Clutch City - Houston Rockets

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James Harden Continues Hot Start with Triple Double in Blowout Against Kings
The Rockets keep rolling winning their 3rd game in a row, this one was over before it even started against the Kings. The Rockets were the heavy favorites coming into this game and they showed why. Harden continued his hot start with a 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assist outing. Harden recorded 7 turnovers again but Harden also has the highest Usage Rate of anyone in the league.

The Rockets had 6 players in double digits. Ryan Anderson continues his hot start to the season recording 17 points on 7-11 shooting and 3-5 from three. Eric Gordon however continues to struggle, he did record 15 points and 5 assists but his shooting has been sub par to start the season. The Rockets do have a couple of young players taking major steps forward in Clint Capela and Sam Dekker.

Capela recorded double digit rebounds for the 3rd time this season. The Rockets, I'm sure hope he will develop into a better rim protector but for now he is grabbing boards and catching lobs.

The other player is Sam Dekker who recorded a total of 6 minutes last season nursing an injured back. This season he has shown that he is back and is more than capable of contributing to an NBA team. Dekker in 3 games has averaged 9.6 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. This has helped the Rockets greatly as Ariza has really struggled on the offensive side of the ball but has been great on defense.

It wasn't all Rockets though, the Kings managed to get 5 players in double digits but noone above 20 points. Rudy Gay despite shooting poorly kept the game interesting as the Kings pulled within 12 at one point behind Gay's efforts in the second half but the Rockets were too much to handle.

Box Score

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Rockets Drop First Game of the Season to the Jazz 122-108
The recipe for beating the deadly from range Rockets has been discovered! Pray they have a terrible shooting game. The rockets only shot 27% from 3 going 12-44 on the game. James Harden did manage to have another great game with 39 points, 9 rebounds, and 13 assists. Harden had 6 turnovers which certainly did not help the Rockets but he was the only one keeping the Rockets in it down the stretch.

The Rockets managed to have 6 players in double digits in the losing effort, Capela recording a double-double. Ryan Anderson was on point as usual going 8-14 from the field and 3-7 from 3 for 19 points as the Rockets second leading scorer.

The Rockets though could simply not stop the Jazz. Derrick Favors just bullied the Rockets around in the paint going for 27 points on 13-19 shooting. He wasn't alone in the domination though as Gordon Hayward also recorded 27 points, 3 other Jazz players were in double digits.

This doesnt tell the whole story though, at the end of the day the Rockets lost on the boards and they lost the game. Rudy Gobert simply dominated grabbing 22 boards including 8 offensive rebounds. The Rockets were out rebounded 51 to 41.

Box Score

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December Wrap-Up

Rockets Roundup
The Rockets have gotten off to a great start after coming into this season with a lot of uncertainty with the teams composition. But it appears the Rockets just plan to outscore their opponent. Who knows how this will play out in the playoffs but it is clear it works in the regular season.

NBA.com Power Rankings
1. Charlotte Hornets (4-1)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (3-1)
3. Los Angeles Clippers (3-1)
4. Houston Rockets (3-1)
5. Chicago Bulls (3-1)
6. Indiana Pacers (3-1)
7. Oklahoma City Thunder (3-1)
8. Utah Jazz (3-1)
9. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1)
10. New Orleans Pelicans (2-1)

Western Conference Standings
1. Utah Jazz (3-1)
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (3-1) - 0 GB
3. Los Angeles Clippers (3-1) - 0 GB
4. Houston Rockets (3-1) - 0 GB
5. Los Angeles Lakers (2-1) - 0.5 GB
6. Memphis Grizzlies (2-1) - 0.5 GB
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1) - 0.5 GB
8. New Orleans Pelicans (2-1) - 0.5 GB
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9. Golden State Warriors (2-2) - 1.0 GB
12. San Antonio Spurs (1-3) - 2.0 GB

Eastern Conference Standings
1. Charlotte Hornets (4-1)
2. Cleveland Cavaliers (3-1) - 0.5 GB
3. Indiana Pacers (3-1) - 0.5 GB
4. Chicago Bulls (3-1) - 0.5 GB
5. Toronto Raptors (3-2) - 1.0 GB
6. Miami Heat (2-2) - 1.5 GB
7. Detroit Pistons (2-2) - 1.5 GB
8(t). New York Knicks (2-3) - 2.0 GB
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9(t). Orlando Magic (2-3) - 2.0 GB
10(t). Boston Celtics (2-3) - 2.0 GB
11(t). Philadelphia 76ers (2-3) - 2.0 GB
12(t). Atlanta Hawks (2-3) - 2.0 GB
13(t). Washington Wizards (2-3) - 2.0 GB
14(t). Milwuakee Bucks (2-3) - 2.0 GB

League Leaders

Points
1. J. Harden - 35.2 PPG
2. A. Davis - 33.3 PPG
3. K.Durant - 31.5 PPG
4. R. Westbrook - 30.5 PPG
5. S. Curry - 27.5 PPG

Rebounds
1. H. Whiteside - 15.7 RPG
2. A. Drummond - 15.2 RPG
3. D. Howard - 15.2 RPG
4. C. Capela - 13.8 RPG
5. R. Gobert - 13.5 RPG

Assists
1. J. Harden - 16.3 APG
2. R. Westbrook - 12.0 APG
3. D. Lillard - 11.8 APG
4. L. James - 11.5 APG
5. M. Conley - 11.0 APG

Award Races
Most Valuable Player
1. James Harden 35-8-16
2. Russell Westbrook 30-10-12
3. LeBron James 20-13-11
4. Kemba Walker 26-5-8
5. Nicholas Batum 17-4-7

Rookie of the Year
1. Ben Simmons 16-10-4
2. Joel Embiid 14-8-1
3. Tomas Satoransky 6-2-5
4. Caris LeVert 6-5-1
5. Kris Dunn 13-4-4

Sixth Man of the Year
1. Brandon Jennings 13-4-4
2. Brandon Knight 19-2-7
3. Jared Sullinger 5-7-4
4. Aaron Gordon 14-5-1
5. Jahlil Okafor 11-5-1

Defensive Player of the Year
1. LeBron James - 3.5 SPG - 2.3 BPG
2. DeAndre Jordan - 4 BPG
3. Andre Drummond - 2.3 SPG - 1.5 BPG
4. Clint Capela - 1.5 SPG - 2.0 BPG
5. Karl-Anthony Towns - 1.3 SPG - 2.0 BPG

Most Improved Player
1. Mason Plumlee 12-9-3
2. Clint Capela 9-13-1
3. Kemba Walker 26-5-8
4. D'Angelo Russell 21-4-5
5. Larry Nance 13-8-2

News Around the League

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Rockets Bounce Back to Beat Mavericks 124-106
The Rockets bounce back from their loss to blow out the Mavericks behind Eric Gordons break out game as a Rocket scoring 27 points in only 25 minutes. Gordon shot 9-17 and 6-12 from range. James Harden was the Rockets second leading scorer with 24 points to go along with 11 assists.

Speaking of breakout games Ariza also finally got on track scoring 17 points going 6-11 and 4-9 from deep. A matter of fact all Rockets starters were in double digit points in a game that was close in the 1st quarter then all Rockets for the reck.

Dirk Nowitzki at 38 years old continues to carry the Mavericks it seems. Although he is not the leading scorer he showed up big for this game dropping 26 points. Wesley Matthews also dropped a season high 24 points.

The Mavericks actually had a solid game offensively shooting 59/33/56. A really solid game even. But they couldnt play defense which is what you need to do if you have any chance at beating these deadly Rockets.

Box Score

Spoiler

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Rockets Blow Out the Russell Westbrook's 109-89
The Rockets have won 2 in a row taking down Russell Westbrook's Thunder 109-89. In an all around team effort for the Rockets they had 6 players in double digits and both Harden and Gordon at 20+ points.

Motiejunas also had a breakout game scoring 15 points and 10 rebounds. DMO is really starting to look like his old self pre-injuries.

Russell Westbrook really just wasn't himself in this game despite scoring 32 points he only had 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Westbrook on the season is averaging 28-10-10. Leading the Thunder to a 5-3 record currently tied for the 2 Seed in the West.

Steven Adams also managed to score a career high 25 points but beyond Westbrook and Adams really no one for the Thunder showed up.

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