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The Rockets are looking to win their fourth straight game when they take on the Warriors on Sunday night.
The good news for the Houston Rockets is that Kevin Martin broke out of his slump by scoring 28 points, but it was not enough as the Golden State Warriors won 106-97. The game was close throughout the game, but the Rockets could never take a lead and then allowed the Warriors to extend their lead in the fourth quarter for the win.
Going into this game it seemed the the Rockets would be able to get a victory over the Warriors since they had nine wins coming into this game. However, the Warriors offense was able to not turn over the ball in the second half and get offense from five players who scored in double digits. Monta Ellis led the way for the Warriors with 33 points which came along with seven assists, five rebounds, two steals and one block. The Warriors bench made the difference tonight as they out scored the Rockets bench 36-29.
This lose drops the Rockets record to to 16-12.
For more on the Houston Rockets, check out The Dream Shake. For news on the Golden State Warriors, be sure to visit Golden State Of Mind and SB Nation Bay Area. Visit SB Nation's NBA page for a look around the entire league.
The Houston Rockets have won three straight road games and four of five overall coming in to face the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets had a six-point lead going into the second quarter but a scoring run by the Warriors' Monte Ellis and Stephen Curry. Ellis has 14 points at the half and Curry has nine points.
As for the Rockets it is Kevin Martin who is leading the way with 10 points, and it looks like he is starting to break out of his slump. The 10 points is the most he has had over each of his last four game. Besides Martin the only other Rocket to be doing well is Louis Scola who has eight points and eight rebounds.
The Rockets need to defend the three-point shot better in the second half, the Warriors made 8-of-13 from three-point range in the first half.
For more on the Houston Rockets, check out The Dream Shake. For news on the Golden State Warriors, be sure to visit Golden State Of Mind and SB Nation Bay Area. Visit SB Nation's NBA page for a look around the entire league.
After starting the season 3-7 the playoff chances for the Houston Rockets were not looking good, but since then the Rockets have gone 13-4 and are positioning themselves for a playoff birth.
According to ESPN's John Hollinger, and his computer system that projects the regular season and the post season 5,000 times, the Rockets have an 82.7 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Houston Rockets guard Kevin Martin has been in a major scoring slump during the teams four game road trip. Martin is averaging 18 points per game this season scored a total of 16 points over the past four games, and is shooting 5-of-26 from the field.
Martin did miss a pair of games in late January due to plantar fasciitis, but in his first three games back he scored 29, 29 and 16 points before his slump began. The cause for the slump is puzzling to Martin:
"I really have no idea, no idea," Martin, 29, said of how a slump caught him."I just have to keep playing through it. I just have to go with the flow of the game and just go from there."
In the four games of the road trip, Martin has made five of 26 shots, averaging four points.
"It ebbs and flows," coach Kevin McHale said. "Kevin will be fine. I'm not worried about Kevin. You're not always going to be on full alert, high, 100 percent, every shot going in. That's just the way it is. K-Mart will come back and play great games for us. All year, we're going to rely on him a whole bunch.
Martin contributes some of his slump to the condensed schedule which is taking a toll on players stamina, but with the team winning Martin is upbeat and believes it will be only a matter of time before he gets his shot back.
The good thing for the Rockets is that they have won three of four games during Martin's slump, and he can thank the Rockets bench who has stepped up their play of late. Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors could help break Martin's slump since the Warriors are 29th in the league in points allowed.
For more on the Houston Rockets, check out The Dream Shake. For news on the Golden State Warriors, be sure to visit Golden State Of Mind and SB Nation Bay Area. Visit SB Nation's NBA page for a look around the entire league.
On December 12, 2011, Jeremy Lin was claimed off waivers by the Houston Rockets. At the time, the Rockets also had Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragić enlisted as point guards. On December 24th before the start of the season, in need of more frontcourt personnel, the Rockets waived Jeremy Lin in an effort to clear payroll and signed center Samuel Dalembert to a two-year deal.
Who knew that Daryl Morey and the Rockets would end up releasing the single biggest phenomenon in the 2011-12 NBA season?
The Houston Rockets have won three straight and six of its last 10 games to arrive at 16-11 on the season. That mark is good for just third in the Southwest division that is proving to be one of the Western Conference's best. San Antonio has won seven straight and sit atop the division with a 19-9 record or 2.5 games in front of the Rockets. The Dallas Mavericks are second at 17-11 which is just a half game in front of the Rockets.
The Spurs, Mavs and Rockets are all in the thick of things in the Western Conference standings. San Antonio is in second place in the conference trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder by 2.5 games. The Mavericks currently sit 4.5 back in the No. 4 spot and are followed by the Rockets who are five back.
For more on the Houston Rockets check out The Dream Shake. For more NBA related news and analysis head on over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.
The Houston Rockets are looking to extend their winning streak to four games when they travel to take on the Golden State Warriors for the first time all season, and it will be the Rockets fifth game of a six game road trip. As for the Warriors they have struggled of late and have only won four of their last 10 games. Both teams are coming into this game well rested as they both last played on Thursday night.
The Warriors have not been that good this year and have only won nine games and are sitting at third place in the Northwest division, while the Rockets are battling it out in the Southwest division title.
On the current road trip the Rockets leading scorer Kevin Martin has not played well and has had scored in single digits over his last four games. The bench has picked up the difference, but look for Martin to possibly end his scoring funk against the Warriors.
Time/Date: Sunday, Feb. 12, 8 p.m. CT
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif.
TV: Fox Sports Houston
Radio: 610am and 850am
Streaming: NBA League Pass
For more on the Houston Rockets, check out The Dream Shake. For news on the Golden State Warriors, be sure to visit Golden State Of Mind and SB Nation Bay Area. Visit SB Nation's NBA page for a look around the entire league.
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NBA Power Rankings 2012: Kevin Martin Deserves Some Love
The emergence of the Houston Rockets has been well documented thus far this season. While there are still some obvious questions as to whether Kevin McHale can keep his young Rockets in contention, there's no doubt that there are some real building blocks on this roster. Luis Scola has proven himself to be in the upper-echelon of power forwards in the NBA and Kyle Lowry near triple-double's every night (as highlighted in Tom Ziller's Power Rankings) almost dethroned an All-Star lifer like Steve Nash in making the marquee game in Orlando.
But what about Kevin Martin?
Last season was the first in five seasons that Kevin Martin was able to stay healthy for virtually (80 of 82 games) an entire season. While Martin's scoring averages are down (primarily due to his decline in getting to the foul line) one must remember that at this stage in his career he's the closest thing to a seasoned veteran the Rockets have. Moreover, its a bit of a head scratcher that a player like Joe Johnson can continually make All-Star teams while a player like Martin, who has virtually identical stats as Johnson, can't sniff an All-Star roster.
Can Martin at least get an invite to the Three-Point shootout on All-Star Saturday night? Good grief.
For more on the Houston Rockets check out The Dream Shake. For more NBA related news and analysis head on over to SB Nation's NBA Basketball page.
Feb 13 4:55p by Eddie Maisonet