Recap: Rockets 107 - Heat 98

Well so much for that "tough road trip."  We went 3-0 and won every game with relative ease, even the Washington fiasco.  In fact, we probably got Eddie Jordan fired.  So that's nice.  As for tonight's game, there was no question who the better team was.  We also had a huge size advantage, leading to easy shots both inside and outside.  We shot well, played good defense on Dwayne Wade, and our game ended in time for me to watch the second half of Monday Night Football.  Could there be a better way to spend a night...?

Three Up:

Ron Artest: As Bill Worrell said, "Give Ron his Kudos for this game."  He shut down Dwayne Wade, played well while Tracy McGrady and Yao were out, and scored 20 points of his own.  And some good news in terms of that shutdown Rockets defense: Shane Battier is back by Saturday at the very latest.  Good luck scoring on us, everyone. 

Luis Scola: Luis quietly had a huge game tonight, netting 11 points while grabbing 13 rebounds.  He didn't shoot it well, but he did everything else.  And he went 7-9 from the FT line, something he has done well all season.

Carl Landry: Carl was the finisher tonight.  When Rawn ran yet another horrible fast break at the end of the game, Landry dunked home a missed layup that gave the Rockets the comfortable win.  Dare I call him a mini-Dwight Howard?  Yes.

Three Down: Nobody.  In fact, here are some more ups: Chuck Hayes didn't take a single shot.  Bones Barry finally stepped up and made 2 three-pointers.  Mario Chalmers had as many points as Dwayne Wade.

Stats of the Night:

Number of Players with 15 Shots on the Rockets: 3

Number of Shots Taken by Tracy McGrady: 7

Number of Saved By Zero Commercials: 45

Number of Rebounds by Houston: 51

Number of Rebounds by Miami: 35

FT %'s: Rockets - 89%.  Heat - 63%.

Number of Rockets with at least 3 assists: 6

Number of Blocked Shots by Houston: Zero.

Number of Minutes Played by Joey Dorsey: Zero.  COME ON ADELMAN!!

Genius Idea of the Night: Getting Yao the ball.  While he didn't exactly take a thousand shots, Yao was fed the ball constantly throughout the night, even with a double-team surrounding him every time he touched the ball.  Genius idea, getting our All-World center the ball more.

Bold Declaration of the Night: Bill Worrell on Skip after a clutch shot at the end of the game: "Rafer Alston.  Is.  The.  Man!"  Thanks for that Bill - I was hesitant to award him with The Man status, but now I've seen the light.  However, I was slightly disappointed in the choice of words.  I was looking forward to some "DAGGER!!"

Stat of the Year: Every time the Rockets have scored 100 points or more this year, they've won.  So just do that more, please.

Almost-Injury of the Night: Yao went down hard grabbing a rebound within the last minute of the game.  No wincing this time, but it sounded like an entire section of The Great Wall had just fallen on the ground.  No worries, however, as Yao was all smiles during his post-game interview with Matt Bullard.  Actually, who wouldn't crack a smile to this face.

73-9 Update: 10-5.  Great road trip, fellas.

Next Game: Wednesday vs. Indiana.