Results tagged “nba”

Every time the Lakers, the national media, and even Houstonians like yours truly count the Rockets out, they find a way to change all our minds. After a forty-point drubbing in LA in game 5, the Rockets faced elimination last night at Toyota Center. In true Clutch City fashion, they hitched their wagon to Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks for a scrappy, emphatic win, sending the series back to Los Angeles.

Sports radio this morning is reporting that rookie Rockets forward, Carl Landry has been shot in the lower leg. First reports are stating that it's just a flesh wound and Landry is already out of the hospital. The incident took place early this morning after a possible car accident in which the other driver fired the shots. Landry was on a late night food run after the team had arrived back in Houston from a game in New Orleans.

Houston Rockets power forward Carl Landry is currently a restricted free agent who appears to be quietly drawing interest within NBA circles. The Indiana Pacers are the first of possibly several teams that have and will express interest in Landry's services.

The Houston Rockets are currently down 0-2 against the Utah Jazz in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. After suffering two consecutive home losses to start the best-of-seven game series, the Rockets find themselves in an opposite scenario as last year at this time.

Yes it’s a cliché that is rolled out time and time again whenever a Houston sports team finds itself in a heap of trouble. Yes it’s a cliché that citizens of our fair city loathe as much as red light cameras. But in this case it’s true.

Since joining TNT as an NBA studio analyst, former Houston Rockets star Charles Barkley has been quite the Negative Nancy when discussing the playoff chances of his old team. Year after year Barkley sits on his throne beside Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith and waxes poetically about his displeasure over the play of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, and the rest of the Clutch City cast. Most particularly, Barkley constantly expresses his displeasure at the play of McGrady, who entered the league with Jordanesque appeal, but has yet to carry a team passed the first round of the playoffs.

En route to a 117-99 road victory over the Indiana Pacers, the Houston Rockets set a franchise record with their 16th straight win last night. Courtesy of a stellar first half from Tracy McGrady (23 points by intermission), the Rockets went on a 15-0 run in the second quarter and overcame a third quarter surge by the Pacers to cruise to victory.

You know what they say, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Many of the NBA’s so called pundits have dismissed the Houston Rockets’ accomplishments in achieving a 10-game winning streak, by exclaiming that until the squad beat a team of true substance, they were simply taking advantage of an undemanding schedule. Talking heads around the nation have stated that Houston’s road match-up against the Western Conference leading New Orleans Hornets would be the true test to determine if the Rockets were legitimate playoff threats.

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey may have been the busiest man not involved in a presidential election over the past two days. Less than 24 hours after trading Bonzi Wells and Mike James to the New Orleans Hornets, Morey was at it again. In what can only be dubbed as a swap of malcontents, the Rockets shipped Kirk Snyder and a 2nd round draft pick off to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for hometown Houston high school legend Gerald Green just moments before the expiration of the NBA’s trade deadline.

In a classic case of keeping up with the Joneses the Houston Rockets executed a player swap late last night with less than 24 hours before the expiration of the NBA’s trade deadline. As their Western Conference cohorts have made headlines over the last three weeks with the acquisitions of All-Star talent such as Shaquille O’Neal (Suns), Jason Kidd (Mavericks), and Pau Gasol (Lakers), the Houston Rockets found their crusade to climb in the playoff standings becoming that much more difficult. Therefore in order to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of the West, Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey made a deal of his own, though not quite on the league-shattering level as his foes. Houston sent forward Bonzi Wells and guard Mike James to the New Orleans Hornets in return for point guard Bobby Jackson, rookie guard Adam Haluska, and the higher of New Orleans’ two second-round picks in the 2008 NBA Draft (one of which previously belonged to the Rockets and was given to the Hornets in a trade last year to acquire Carl Landry).

Former Houston Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon has been named amongst the 15 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Arguably the face of Houston sports, the Dream has been synonymous with the Bayou City since first emigrating from Nigeria in 1980 as a skinny prospect with a world of potential.

How difficult is the Western Conference? Well, your hometown Houston Rockets just defeated the Portland Trailblazers tonight to notch their 11th victory in 12 games. With a 31-20 record to their name, the Rockets nevertheless continue to find themselves battling it out with the Golden State Warriors for the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Houston Rockets returned home last night, fresh off of an eight game road winning streak, to host the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in a nationally televised match up. With Western Conference foes such as the Suns and Lakers making headline roster moves to improve their stock in an extremely competitive Western Conference, the Rockets were quickly becoming an afterthought as they fought for the final playoff seed.

Yao vs Yi failed to deliver in the NBA's world of one-name superstar marketing fashion. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of "Olajuwon vs Ewing" or "Shaq vs the Admiral" - David Stern had long been searching for the next big man rivalry to grace the National Basketball Association's hardwood. After the Milwaukee Bucks drafted China's Yi Jianlian last summer, the NBA found itself with two seven-foot Asian big men gracing its rosters - one in the north and one in the south (Houston's Yao Ming). Stern's dream appeared to have become a reality.

Former Purdue standout and NBA rookie Carl Landry returned to his college roots on Saturday night and scored a season high 22 points to lead the Rockets to a 106-103 comeback victory over the Indiana Pacers.

With All-Star center Yao Ming sidelined, the Houston Rockets found themselves on the wrong side of a 97-89 score against the Utah Jazz at the Toyota Center on Sunday night. The loss ended Houston’s four game winning streak and brought to light Houston’s season long free throw shooting woes.

The 2008 NBA All Star team starting lineups were announced yesterday, and Houston’s very own Yao Ming proved to be a fan favorite. The Rockets’ big man was voted in as the starting center for the Western Conference squad, ahead of such luminaries as Amare Stoudemire (2nd leading vote-getter amongst Western Conference centers), reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year - Marcus Camby (3rd), and Pau Gasol (6th).

Houston, Rockets, basketball, McGrady, NBA, All Star

We usually run this column on Mondays, but the Clemens press conference inspired us to be petulant and storm out of things, so we walked away from our keyboard in a huff, drove back to our mansion in Memorial, and injected our kids whose names all begin with K's with horse steroids. After we calmed down and called our lawyer, we compiled this list of links. Here's what the sports blogosphere is talking about this week.

The Rockets have been afflicted with shooting woes on a couple of occasions already this season. But the injury bug had stayed away so far, leaving many people optimistic about the team's chances for a high playoff seed in the Western Conference. But then Tracy McGrady's elbow barged in to the discussion. In the waning seconds of a disappointing first half against the Lakers at Toyota Center, T-Mac collided hard with Lakers forward Luke Walton...

How sweet it is. They say revenge is sweet and the Rockets’ Tracy McGrady had a full helping of it last night with a 47 point performance against the Utah Jazz. The Jazz eliminated the Rockets in the 2007 playoffs in seven games and brought McGrady to tears after keeping him out of the second round once again. The Jazz had a lead as high as 12 points in the first quarter when they...

It has begun, the 2007-2008 season is here. Actually it didn't really start for the Rockets until the end of the first quarter last night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Houston started off very slow as if they didn’t realize the season had actually begun. Kobe Bryant took control of the first quarter while McGrady and company struggled to find their identity. A new coach and a few new faces on the pine will...

It's that time again. Basketball is back, people -- well sort of. The Houston Rockets will be arriving today in Austin for their second straight year of training camp at the University of Texas. The team will remain there until Oct. 7 when they will be returning to Houston. Sorry folks, all of the workout sessions in Austin are closed to the public, but have no fear; you will have your chance to see the...

It's time to dredge through the muck and mire of the blogosphere to come out with a few gems of commentary, sass, and sarcasm about our Houston sports teams. And awaaaaaay we go: - If you're a Mario Williams apologist, Sunday was Redemption Day. The good folks at Brahsome are shouting it from the rooftops today. - As noted last week, the miscreants over at Orange Whoopass are all over the Astros search for a...

Eddie Griffin 25, died Friday in southeast Houston when his SUV smashed into an oncoming train. Officials stated that Griffin's SUV exploded on impact after he ignored all railroad warning lights and sirens as he drove around the railroad barrier as the train was crossing. His body was burned so beyond recognition that he wasn't identified until yesterday when dental records confirmed his identity. The Rockets thought so much of Griffin's talents that they...

As any good sports fan will tell you, the end of the season is just the beginning of the fun. Here's what's going on with the Houston teams that aren't playing games right now: Rockets -Plenty of Rockets news this week, starting with the announcement of their 2007-08 schedule. Their home opener pits them against the Portland Trail Blazers and 74 year old rookie Greg Oden. Full schedule at the Rockets' website. -Yao Ming is...

Steve Francis is happy to be back with the Rockets after a turbulent split with the team three seasons ago. Houstonist remembers that it was around the time of Superbowl XXXVIII that he first butted heads with former coach Jeff Van Gundy. It wasn't long after that he was traded to Orlando along with Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato for Tracy McGrady. He spent some time in Orlando and New York only to end...