Rockets look to avenge loss to the Grizzlies
Wednesday night the Houston Rockets (23-28) salvaged a win against the Utah Jazz (29-21), going 1-3 on a brutal road trip. Kevin Martin led all Rockets in scoring with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting, knocking down a clutch last-second lay up and foul shot that sealed the win for Houston.
The Houston Rockets needed this win in a bad way, especially after losing back-to-back games to both of their Texas rivals. But Wednesday's emotional win not with standing, the Rockets will have to rally together to contend with a hot Memphis Grizzlies (26-24) team Saturday night at Toyota Center.
Previously, the Grizzlies handed the Rockets a demoralizing loss in Memphis on January 21. Despite the best efforts of Houston's front court led by scrappy starting center Chuck Hayes, Memphis' forward Zach Randolph dominated inside. All told, Randolph pulled down 19 boards and scored 29 points on 14-25 shooting.
Late in the game, the Rockets had no answer for Randolph on the post, running the same sets over and over again. And if Houston wants to reassert their dominance over the Grizzlies, someone will have to step up and back up Hayes in the paint.
With Jordan Hill going down with a nasty ankle injury, the onus now falls on rookie forward Patrick Patterson. And to tell the truth, Houston could do much worse than leaning on the rookie Patterson who has looked impressive so far
