Rockets-Hornets Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Jan 09 2013 1:27AM

The Houston Rockets may be the NBA's hottest team but to win a season-high sixth straight on Wednesday night, they'll have to again knock off the New Orleans Hornets, who figure to be a more confident squad than the one they defeated last week.

The Rockets' 12 wins since Dec. 12 are tied with the Clippers for the league's most, improving their overall record to 21-14 after starting 9-11. Houston is averaging a league-best 106.2 points per game overall and 115.8 during its five-game streak. The Rockets are also shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range in that stretch.

James Harden continues to lead the way at 26.4 ppg and has scored at least 25 in 13 straight - matching Moses Malone's franchise record - after recording 31 points in a 125-112 win against the Lakers on Tuesday.

"It's just like, 'Oh wow, again? OK,'" said teammate Jeremy Lin, who had 19 points, five assists and four steals against Los Angeles. "How consistent he's been is unbelievable."

Reserve swingman Carlos Delfino has also been a major contributor lately, scoring 19 or more in three of his past five games after averaging 8.1 points in the first 21 contests. He's hit 19 of his last 31 (61.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

"He's instant offense," Lin said. "He just comes in, he doesn't even need to warm up. He'll hit his first 3. It's ridiculous."

Western Conference-worst New Orleans (9-25) has won four of seven following an 11-game losing streak, and is coming off a surprising 95-88 victory over first-place San Antonio on Monday. It was also the Hornets' second in a row after a 99-96 overtime victory against Dallas two days earlier, giving the team its first back-to-back wins since Nov. 2-3.

"I would imagine that there is something building here, but at the same time, it's early still in the season," coach Monty Williams said. "You don't want confidence to become arrogance because if you look at our record, we have no right to be anything else but desperate and play the game."

The Hornets are 3-1 with Eric Gordon, who is averaging 18.3 points since returning from a right knee injury. He scored 24 points against the Spurs including six straight at one point in the fourth.

Gordon also scored 10 fourth-quarter points in his first game back, a 98-95 win against Charlotte on Dec. 29.

"They've got a closer now," said San Antonio's Stephen Jackson. "(Gordon) took the game over and was going to work at the end of the game, doing what he wanted. He closed the game for them, and that was what they were missing - a closer."

Gordon and Anthony Davis (13.7 ppg) both sat out the teams' Jan. 2 meeting as Harden scored a game-high 31 points and Ryan Anderson led New Orleans with 18 points off the bench. Harden posted 30 in a 100-96 win on Nov. 14.

Houston won its third straight in the series with a 104-92 victory at home last Wednesday, but has lost four of five in New Orleans.

Mason, Hornets beat Rockets, win 3rd straight

Posted Jan 09 2013 11:57PM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Roger Mason understands playing time is fleeting, especially as a role player, so the New Orleans Hornets guard stays prepared for when he gets the call.

Mason scored 15 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night to rally the Hornets to an 88-79 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Mason, who played 26 seconds in the first half and did not play in a victory over San Antonio on Monday, made all five of his shots in the fourth quarter, including three 3-pointers for the Hornets, who have won three in the row for the first time this season.

"I just keep working, staying in the game, and I feel good," said Mason, who averages just over five points.

"I didn't play much in the first half but to be a good pro you have to always be ready," he added. "God gave me the strength to hit some good shots."

Greivis Vasquez and Jason Smith also scored 17 points for the Hornets, and Robin Lopez chipped in with 14.

James Harden scored 25 points for the Rockets, who had won 10 of their past 12 games and five in a row. Harden, who was held to three points in the final quarter when the Rockets were outscored 29-10, was the only Houston player in double figures.

Jeremy Lin scored nine points on 4-of-12 shooting and have five assists for the Rockets, who committed 23 turnovers.

New Orleans also controlled the boards, outrebounding Houston 46-39, 16-10 on the offensive glass. Al-Farouq Aminu and Smith each had 10 rebounds.

"Any time a team gets that many offensive rebounds it's going to be hard to run," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "We were not sharp tonight. We couldn't get anything going in that fourth quarter and it just ballooned from there."

Eric Gordon struggled with five points on 2-of-12 shooting, but the Hornets have won four of five since his return.

Ryan Anderson, New Orleans' 3-point specialist, was 0 of 7 from the field, including 0 of 4 from behind the arc.

No. 1 pick Anthony Davis, who along with Lopez did not play in the fourth quarter, had six points and three rebounds.

"It was difficult to get (Lopez) in there with (the Rockets) playing their small bigs," Hornets coach Monty Williams said, adding that he kept his bench players in because of their performance.

The Hornets trailed 69-59 after three quarters but behind Mason's shooting went on a 22-2 run to take an 81-71 lead with 4:14 remaining.

At one point Mason had scored nine points in a 17-2 Hornets run. The Rockets missed their first four shots of the quarter and made one of their first 12.

"They did a good job of blocking the paint and really making it tough on us," Lin said. "We didn't do a good job of finding that open man and making that open pass, me included. I'm the point guard and that starts with me."

The Hornets, who were 1-19 when trailing after three quarters, made 10 of their first 13 shots in the fourth quarter. The Rockets' 10 points were the lowest total New Orleans allowed in a quarter this season.

Gordon and Vasquez sat out for much of the fourth quarter and Davis and Lopez did not play in the final period.

Harden was 1 of 4 in the fourth quarter.

Harden scored 15 points to stake the Rockets to a 36-34 halftime lead.

New Orleans made seven of its first 12 shots to take an early lead but struggled from the field the rest of the half. The Hornets led 16-10 midway through the first quarter when Williams gave Austin Rivers, Davis and Gordon a break.

With New Orleans' scoring trio on the bench, the Rockets closed on a 12-2 run to take a 22-18 lead. Harden, who missed his first two shots, made three of his last five to finish the quarter with nine points.

Notes: The Hornets are 10-11 when holding opponents to less than 100 points. . .New Orleans completed a three-game sweep of Texas teams, winning at Dallas this past Saturday and coming home to knock off San Antonio and Houston. . .The Hornets are on a three-game win streak for the first time since last April.

Notebook: Hornets 88, Rockets 79

Bradley Handwerger, for NBA.com
Posted Wed Jan 09, 2013 11:21 PM - Updated Wed Jan 09, 2013 11:21 PM

THE FACTS: The New Orleans Hornets roared back from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to push past the Houston Rockets 88-79 Wednesday night, winning their third consecutive game.

And they did it behind reserve Roger Mason Jr.'s 15 fourth-quarter points, which started a 22-2 run that clenched the game for New Orleans, its third straight win. Mason finished with 17 points in the game two nights after not playing at all against San Antonio.

Mason also helped shut down Houston's James Harden defensively in the final frame, keeping the Rockets' energetic guard to only three points in the fourth.

New Orleans' three straight wins is a season high, and all three victories have come over Texas teams, the previous two being a 95-88 win over San Antonio and a 99-96 overtime win at Dallas.

New Orleans managed the shocking fourth quarter, in which it outscored the Rockets 28-10, without either Anthony Davis or Robin Lopez on the floor as Hornets coach Monty Williams went with a smaller, quicker lineup to combat Houston.

The key to the comeback was keeping Houston from getting easy shots. The Rockets were just 4 of 19 in the final 12 minutes and turned the ball over four times.

Harden finished with a game-high 25 points for Houston.

Greivis Vasquez finished with 17 points and 11 assists while Jason Smith added 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.

QUOTABLE: "There was such a good flow going that once I got Eric (Gordon) back in the game. They just seemed to click a little bit. You just don't want to mess with it. As a young coach, I don't want to over coach the game and start doing things that are going to start messing up the rhythm."
-- The Hornets' Williams on the decision to keep Davis and Lopez on the bench in the fourth quarter.

THE STAT: 5. The combined points of New Orleans' two leading scorers on the season. Gordon scored five points on 2 of 12 shooting while Ryan Anderson didn't score at all, missing on all seven shots he took. Coming into Wednesday night's game, Gordon was averaging 18 points while Anderson was at 17 per game.

TURNING POINT: New Orleans gave up a 13-2 run early in the third quarter that appeared to put the game out of reach. And then Mason entered. The reserve guard scored nine points in the opening six minutes of the fourth and turned the game around. Two long jumpers and a 3-pointer pulled the Hornets to within 69-68. After a Toney Douglas jumper for Houston and two Brian Roberts free throws, Mason gave the Hornets a lead on another 3-pointer, an advantage New Orleans would never give up.

QUOTABLE II: "A lot of what we did was self-inflicted. I'm not worried about the shots. It's the turnovers and not keeping them off the glass that hurt us."
-- Rockets coach Kevin McHale on what made a difference Wednesday.

NOT: Houston didn't get much production from its starting forwards with Chandler Parson and Marcus Morris as they went a combined 5-of-16 for 15 points. Parson was just 2-of-7 from 3-point range and missed several long-range shots down the stretch that contributed to the Rockets' defeat.

NOTABLE: New Orleans has won three straight against Southwest Division opponents in consecutive games for the first time since joining the division. ... Houston's Harden extended his streak of scoring at least 25 points to 14 games, setting a Rockets franchise record, besting the previous record of 13 held by Moses Malone in 1982. ... For the 10th time this season, the Hornets' Vasquez scored at least 10 points, had at least 10 assists and made one 3-point shot. The only other players in Hornets' history to do that were Chris Paul, Kenny Anderson and Baron Davis. ... Houston has lost 12 consecutive road games to Southwest Division opponents

UP NEXT: For the Hornets, Friday vs. Minnesota, Sunday @ New York, Tuesday @ Philadelphia. For the Rockets, Friday @ Boston, Saturday @ Philadelphia, Tuesday vs. Clippers.

• Rockets: Beverley, Jones, White
• Hornets: Miller

• Rockets: --
• Hornets: --

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #18 Matt Boland, #7 Kevin Fehr
• Attendance: 11453
• Duration: 2:04