NOTES & QUOTES
Heat Starting Five: Antonio Snow, Dwyane Wade, Josh Richardson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Hassan Whiteside
Summary: The Houston Rockets had gone 2-3 in their last five games before coming into Miami, losing two straight games to Utah and Washington. The Rockets have lived and died behind the three point line for most of the season and tonight they lived. Houston drained shots from beyond the arc early and often hitting 7 of 10 in the first half as they established a 13 point lead at the end of the second quarter.
Antonio Snow was carrying the load for his team with 18 first half points.
Carmelo Anthony was brought in to play defense on James Harden and it was effective as the Heat managed to slow down his scoring and climb back in it. Miami managed to get within two points before the Rockets brought in Gerald Green who nailed some long distance shots to build the lead back up.
Hassan Whiteside struggled to get anything going offensively tonight, hitting only five of his twelve shot attempts in the loss.
Chris Paul finished with a double-double tonight scoring 13 points and dishing 10 assists.
Key Stats for HOU: 41/80 (51%) - FG|12/30 (40%) – 3PT|6/9 (67%) – FT | 23 – Fastbreak Points| 46 – Points in Paint|19 – Bench Points|42 – Rebounds|2 – Steals
Key Stats for MIA: 39/69 (45%) - FG|5/13 (38%) –3PT|17/22 (77%) – FT | 19 – Fastbreak Points|36 – Points in Paint|30 – Bench Points|44 – Rebounds| 8 – Steals
James Harden on stopping the losing skid: We knew we had to get after it tonight. Couldn’t let those two losses turn into three in a row. We also knew it wouldn’t be easy. They’ve been on a roll lately, but the shots were falling. Hopefully, we can get back on track.
Erik Spoelstra on Miami’s poor shooting: We shot less than 50% tonight and that’s never good. Threes weren’t falling. The one good thing we had tonight were free throw attempts. We were aggressive in the paint, but we just fell short.
Top Performers
Houston Rockets
James Harden – 29 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST
Eric Gordon – 16 PTS, 4 AST
Clint Capela – 15 PTS, 8 REB, 2 AST
Miami Heat
Antonio Snow – 34 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL
Hassan Whiteside – 12 PTS, 12 REB
Carmelo Anthony – 11 PTS, 3 REB, 2 STL