The Rockets put up a valiant fight against the NBA champions. The Jazz keep surging, John Wall did it all and everything else from Tuesday in the NBA.
e Houston Rockets almost did it. They withstood the early onslaught. They maintained their composure. They even went on a run of their own. The really almost did it. They hung with the Golden State Warriors playing the Warriors' way.
But, then the fourth quarter started, and the Warriors did what they always do. They pulled away and went on to win, 123-110, to move to 47-4 on the season and remain undefeated at home. It's the best start in NBA history through 51 games.
Stephen Curry was spectacular as usual, netting 35 points and dishing out nine assists, and the role players were fantastic, too. Marreese Speights had 15 points off the bench, Andre Iguodala had 12 points, six assists and six rebounds and Harrison Barnes had 19 points while leading the run that blew the game open in the fourth -- Curry didn't even score in the final quarter.
James Harden led the Rockets with 37 points and Dwight Howard added 16 points and 15 boards on a night the Rockets showed they can hang with the Warriors' offense -- but like the rest of the NBA -- only for spurts.
Curry was ridiculous in the first quarter. He had 16 points and was 5 of 6 from deep, only missing a 30-foot heave trying to beat the buzzer as the Warriors jumped out to a 42-27 lead.
The Rockets, to their credit, did something no one else has been able to do this year -- they went on a Warriors-esque run against the Warriors. They went on a 36-15 run to take the lead thanks to ball movement and crisp passing.
The Warriors tied the game at 93 heading into the fourth then went on a 17-5 run while Curry sat on the bench and the game was over.
It's hard to say it was a moral victory for the Rockets, who dropped to 27-27 on the season, but they were resilient against the Warriors even if they weren't able to pull off the upset. The Rockets should continue to be a fast-paced team if they want to have a shot of returning to the form that put them in the Western Conference Finals last season. When they move the ball the way they did in the second and third quarters, the Rockets have an offense that has the ability to light up the scoreboard.
They showed a glimpse of what they can be on Tuesday. If they can consistently approach that, the West might have one more team to worry about.
It was a huge win for the Jazz, who look like the team many pundits were picking to make the playoffs in the West. The biggest reason for their recent success is an improved defense. With Rudy Gobert back in the lineup after missing 18 games, the team is shutting down offenses -- especially in this seven-game stretch when their defensive rating (points given up per 100 possessions) is 95.8.
But look closer, and the Jazz should be streaking. The competition has been less than stellar during their current win streak. The biggest win came against the Mavericks. Other than that, they beat an imploding Chicago Bulls squad and nudged out wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets. The defense is improved, but it's not like they're going up against offensive powerhouses. Until they prove it against some tougher squads, the jury is still out on whether Utah can give one of the top four teams in the West a scare in the playoffs.
John Wall is a bad, bad man. (Even if he almost blew it.)
Wall was superb against the New York Knicks. He had 28 points and 17 assists, but with the Wizards up by three with less than four seconds to play, he left his man wide open.
Fortunately for Wall, Langston Galloway missed the open look and the Wizards held on for a 111-108 win in Madison Square Garden. Aside from the blunder -- and he probably thought the Wizards were going to foul -- Wall was spectacular. The offense ran through him all night. Of his 17 assists, 10 of them assisted three-point shots, per Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal. Plus, he was making big shots down the stretch. Twice he made step-back jumpers with Kristaps Porzingis guarding him. John Wall was doing everything he could to make sure the Wizards won this game -- on offense, that is.
The Knicks, meanwhile, couldn't pull off a win in their first game under new coach Kurt Rambis, but they did show some spurts of greatness. Carmelo Anthony had 33 points and 13 rebounds and Porzingis added 20 points and three blocks. Their offense had a little more pep and ball movement than it had in the last few games of the Derrick Fisher era, but there's still a long way to go for this Knicks squad.
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