Fresh off their stunning 107-205 Tuesday win over the Los Angeles Lakers, James Harden, Jeremy Lin and the Houston Rockets (9-8) look to extend their two-game winning streak to three in a row.
But to do that, they'll have to get past the 15-4 San Antonio Spurs, led by future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. Coincidentally, the Spurs have a two-game winning streak of their own heading into Friday's 8:30 p.m. ET game at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Tex.
Latinos Post.com takes a look at some of the key matchups between these two teams heading into tonight's game:
Power Forward: Patrick Patterson, Rockets vs. Tim Duncan, Spurs
The sleeper has awoken. Normally a 7.9 points per game scorer for his career, Patterson has been on a roll lately, scoring 18.5 points in eight games since Nov. 16. The 6'9" former University of Kentucky ballplayer has been emerging as the Rockets' newest offensive threat, providing a presence in the four spot that can both score and rebound.
However, he did have a surprisingly off night on Tuesday, scoring only six points on 2-of-5 shooting, barely even touching the ball while the Rockets relied on their bench to carry them to victory over the Lakers.
Patterson is going to need to get aggressive tonight on both ends of the floor if he wants to contain the ageless Duncan. While he's a little off the mark from his career 20.2 point average--putting up 18.8 points this season--Duncan still remains one of the NBA's most dangerous power forwards.
In the last six games, Duncan has really picked up the slack on offense with 20.1 points; but the most telling stat is on defense, where the 15-year pro is swatting 2.6 shots over six games. Patterson must use his youth to his advantage and get very aggressive with Duncan tonight, especially on the offensive end to wear him down. If not, Duncan may dominate the match-up--which, history says, usually leads to another 'W' for San Antonio.
Advantage: Spurs
Center: Omer Asik, Rockets vs. DeJuan Blair, Spurs
The Rockets are the fourth-best team in the NBA in rebounding, grabbing 46.3 boards a night. They can thank the 26-year-old Asik for at least 12.1 of them--third best of any rebounder in the league.
Rockets owner Leslie Alexander scored a coup when he pried the defensive-minded seven-footer Asik away from Chicago in the offseason, providing youth and a big body in the middle for Houston with the signing of the former Turkish basketball standout. Asik has been providing needed stability on the Rockets with his double-double average of 12.1 rebounds and 10.0 points in the last 17 games.
Meanwhile, the 6'7" Blair, who was benched by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for much of the postseason after sluggish regular season play, has returned slimmer, leaner and more energetic this season than before, shedding 25 pounds before the season and currently weighing in at 270. At only 4.6 rebounds this season, Blair still has a ways to go before he can regain his abundant rebounding form of 2010-11 (7.0 rebounds per game).
These two should have a very physical battle in the paint, but with his height, Asik could potentially have a more productive scoring night.
Advantage: Rockets
Small Forward: Chandler Parsons, Rockets, vs. Danny Green/James Anderson, Spurs
Right off the bat, this is a match-up that Houston can exploit to their advantage. Parsons, their talented 24-year-old sophomore from Florida, has stepped up his point production this season to provide opponents with more to worry about from Houston's second-best league offense (103.7 points per game) than just James Harden.
Averaging 15.8 points for the Rockets this season, Parsons has been surging in the last five games, putting up 19.8 points, including a 31-point explosion that helped Houston blow out the Knicks 131-103 on Nov. 23. He has quickness, he has explosiveness and he's got young legs on his side.
San Antonio, however, will likely be missing key player Green, who sat out with a hamstring injury in their 110-99 Wednesday win over Milwaukee. Backup Stephen Jackson also sat out with a finger injury, which likely leaves reserve James Anderson to fill the role tonight against the red-hot Parsons.
Advantage: Rockets
Shooting guard: James Harden vs. Gary Neal
You'd be hard-pressed to find a shooting guard right now in the NBA more explosive, more motivated and more dangerous than the 23-year-old Harden.
True, he has had been struggling with his shooting efficiency as of late--only 34.1 percent in the last five games--and his scoring is down slightly in that time frame, at 21.4 points in comparison to his season average of 23.6. And yet, Harden, the fifth-best scorer in the league, has shown that he is capable of taking over a game at any given moment with his explosive drives to the basket and savvy playmaking.
But the 28-year-old Neal is no slouch, either. And his scoring, usually at 11.7 a game, has provided San Antonio with a booster shot in the last five games where Neal has averaged 17.4 points, including a 7-of-16 shooting night for 22 points Wednesday.
Both guards are young, hungry and aggressive, but if the Spurs--ranked No.10 in the NBA in defense, allowing opponents only 95.8 points--want to keep the second-highest scoring team in the league in check, Neal must find a way to slow down Harden.
Advantage: Rockets
Point guard: Jeremy Lin, Rockets vs. Tony Parker, Spurs
Lin's play has been erratic for much of the first month of NBA action, Houston's $25 million point guard shooting less--and shooting poorly when he does, connecting only on 38.6 percent of his shots--while passing more.
Case in point, his last five games--where Lin has scored 11.6 points, about a point above his 10.5 season average, and dished out 6.4 assists, which matches his season total. However, Lin has been shooting better, connecting on 26-of-50 in his last five games for a 52 percent field goal average. However, Lin took double-digit shot attempts in only two of those games.
Lin has a tough task tonight going up against Parker, who continues to be one of the best point guards the Western Conference has to offer. Putting up 22.2 points with his 6.2 assists in his last five games, Parker continues to be the tone-setter for San Antonio, blending playmaking prowess with scoring savoir faire and providing Lin--who is not a great defender--with the bar-setting test of trying to keep up and contain one of the league's most respected point guards.
Advantage: Spurs
Bench
The lethal-shooting Manu Ginobili continues to be the best of the Spurs' reserve crop, while Tiago Splitter has been stepping up lately and Matt Bonner provides solid rebounding for the Spurs.
But Houston's bench has been coming alive lately, and their bench has never shined brighter than they did on Tuesday, when backup guards Toney Douglas's season-high 22 points, Greg Smith's career-best 21 points and Carlos Delfino's15 points lifted the Rockets to a crucial 107-105 win at home over the Lakers. Coming off that night, don't be surprised if a more confident Houston reserve corps shows a little bit of swagger when they head into San Antonio tonight.
Advantage: Even
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