In the first quarter in front of their own home crowd, the Houston Rockets trailed the New York Knicks, 29-7 — without both Kristaps Porzingis and Enes Kanter. No one could believe it. Not even us.
The Rockets turned a 22-point deficit into a 23-point lead vs. the Knicks
Life came at the Knicks very, very quickly.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
But Houston isn’t one of the NBA’s best teams because of their defense. No, it’s because they have one of the most flammable offenses in the league, and that offense exploded after the Knicks took a commanding lead.
Houston trailed by 22 with 4:36 remaining in the first. By the end of the quarter, the Rockets were only down by 10. And at the 2:16 mark in the second, Houston took its first lead of the night.
You know where this is going. The Rockets didn’t stop with a measly one-point advantage. They’re much more disrespectful than that. Instead, Houston outscored the New York, 37-13, in the third quarter alone.
Houston eased up after going up 23. Final score: 117-102
No lead is safe against Houston
Especially not one run up in the first quarter. James Harden is out of this world, and he blasted the Knicks for 37 points and 10 assists. Then the Rockets had enough gall to add Chris Paul via trade over the summer, and after rehabbing from an early-season bruised knee, he’s helped Houston win four in a row.
Paul only had six points on 2-of-12 shooting against New York, but he also raked in 13 assists and two steals.
Houston also attempted 46 three-pointers and made 17 of them. It’s almost impossible to handle that, no matter who you are.
The scariest part is that the Rockets still aren’t in mid-season form yet. They’ve only had Paul for a few games, and they’re still on top of the Western Conference with a 15-4 record. And if this is what Houston is going to build on as the season goes on, the Rockets are in pretty good shape.
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