the three point line, repetition scares the hell out of me.

If you were wondering why Devin Brown was playing for the Hornets tonight (not because he really brings little/nothing to the table anymore, that's irrelevant for now), it's because he wasn't actually traded to the Timberwolves. So yeah, all you Devin Brown fans, don't worry...screw it, I'm not going to pretend like people care about Devin Brown.

And, to follow up my denouement with a proper conclusion (yeah, that's right, all that stuff earlier about not being able to organize writing was a clever ruse, so there), your Houston Rockets once again came away with a win against a team people expected to be better than us before the season started.

It was a solid win for the heroes of Red Nation, a game that exemplified our grit and perseverance, as it saw the Rockets allow a ten point lead to turn into an eight point deficit in a single quarter, only to regain control of the game and come away with the victory.

We've got 19 wins against 13 losses now, and Dirk and the Mavericks come to town on Thursday. Until then, rest easy, Houston, the Rockets may just yet be able to overcome the crippling loss of Tracy Mcgrady. And that, my friends, was sarcasm.

Insincere statements meant to cause a comedic effect and potentially incite laughter aside, as always, go Rockets.

Tonight's Stats

Houston Rockets: 117.4 points scored per 100 possessions, 108.7 points allowed per 100 possessions, 92 possessions.

New Orleans Hornets: 108.7 point scored per 100 possessions, 117.4 points allowed per 100 possessions, 92 possessions

All statistics courtesy of hoopdata.com

Mcgrady, Rockets Agree to Part Ways

So it's finally happened. As of earlier today, the Houston Rockets and disgruntled ex-star Tracy Mcgrady have decided that they will no longer attempt to keep up their recent facade of cooperation, with Mcgrady taking an indefinite leave from the team while we look to trade him. I can't really say this was unexpected, as we've been not-so-discreetly shopping T-Mac since last season and his banishment this weekend only made a trade all the more imminent.

I can say that I'm slightly disappointed both in Rockets' management (I know, blasphemy) and in Rick Adelman. First off, I'd like to qualify any forthcoming statements by saying that I think Adelman and Morey should win Coach and Executive of the Year, respectively. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I think we thoroughly mishandled this situation.

I was one of the (vocal) minority who believed that Mcgrady could return to being a productive player and possibly fill in our much-needed "closer" role. Mcgrady became even more potentially useful when Budinger went down with and ankle injuries and with Ariza's continuing futility on the offensive end, but more on that later.

What I loved, and still love, about Morey is how he manages to direct the team without ever actually interfering with it. He provides a roster with his handpicked gems and stays out of the way for the rest, allowing his players to prove time and again what a genius he is when it comes to finding talent.

Yet, in this situation, it was Morey who decided that Mcgrady would not play over the weekend. I'm sure this was exactly what Adelman wanted, so I can't really blame Morey, but I hope that this doesn't set a precedent of him taking too active of a role in actual game-decisions instead of sticking to personnel matters.

Although I run the risk of going overboard, I'm worried that Morey might follow the path set by Portland General Manager Kevin Pritchard. For the past few years Pritchard was lauded as brilliant, making flurries of draft day moves and putting together an extremely promising and young Trailblazers team.

Yet, this past offseason, with his past success and building external pressure slowly getting to him, Pritchard decided to sign Andre Miller, seemingly only to make a proverbial splash in the free agent market. Three months later, Miller still isn't meshing with Brandon Roy and there are already trade rumors swirling around him.

But at the same time, it's nearly impossible to doubt Morey after considering how unbelievable he's been since taking over the Rockets.

He's made moves that I was openly against before and made me look like a dumbass with their results (see Alston, Rafer), so I can't really bring myself to doubt him, seeing as the man, to fill my quota of at least one cliched, overused sports phrase, has forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know.

Plus, I think Morey is infinitely smarter than Pritchard and won't allow this to happen to him, I'd just like to point out that perfection for a General Manager is hardly permanent.

So, in spite of my disagreement with Morey on this particular issue, I still feel that if I had to trust one decision that I didn't like it would be one made by Daryl Morey, and I'm confident that he knows what he's doing.

My real issue lies with Rick Adelman. Adelman has been phenomenal this season and, like I said earlier, is my favorite for Coach of the Year, but I really don't think he handled the Mcgrady situation objectively.

I feel that part of Morey's seven-minute limit on Mcgrady's playing time partially had to do with how Mcgrady jerked himself in and out of the season last year and his subsequent announcing of his intention to undergo a micro-fracture surgery without consulting with the team first.

Although I'd hate to sound too lambasting-y, I think Adelman was too quick to discount Mcgrady when he could have provided the Rockets with exactly what we needed, a wing who can score and distribute while creating shots for himself and others at the end of games.

Plus, Mcgrady could have at least provided some respite for Ariza, who's struggles have gotten progressively worse as the season, well, progresses. He's been an offensive liability like no other, stopping ball movement, struggling to create off the dribble, turning the ball over and putting up bad shot after bad shot.

Plus, he seems to be regressing on defense, either as a result of sheer exhaustion or overconfidence, as he's been gambling for steals rather than playing solid, gritty, Battier-defense more and more as of late. But I don't want to turn this post into a flaming of Ariza, since, you know, what the hell else am I going to write about now that this Mcgrady saga is over?

Poor jokes aside, the point is that this article isn't about Ariza's struggles, so with the permission of you, my loyal and most-likely slightly bored reader, I'd like to move on.

What I'm circuitously getting at is despite whatever minor issues I might have with our nearly-flawless management, the fact remains that we're currently 18-13 with no help from Mcgrady and clearly didn't (don't) need him.

The question that begs to be answered now is what to do with what will now be referred to has Tracy Mcgrady's Expiring Contract, or, if you're a fan of less technical phrases, The Way We're Going to Trick Some Poor-As-Hell Team Into Giving Us A Star.

In spite of all of his flaws (and they are plentiful in number, I don't think there's much argument on that point), Mcgrady did one thing right: his contract expires at the perfect time. In a downtrodden economy, with teams struggling to break even while anxiously hiding their metaphorical boners for the clusterfuck that is the 2010 free agency period, the time is ripe for Daryl Morey to make a fool out of someone.

Bill Simmons has a few ideas of his own, my favorite being the deal for Chris Paul. They all follow a similar format, which is basically us giving up Tracy Mcgrady (and possibly Scola and/or Brooks depending on the caliber of the player we're getting back, the Paul deal has us giving them both) while taking back a slew of terrible contracts and one potential star/superstar/superduperstar.

So, in a roundabout and unnecessarily painful way, Mcgrady might actually end up giving us that legitimate go-to guy this year, except not by actually playing but from a series of events that started with his micro-fracture surgery in the off-season and culminating in his exile from the team for what can only be properly described as "incessant bitching."

So, thanks for the memories T-Mac, there definitely were some good ones. Namely, this one. And this one. Shit, I meant this one. And, if all goes right, thanks even more for what you're about to net us sometime between now and the February trade deadline. And, as always, go Rockets.

Mcgrady Unhappy With Role

For just a few games, Mcgrady was actually beginning to look like he bought into what the Rockets were selling. He was saying and doing all the right things, playing hard and sticking with the company line on his playing time. Now, six games later, he gives us this. Unhappy with his "cameo" roles, Mcgrady now wants an increase in his playing time.

I'm not sure how to react to this, because I for one fully agree that it's time to start increasing his minutes. It's been six games of his seven minute runs in the first quarter, and we might as well slowly starting dialing up his playing time to see if he's really ready for some burn.

At the same time I can't believe he actually came out and complained about his minutes publicly. He keeps talking about how we have a young team and an abrupt return would ruin our chemistry, but apparently he's gained some new perspective over the course of this last week.

According to Mcgrady, he feels "fine" and it's "time to start increasing [his] minutes." I'm not sure how Adelman or the Rockets are going to handle the Artist Formerly Known as T-Mac's request, but it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I Win

Some of you might recall me stating earlier today that my opinion is "utterly worthless." I'd just like to let you know that I was, in fact, grossly incorrect. Shortly after I stated my unhappiness at the Rockets' signing of Von Wafer, we learned that Von failed his physical and that we now instead called up Mike Harris from the D-League. So yeah, I win. Take your Von-hawk elsewhere, Vakeaton, you're not a Rocket.

Sorry Von

But at the end of the day, I'd take this guy over you ten times out of ten.



Oh, how I missed hearing "T-Mac to the rack."

Recently there's been some speculation that due to certain financial agreements I may in fact be rooting against the Rockets. I'd like to quell these rumors by stating that no, the reason I'm unhappy about signing Von Wafer is that we already have two backup shooting guards who are more than capable of handling the load themselves, three if you count Jermaine Taylor. He also bolted for Greece after being stupid enough to get tossed out of a playoff game against the Lakers. That, not a hidden agenda, is why I'm unhappy about resigning Von.

The Return of Vakeaton Quamar Wafer

Don't let the nay sayers tell you otherwise (red as it gets, cough, cough) but Von Wafer's triumphant return to Houston is good for the Rockets. Let me tell you a little secret about my co-blogger, he bet me $100 dollars that the Rockets would win less than 41 games this year. You might think to yourself, "Ok, lots of people doubted the Rockets before the season and this bet was perfectly acceptable;" however, he made this bet a little over a week ago! When the Rockets had already gotten off to a torrid start. Although he would say otherwise, he is secretly rooting against these Rockets. The real reason he is pissed about the Wafer signing is the fact that it clearly improves the Rockets.

Von Wafer is the athletic 2 guard the Rockets have been lacking. We hoped Jermaine Taylor could fill that role, but so far he hasn't worked out (although he did play well tonight). T-Mac is no longer the super athlete he once was, and Battier, Ariza, Budinger, and he are all small forwards at heart. Lowry has been gutsy filling in at shooting guard for stretches this season, but he provides nowhere near the possibilities of Wafer. The real casualty in this signing isn't Tracy (as others would have you believe), but Budinger. Chase has been a pleasant surprise to everyone but the biggest Arizona fans, but he is only the 4th best small forward on the roster. He has some skills, but he is not integral to the Rockets success. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy to death, but Wafer gives us a better chance to win. I would be skeptical, but Daryl Morrey has never made a mistake in his entire life so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Also, who doesn't want a good Von-hawk?

Von's Back, Tell A Friend

Tonight is a night of returns for your Houston Rockets. Not only is (The Great) Steve Novak back in town, we just learned today that the Rockets will resign Von Wafer. So yeah, that's cool. Not like he yelled at our head coach and was sent to the locker room during the playoffs or anything. Oh wait. It's okay, at least we get to add another raw talent with oodles (yeah, I used oodles) of potential but a penchant for careless mistakes, since, you know, Brooks and Ariza weren't enough. Never mind, even comparing him to Brooks and Ariza is an insult to our two leading scorers. Wafer's stupidity on the basketball floor is untouchable.

Don't get me wrong, I love Von, but I really don't like adding a headcase to a team that's worked so well mainly because we haven't had a headcase. He's a phenomenal player and if he ever straightens out the league better be careful, but right now I really don't think we need him.

Plus, this move effectively marginalizes Tracy Mcgrady, meaning that we're most likely leaning towards trading him. Jermaine O'neal, here we come. I had hoped that we'd give T-Mac a shot in the time Budinger was out, but clearly it looks like we have other plans.

Now don't get me wrong, this move could turn out to be an ingenious one, and it wouldn't surprise me if Morey's plan to resign Wafer all along was let him leave to Greece, struggle with his new team and return here for cheaper than ever before, but, as dumb as it sounds to say this about a player who really only made a difference for a few months, I'd gotten over Von. I was excited to see what he would do this year with Mcgrady out for extended time, but after he decided that he'd rather go overseas I'd figured that we were done with him.

In any case, my opinion is, at the end of the day, utterly worthless. I can bitch and moan all I want about the signing, but Wafer is still going to be suiting up for us and getting burn while Mcgrady sits on the bench and watches. So yeah, yay for Von Wafer. I knew he'd be back all along. He's got so much talent, I can't wait to see how he does when he's finally given the opportunity. It's not that he has attitude issues, it's just that he hasn't received proper direction. No, no, he doesn't make stupid mistakes, he's just over-eager. And look, he's so happy he's "about to start crying."

Fuck it. I'm unhappy we signed him and that's that. Hopefully he'll at least have the courtesy to bring the Von-hawk back. Game's going on right now against the Clippers, here's Billy's preview.

The Return of Novak

Tonight, the Rockets take on the Los Angeles Clippers. This is yet another opportunity for us to measure our team this year. How will we respond after a couple of big wins? How will we handle our 5th game in 8 days? Can we keep from looking ahead to the Orlando game tomorrow? The Clippers are a mediocre team. They are no longer the laughing stock of the West and have a pretty talented roster including Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, and Chris Kaman. Personally, I have a special place in my heart for B-Diddy because of his performance in the 2007 playoffs for the Warriors. If you remember, he led Golden State to a huge upset over the hated, #1 seeded Mavericks. And he had this sick dunk on Kirlenko in the next round.



However, the most intriguing story line in tonight's game is the triumphant return of Steve Novak to the Toyota Center. I was at the game last year vs. the Clips and was treated to a show by Novak and Von Wafer. In the 4th quarter (we were up 20 or so points), Novak and Wafer decided to play an impromptu game of horse. Novak followed each of Von's swishes with perfect shots of his own. We were mesmerized by the performance and waved our Welcome Back Novak signs with pride. I can't make it to tonight's game, but I will be watching Novak closely on TV. He's averaging a respectable 1.5 points per game and is a frequent topic of discussion for ESPN's Bill Simmons.

Tonight is also our best chance to watch the single worst coach in the NBA, Mike Dunleavy. Instead of wasting my time writing about this idiot, just go read anything Simmons has written about him.

And now I leave you with our memories of the Great Steve Novak

Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Recap

"Lord knows you try and I'm glad to have you on our team, but please, for everyone's sake, could you just tone it down a little? Ariza's effective field goal percentage this season is a little under 45 percent. For perspective reasons, that's right above Larry Hughes." - Me calling out Trevor Ariza on his shooting struggles

So, uh, this is awkward. In the two games after I criticized Ariza's shot selection he's gone 16 of 30, good for about 53 percent, capped off by his 31 point explosion tonight on just 20 shots. The way I see it, there are only two rational explanations for this phenomena. One, Ariza reads my articles and values my opinion so greatly that he altered his game according to what I suggested to him. The other is that he found the ball in Space Jam that the Mon-stars used to steal the abilities of NBA players and took Kevin Durant's shooting stroke. Personally, I think it's the latter. His two best games this season have come against the Cavaliers and the Thunder. Who plays on the Cavs and Thunder? None other than two of the best scorers in the NBA, Lebron James and the aforementioned Durant. I think we're onto something here. Sorry for outing you, Trevor.

But in all seriousness, Ariza has been sensational as of late, especially tonight. He took over for the Rockets in the first half when nobody else could by a bucket, scoring 23 points in the 23 minutes that he played. He picked his spots, had a couple of impressive moves and finishes in the lane and was quick with his release on his threes, leading to a 5-8 night from beyond the arc. My only complaint is his 4-10 shooting from the free throw line, coming on the heels of a 3-5 night against the Mavericks. I understand that players have cold streaks from the line, but when the game is hanging in the balance, missing five straight free throws in unacceptable. All in all though, a spectacular effort from Ariza that made the difference between a narrow win and an ugly loss.

A few more random notes on the game before we get to the actual recapping. Firstly, I was in attendance tonight. I broke out the six-year old, throwback Steve Francis jersey and my "Luis Scola the Argentine Machine" sign to trek up to the nosebleeds. I also caught a shirt. Not really sure what the point of mentioning that was, I just thought somebody should know. But yeah, overall it was a very fun game, the Toyota Center crowd was a little underwhelming in size but definitely made up for it in noise when it mattered late in the game.

Secondly, what is wrong with the Thunder's offense? They look extremely stagnant on the offensive side of the ball and their sets are essentially just isolations for Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green or James Harden. Once in a while they bring Durant off screens for jumpers or let him go one-on-one, but it really seems like there's no flow, rhyme or reason to what they're trying to do. I realize this is just one game, but there's no way a team this talented should be 21st in the league in offensive efficiency. Scott Brooks has done a tremendous job with this outfit and turned them into one of the best defensive teams in the league, but please, let's see a little creativity on offensive, shall we? I'm sure the offense will improve as the team grows together and becomes more consistent, but I'd just like to see a little more movement on offense, if that's not too much to ask.

In any case, here's what I liked and disliked about tonight's game in no particular order.

The Good

-Like I mentioned before, Trevor Ariza was amazing tonight. He didn't force anything, worked hard in the post for position and went strong to the basket, hit open threes and also contributed 8 boards and 6 assists to go with his usual 2 steals and block.

-The Chuckwagon was at his best tonight, pouring in 14 points to go with his 15 rebounds. He also had a few nifty moves in the lane, including a jump hook and a no-look layup that he flipped behind his head a la Steve Nash. Yeah, I just compared Chuck Hayes' offensive game to Steve Nash. I'm sorry, Stevie, you know I love you. More than you could ever imagine, in fact. But Chuck Hayes' layup was truly a thing of beauty.

-James Harden. I know usually Rockets players are supposed to go here, but Harden was the one Thunder player who genuinely entertained me tonight. He threw down a monstrous slam on three Rocket defenders and skied for a huge rejection on the next play. The kid's got a bright, bright future ahead of him.

-Our defense on Kevin Durant was also wonderful to watch tonight. Battier was once again Battier, fighting all night, shading Durant and making life difficult in general for the budding superstar. We held Durant to 13 points on 18 shots, not an easy feat for any team.

The Bad

-Aaron Brooks was a no-show tonight, going 2 of 15 from the field en route to 5 points and 4 assists. Yeah, he's young, and yeah, he's a bit of a streaky player. I know, I know, Russell Westbrook is an excellent defender and did a hell of a job guarding Brooks, but for a team with as little room for error as us, we need Brooks to either be scoring or dishing well to win most games.

-The injury bug seems to have stricken (or is it struck?) us again. A day after Landry bit the dust (yeah, you see what I did there), Budinger went down with an apparent ankle/foot injury in the first half. If either player misses significant time that's a big blow to our bench, which has been one of our greatest strengths all season.

-The free throw shooting was also depressing, as we went 11-21 from the line. I don't see anything worrying here, it's just something to note. In a game as close as this one, every point counts, and missing free ones and the line can be disastrous. Brooks missed a key free throw late in the game and Ariza went absolutely cold from the line for a stretch in the fourth, but I'm confident this was more of an anomaly than anything else.

-We couldn't close out the Thunder in the third, which frightens me just a little. We had our collective foot on their throats late in the third quarter and were up 17, only to let them cut the defecit to single digits by the end of the period and get within one in the fourth. This didn't really come back to hurt us tonight, but against better offensive teams? You bet it will. We either need to tighten up on the defensive end or find and effective way to score when everyone goes cold, a recurring problem this season.

The Ugly

-I never, ever thought I would say this, but the ugly tonight was Kevin Durant. Not only did he miss 12 of his 18 shot attempts, he looked sluggish on offense and spent most of the game standing in the corner waiting for the ball. I don't know if this is a product of the offensive system or just an off night (I'm thinking it's the latter), but he has to understand that he can't just disappear or his team simply won't be able to win games. Also, there might be some fans out there who wanted him to somehow score 50 in a valiant but losing effort so they could see a Rockets win and a great performance from him, and he let me down. I mean them. He let them down.

Overall it was a great effort from the Rockets today and a win that could come in handy later in the season if we find ourselves battling with the Thunder for a playoff spot. Also, I didn't get to mention Jeff Green anywhere above, so I'd just to note that he scored 21 on 16 shots on an array of drives, post up moves and jumpers, looking very comfortable the whole time. A good night for Green, it's too bad he had little help. We're now 16-11 and staying at home for the next few days before meeting the Clippers on Tuesday, a potential trap game as we're playing the Magic the very next night. But as for now, sleep well tonight, Houston, your team's a winner. And, as always, go Rockets.

Houston Rockets @ Dallas Mavericks Game Preview

So, here we are again. Round III of Rockets-Mavs, also known by many as Jason Terry's Third Favorite Day of the Year. In case you were wondering, the first two were the first two times the Mavericks play us. No, not Christmas. Not Thanksgiving. Not Halloween. I know, I know, Jason Terry must be some sort of horrible, sinister man. And guess what? His fourth favorite day of the year? It's the fourth time he plays the Rockets. Yeah, that's right. Out of the Big Three of winter holidays, only one of them makes Terry's list of favorite days of the year. And if you're thoroughly confused by my feeble attempts at a segue/introduction to an article, I'll stop by saying that the joke is that Terry lights up the Rockets. And I mean really, really, lights up the Rockets. I could probably make a joke here about him lighting us up so badly we look like firecrackers, or something of that ilk, but I'll save you the anger and myself the embarrassment by moving on.

The first two games of this series have been blowouts, with the Mavericks beating the Rockets by a combined 49 points. In two games. That's a lot of points. For all you fans of advanced stats, and pardon me if I'm wrong, I'm not exactly a mathematician, that's an average of 24.5 points a game. So what can everyone's favorite overachievers do to stop the bleeding? I'm glad you asked, me from ten seconds ago. In fact, I'm so glad, I think I'll tell you.

We should start by putting Chuck Hayes/Carl Landry on Dirk Nowitzki. I know, I know, the idea that this guy is one of the most feared players in the league maddens me, but the sad truth is that the best way to stop the Mavericks is to slow down Dirk. The way the rosters line up, Scola would be the one guarding Dirk. As great of a defender as Scola is, I like the idea of putting the smaller, quicker Hayes and the more athletic Landry on Dirk. We saw in 2007 that smaller, more athletic players give Dirk troubles, and while the idea of banking on a strategy two years old when so many players have changed, grown or regressed is ludicrous, it's not like people have found any other way to defend Dirk successfully. Plus, what we've been doing against the Mavericks clearly hasn't been working, so there's no harm in switching things up a little, no?

Well, yes, there kind of is. Switching how we guard Dirk is going to be rendered useless if we can't stop Jason Terry. In two games against us, Terry's scored 51 points and missed two shots. He has an effective field goal percentage of 108.3 against us. I don't know if that's so depressing that it's funny yet, but it's still pretty damn depressing. Yes, I know, talented players get hot and there's little you can do to stop them when they do. And yes, Jason Terry is one of the deadliest players in the league when he's stroking the ball, but really? Put a damn hand in his face. Push him around a little. I don't care if Trevor Ariza doesn't take a damn shot (that might actually be a positive on both ends of the floor, but I'll get to that in a minute) he needs to be all over Terry. Yeah, Terry might still get his 25, but I'd rather have it be a hard earned 25 than 25 off of open midrange jumpers and threes.

Remember when I mentioned Ariza up there? Well depending on your reading profiency it may or may not have been a minute, but I'm addressing Ariza now anyways. Before I say anything, Trevor, I want you to know that I love you. I really do. Lord knows you try and I'm glad to have you on our team, but please, for everyone's sake, could you just tone it down a little? Ariza's effective field goal percentage this season is a little under 45 percent. For perspective reasons, that's right above Larry Hughes. Yes, this Larry Hughes. Ariza's futility is only made even more egregious when you realize that he takes nearly 7 threes a game.

"So wait," I bet you're asking me right now. "Ariza's shooting percentage when calculated using a metric that is supposed to favor three point shooters still says he can't shoot?" "Yes," I bet I would answer, "that's exactly right." What does this tell us about Ariza? He needs to take the damn ball to the basket more often. He's starting to look more comfortable driving than he was earlier in the year and he's also began to finish with authority rather than trying to finesse the ball into the hoop like he was at the season's beginning. I'm fine with him taking wide open, spot up threes, but that means three a game at most, no more of these 1-8 nights from range like he put up against Denver two days ago. Ariza has all the tools to be a sensational player, he just needs to use the talents he has and play his game. Please, Trevor, no more channeling your inner Rafer Alston. Drive hard to the basket, finish strong, take your open shots, play tough defense and start turning into the guy we all hoped you'd become.

So where are our points going to come from? Enter, Aaron Brooks. Brooks has been lethal recently, averaging 21 points a game in December while getting into the lane almost at will. Brooks is quietly turning into the player everyone hoped he'd be at the beginning of the season, penetrating into the lane to create shots for himself and others, stopping on a dime for his Calvin Murphy-esque pull-up jumper and dishing the ball better than I'd dare hoped for him to before the season began. He'll need to be extra-dominant tonight, as Jason Kidd will be guarding him and, if you hadn't really heard, Jason Kidd can't stay in front of anyone anymore.

And while the Mavericks have the reigning Sixth Man of the Year in Jason Terry, we have a sub of our own who's not too shabby himself. Carl Landry has been phenomenal this season, and we'll need him to be at his best tonight against the Mavericks. We've struggled to score agains the Mavericks this season, averaging a little over 101 points per 100 possessions against them, which would put us at 9th worst in the league. Landry's going to need to shoulder some of the scoring burden, which hasn't been a problem for him thus far.

Next, threes are the key to our success. In two games against the Mavericks this season we've shot a combined 11 for 43 from beyond the arc, good for about 26 percent. When you take the third most threes in the NBA like we do, you need to hit them to beat good teams like the Mavericks. Like they say, if you live by the three then you'll die by the three, and against the Mavericks the three has been, well, it's been murdering the shit out of us.

And it's not just our threes. The Mavericks have been knocking them down from deep against us, going 16 of 27 from behind the arc in the two games we've played, good for 55 percent. If we can defend the three a little better while hitting them at our usual clip, we should be in a much better position to win tonight than we have been the past two times we've matched up against the Mavericks.

Finally, I think we've just been a little unlucky against the Mavericks this season. Jason Terry is great, but not going 17 of 19 great. We're a good three point shooting team, so we're surely not going to shoot 25 percent from long range for a third game against the same team. Also, it's not like the Mavericks have really killed us in any one aspect in both games, it's been more of them hitting shots at an unsustainable clip and our players missing. If that happens for a third time, then so be it. Sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles. You're going to have nights when you can't seem to hit the side of a barn (Which, when you think about it, is sort of irrelevant. We're playing basketball, not some twisted rural game that involves throwing balls at a barn.) and you're opponent can't seem to miss. That's just basketball. Hopefully, it doesn't happen to us for a third straight game. I honestly can't stand the sight of seeing Jason Terry pretending to fly around like a plane against us one more time. We get it, Jason, your nickname is JET. It's very original, you're a funny guy. Now please stop it.

Expect a hard fought, well-contested matchup tonight folks. I understand, you're probably going to be tempted to go out and you know, have a life tonight, but stay in, for his sake. Oh god I uploaded the wrong picture. That's more like it. And, as always, go Rockets.

Houston Rockets: 14-11, 96.5 possessions per game (9th), 104.2 points scored per 100 possessions (16th), 103.3 points allowed per 100 possessions (15th)

Dallas Mavericks: 19-7, 93.9 possessions per game (23rd), 106.2 points scored per 100 possessions (11th), 99.3 points allowed per 100 possessions (4th)

All stats courtesy of hoopdata.com