The Houston Rockets (9-10) are looking all out of sorts after two straight losses over the weekend in a Texas three-game series gone awry.
And yet, two nights after seeing their six-game home winning streak snapped in a 116-109 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the Rockets have a chance to get back to the .500 mark--and get a little payback against the team that started their two-game slide--when they host Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs (17-4) tonight at 8 p.m. at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Yet despite their current misfortunes, the Rockets could get a boost in the form of their returning coach Kevin McHale. As reported earlier last month, McHale had taken a leave of absence from the team to be with his daughter, Alexandria, 23, who was battling the autoimmune disease Lupus. Alexandria died two weeks ago.
McHale, who rejoined the team Saturday, told ESPN via the Associated Press that he was still adjusting to being back.
"It was different being out there again," McHale said. "I had been away for a long time and we had put in some stuff. I've got to get caught up, so these next few days will be good for us."
However, they're going to need to kick things into high gear in a hurry for tonight if they want to beat the Spurs, who are on a four-game winning streak that includes a 132-102 blowout of Houston Friday in San Antonio. Six different Spurs reached double figures and the Spurs led by as many as 33 points at one point in the game.
Latinos Post breaks down the key match-ups for the evening:
Power Forward: Patrick Patterson, Rockets vs. Tim Duncan, Spurs
These two matched up more or less evenly on the floor on Friday, Duncan scoring 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting while Patterson, who had a worse shooting night at 5-of-14, scored 10 points.
Parsons ended November on a tear, scoring 18.5 points in eight games to close out the month. But since then, he's fallen off, scoring only 9.3 points in the last three games. He can still turn it up, though, and he'll need to in order to do battle with Duncan, who hasn't scored much as of late, but can still dominate a game if he gets off on the right foot.
Advantage: Spurs
Center: Omer Asik, Rockets vs. Boris Diaw, Spurs
Normally a steady and reliable rebounder and scorer, Asik seems to be struggling as of late. He was held scoreless against the Spurs Friday night, while scoring only six points and 7 rebounds--both short of his 10.1 point, 11.5-rebound averages for the season--against Dallas on Saturday.
If he wants to bounce back from those two subpar performances, he'll have a prime opportunity tonight, with the Spurs' DeJuan Blair having sprained his ankle, leaving Diaw to be the likely starter for the Spurs. And with Asik tending to play his best at the Toyota Center--11.5 points and 11.6 renbounds at Houston this season--there may truly be no place like home for Asik tonight.
Advantage: Rockets
Small Forward: Chandler Parsons, Rockets, vs. Gary Neal, Spurs
Keep in mind--the Spurs don't use small forwards in their starting lineup. Popovich prefers to go to a three-guard rotation, which will leave either Green or Neal with the task of facing parsons tonight. Parsons is still dealing with a sore left shoulder that affected his shooting on Friday in a forgettable 3-for-10 performance, before hitting 6-of-17 from the field on Saturday, though he still totaled 18 points.
The ever-improving All-Star candidate Parsons--15.4 points and 6.5 rebounds this season--is going to have to power through and put on a great game tonight to give his team a chance to win.
Advantage: Even
Shooting guard: James Harden vs. Danny Green
Harden was nothing short of sensational against the Spurs on Friday, scoring 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting in a valiant effort to keep his team in the game. Then he followed it up with a 10-of-17 shooting, 39-point performance in a narrow loss to the Mavericks the following night.
But with an ankle injury listing him as questionable for tonight, an absent Harden could be a death blow for the Rockets, who desperately need their primary scorer and best overall player to have a chance at beating San Antonio.
Even if he does play, there's no telling whether Harden will have the spring in his step that allows him to slice to the hoop, or his normal defensive prowess. That could give Green--who scored 23 points in another San Antonio blowout win over the lowly Charlotte Bobcats (7-12)--the opening to have a big night.
Advantage: ???
Point guard: Jeremy Lin, Rockets, vs. Tony Parker, Spurs
Lin got flat-out outplayed by Parker in their last match-up. There's no other way of stating it.
While Lin and Parker each took nine shots for the night, Parker converted on seven of them en route to a 17-point, seven-assist night, while Lin shot a horrendous 2-for-9 from the floor to finish with only four points and four assists. The younger Lin also had a lot of trouble keeping up with Parker, who shot past him for three layups in the opening minutes of the game.
The bottom line--for Lin to avoid the same mistake tonight, he must not commit any turnovers (which he did twice on Friday) and shadow Parker more aggressively on the court, challenging every shot and not allowing the Spurs' steady point guard to get easy baskets like the ones he converted on in San Antonio. And he must also find a way to get his shooting rhythm going, meaning he may have to stop settling for jump shots and start attacking the basket more, using his youth and athleticism to his advantage
The old adage rings true in this case for Lin--those who fail history, are doomed to repeat it.
Advantage: Spurs
Bench
On Friday night, the Spurs bench was simply the better corps. Tiago Splitter added 15 points while Manu Ginobili and Patrick Mills each chipped in with 12; even Nando de Colo contributed with 3-of-6 shooting. Only Houston's Toney Douglas scored in double figures with 10 points.
Houston will need solid contributions from Greg Smith and Carlos Delfino tonight, or else the deeper San Antonio bench with Ginobili, Splitter, de Colo and Matt Bonner could very well be the difference again.
Advantage: Spurs
For live streaming action of tonight's game, go to NBA.com's Live Streaming League Pass Broadband site.
Live Score available at this location.
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