NBA scores 2014: Rockets are making their own path and 3 other things we learned

The Rockets took more 3-pointers than anyone has in two seasons and LeBron James’ return is suffering major growing pains.

by Tim Cato

Nov 23, 2014, 1:00 PM UTC

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

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Last season, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers went from a nameless D-League squad near the U.S.-Mexico border to a widely known basketball experiment. Encouraged by Houston GM Daryl Morey, Houston's affiliate took the mid-2000s Suns offense — "7 seconds or less" — to new, ridiculous levels of commitment. The Vipers attempted more than 45 3-pointers a game while averaging 123 points a night, all in the name of a basketball trial and investigation that, of course, would never work on the NBA level.

But that's all wrong, because this season, the Rockets are following right in their footsteps.

On Saturday, Houston sneaked by the Mavericks 95-92 in perhaps the strangest game this season. Without Dwight Howard, who missed his second straight game and doesn't have a timetable for his return, the Rockets decided to bomb away from outside the arc every chance they got, for a final tally 15 made 3-pointers on 46 attempts.

Forty-six attempts -- right at the Vipers’ season average last year -- is tied for third-most ever in an NBA contest, per basketball-reference.com. The last time a team shot 46 in a game? The Rockets, of course, who also did it in 2013.

Despite leading by 16, Houston let Dallas back into the game in the fourth quarter, actually falling behind by five points, but a huge James Harden and-one layup gave the Rockets the lead for good. Of course the foul was committed by Chandler Parsons, who made his first return to Houston since leaving in the offseason and was booed all night. Should it have been a charge on Harden? You judge for yourself.

Houston continues to bend the principals that we've used to view basketball for years. Without Howard, the team is made up of James Harden, Trevor Ariza, a handful of vets that are well past their expiration date and some players you've likely never heard of. Jason Terry played 25 minutes for Houston tonight while Donatas Motiejunas had 14 points. You're telling me Tarik Black and Joey Dorsey (who combined for 20 minutes) are actual names of real NBA players?

Beyond Harden, there's very little offensive talent to fall back on. Instead, they jacked up more threes than any other team has attempted in five years. The defense did enough on its own, too, forcing Dallas into rhythm-less offensive possessions and combined 14-for-48 shooting from the Mavericks' big three (Dirk, Parsons and Monta Ellis). The Mavericks shot just 6-for-35 from deep themselves.

The Vipers may have been called an experiment, but to the Rockets, it’s basketball innovation. On Saturday night, it earned them an improbable win.

3 other things we learned

All is not well in Cleveland. The Cavaliers led 24-6 against the Raptors, and all was well. And then, suddenly, like we've seen time and time again, Cleveland just stopped functioning.

91-53 run for the Raptors
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) November 23, 2014

After the game, LeBron talked in length about how the team's going through growing pains. Cleveland's 5-7 now, Kevin Love is struggling to fit in, the defense is bad, there's no rim defender and the bench just isn't getting it done. Clearly, the Cavaliers need more time -- but whether that means a week or a month or next season, who knows.

More Cavs

3 things we learned from Raptors 110, Cavs 93

Are the Raptors the best team in the East? They currently sit atop the conference with a 10-2 record. To beat Cleveland, it was Lou Williams who showed up for 36 points on 9-of-19 shooting and 15-of-15 from the line. Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry is well on his way to earning his All-Star nomination after getting robbed last year -- he's scoring 18.8 points a night on 47-percent shooting with a 4:1 assist to turnover ratio.

Gerald Green is the most fun player in the NBA. You can't prove I'm wrong. He had 23 points in 22 minutes in the Suns' 106-83 smashing of the Pacers, with five 3-pointers and hustle plays all around. When he's going like that, it's best to sit back and watch him go off.

Play of the Night

Outlet passes are one of the funnest plays in basketball, probably because it involves skills that more resemble that of football or baseball. Cocking a basketball over your head and just hurling it can only happen in a situation like Tim Duncan's touchdown pass to Kawhi Leonard for a quick layup. Let's appreciate that nice finish, too (the Vine cuts right before but the ball does go in there).