Resilient Rockets Rise Up Once More

Battier and Brooks lead the way as Houston takes Game 4 99-87

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - The end result was as predictable as it was inspiring.

All season long this Rockets team, defined by resilience and an uncanny ability to play its best basketball during the toughest times, had persevered through myriad moments when no one chose to believe except the players themselves.

So it should have come as absolutely no surprise then that they would rise up once more; ignoring the premature funeral service conducted by those who were either too blind or unwilling to see that even the loss of Yao Ming would not doom them to defeat. They would not roll over. They would not concede. They would play hard.

And they would win.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what transpired Sunday afternoon in front of a euphoric Toyota Center crowd. Aaron Brooks was sensational, Shane Battier was sublime and Chuck Hayes… well, Chuck just did what he always does – play shut-down ‘D’ and rebound everything in sight – as the Rockets went wire-to-wire in a dominant 99-87 Game 4 win over the Lakers, sending the best-of-seven series back to Los Angeles tied at two games apiece.

“We were joking earlier that I think everyone but us got the memo that we weren’t supposed to show up today without Yao,” said a smiling Shane Battier, who finished with a playoff career-high 23 points thanks largely to 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

“I’m not surprised. With the guys in our locker room, it almost sounds cliché, but we’re a resilient group. We’ve talked about bouncing back, bouncing back, bouncing back – through adversity, though the amount of changes, through trades, through injuries – we’ve never quit or stopped believing, and it sounds corny and cliché but we really have a group of guys that really wants to do the right thing, play the right way and play together, and when we do that we’re not a bad team.”

Perhaps the non-believers are starting to wake up to that fact. Houston whipped the Toyota Center faithful into a frenzy right from the opening tip, racing off to a 9-0 lead thanks to some suffocating defense and Battier’s hot hand. The margin only grew from there, expanding to 18 at halftime before ballooning to a whopping 29-point advantage through three quarters of play.

Brooks was at the epicenter of it all, repeatedly torching LA off the pick-and-roll on his way to a career-high 34 points – 17 of which came during a nearly flawless third quarter which witnessed him spectacularly convert a half-court, alley-oop lob pass from Ron Artest right as the buzzer sounded, sending 18,313 fans into utter pandemonium and the Lakers dejectedly back to their bench. It was the sort of play which epitomized the entire evening, and one which provided yet another look into the talent and potential Brooks brings to the floor every night.

“Aaron’s come a long way and he’s going to be a great player in this league,” said Battier of his diminutive but lightning-fast teammate. “He’s got unbelievable skills and once he continues to grow and puts together the mental with the physical, he’s going to be a tough guy to stop in this league.”

Brooks, however, had little desire to bask in the glare of the post-game spotlight. When asked if he viewed Game 4 as his national coming out party, he immediately shifted the focus right back to the rest of the men who inhabit the Rockets’ locker room.

“I think it’s out team’s coming out party,” he said. “Everybody wants to talk about the point guard position, but if you look at Chuck stepping in and Shane stepping up and Ron playing pretty good… I’m lucky. I’m lucky to have these guys - it makes it a lot easier on me.

“We never count ourselves out. If anybody was ready for this it would be us; we’ve been through a lot this year with Mac being out, Deke being out, Shane being out at the beginning of the year and now we’ve got Yao out so it’s just the same thing. We’ve been playing like that all year and we’re just used to it.”

Houston’s ability to overcome those injury woes is due in large part to the depth and talent sitting on the Rockets’ bench. Time after time players have been asked to fill in and rise to the challenge and over and over again that call has been answered. It’s a role Chuck Hayes has perfected over the course of the last two years, whether he’s asked to play three minutes or 35 as he did Sunday afternoon. Sure enough, “The Cooler” responded with poise and aplomb, collecting 9 rebounds and 4 steals, while racking up a +16 plus/minus; bringing his total for the series to +34 - far and away the highest on the team.

“We are faster now without Yao in there and we can move our feet,” said Hayes when asked to explain how Houston managed to limit Los Angeles to its lowest point total of the series. “If we can create a turnover and just spring the court to cause confusion, maybe we will get lucky and get an open three-point shot or an open lay up will come from that. We created turnovers with our ability to close out the paint and move our feet and we tried to play without fouling.

“I don’t think they were expecting us to be as energetic. I think they were expecting us to come out and mope over the fact that Yao was out, but this team since I’ve been here we’ve always handled adversity well. Injuries have been a part of this team since I’ve been here and we’ve always had guys step up. When the ball goes up in the air it’s just basketball; it’s guys playing hard and wanting to win.”

So now the scene shifts back to Los Angeles for Game 5 of a series in which home court has meant little thus far. The Rockets realize they’ll continue to play David to LA’s Goliath but, given the way they’ve defied public perception this far, one assumes the role of giant-killers suits them just fine.

“We’re a pretty loose group,” acknowledged Battier. “We’re going to go to LA, take our shot, take a lot of threes and we’re going to play hard and take our chances again. We know we’re still playing with house money. We’re huge underdogs. Can we put together another performance like tonight? I don’t know, but we’re going to take our chances.”

The odds are long, no doubt. But with a team as resilient as this, how can anyone possibly bet against them?

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN

(On the win) “I can’t say enough about our guys; the news we heard yesterday about Yao and coming out to play the way they did in the first three quarters was incredible. We talk about this team all the time and that they are going to play hard and resilient and all the adjectives you want to use, and tonight just shows they came out to win the game and we did it. Now, it’s 2-2, a three game series and we take each game as it comes.”

(On the play of Chuck Hayes and team play) “We had complete confidence in Chuck. You see that time after time that he’s able to defend people one-on-one. They don’t back him down. He did a nice job on ( Pau) Gasol. He got offensive rebounds for us. Shane (Battier) really got us going in the first half, too, with the shots he made and in the first three quarters we just made the extra pass. We kept making the extra pass, finding the open guy. We talked about how they had been defending us and we felt we could take advantage of that and we did.”

(on the offense):

They’re very good at helping and clogging the lane. When you drive you can’t think all the time about your shot. I think sometimes we showed in the last game that we would make a play where I thought we had predetermined what we were going to do. But you have to read the defense, see where they are and find the open guys, and we knew where the open people would be. Ron made a great play when he penetrated and kicked it back to the corner and Shane – he knew he was going to be there – and those are the kind of plays where you have to trust your teammates, you have to be unselfish and you have ot take advantage of what the other team is doing.

(the start):

It was very important. You can’t underestimate after we heard the news about Yao; I mean, that’s a pretty big blow to the team. I think these guys responded in the right way. That’s one reason yesterday we kind of talked about him being out for today. I think we got prepared yesterday. We got prepared that he wasn’t playing so we figured out what we were going to do and how we were going to attack them. But we thought there were times when he was in foul trouble that we were able to do well against them, so we felt like we definitely had a chance to win. I give our guys all the credit.

(decreased turnovers): I guess it takes four days for them to understand they have to take care of the ball (laughs). We talked about it – we had only four at halftime and that was a huge difference in the game. We take care of the ball and they don’t get in the open court and have to play in the open court all the time.

AARON BROOKS

(On his aggressiveness offensively) “As a team, we just wanted to be more aggressive. Without Yao (Ming) in there, the paint was going to open up a bit more. We just wanted to get into the middle and we hit a lot of threes today and that really helped us out a lot.”

(On the Rockets defense) “I think defensively we did a great job and that fed to our offense. It all started with Shane (Battier). I think Shane played big today. He came out and gave us a spark and defensively he did his thing. That’s the heart of the team right there and he came up big.”

We never count ourselves out. If anybody was ready for this it would be us; we’ve been through a lot this year with Mac being out, Deke being out, Shane being out at the beginning of the year and now we’ve got Yao out so it’s just the same thing. We’ve been playing like that all year and we’re just used to it.

(on limiting the turnovers): We just controlled the ball and made smart plays. We made the extra pass. I think the last game we got too much into the one-on-one game and tried to force things a little too much. This game, we got into the middle, kicked it out and made the extra pass and got the ball moving, and that’s what you have to do against this team. They’re one of the best teams in one-on-one defending and one of the best teams at defending post-ups, so we have to get in, swing the ball and get the three-point shot working.

(is this his national coming out party?): I think it’s out team’s coming out party. Everybody wants to talk about the point guard position, but if you look at Chuck stepping in and Shane stepping up and Ron playing pretty good… I’m lucky. I’m lucky to have these guys - it makes it a lot easier on me.

LUIS SCOLA

(On the win today) “It was huge. We keep talking. We had to win the game and put them exactly where they were when we started. We’re 2-2 and now it’s a three game series.”

(On if he had doubts about winning) “No. No, I knew we could win. I knew we had to play the way we did. If we play good then we’ll have chances. If we don’t then we will lose, it’s as simple as that.”

SHANE BATTIER

(On the Rockets effort) “This was the effort that we expected. I don’t know about the result but it was the effort that we expected. We’ve played so hard all year and we were really disappointed in Game 3 that we didn’t give the effort that we had given in front of our fans all year. There was a different look to our team today. We just wanted to come out and play hard and take our shots and take our chances and we were able to put together a pretty good game.”

(On his 23 point game) “With Yao (Ming) out, we have to find ways to score and so coach was telling me, ‘If you are open for threes, shoot it. If you shoot twenty threes and you are open, then they are good shots for us. I came out and I didn’t get up twenty (3-pointers) but I got to double digits which is a good number for me.”

(on outscoring Kobe): It’s not going to happen too often. This box score might get framed in my house somewhere. You gotta enjoy the process. I don’t think this is going to happen too often in my career. He’s going to come back with a vengeance in Game 5, there’s no question about it and I’m already thinking about it, so I have to get ready because it’s going to be a long Game 5.

(surprised about the result): I’m not surprised. With the guys in our locker room, it almost sounds cliché, but we’re a resilient group. We’ve talked about bouncing back, bouncing back, bouncing back – through adversity, though the amount of changes, through trades, through injuries – we’ve never quit or stopped believing, and it sounds corny and cliché but we really have a group of guys that really wants to do the right thing, play the right way and play together, and when we do that we’re not a bad team.

We were joking earlier that I think everyone but us got the memo that we weren’t supposed to show up today without Yao.

(confidence level): We’re a pretty loose group. We’re going to go to LA, take our shot, take a lot of threes, we’re going to play hard and take our chances again. We know we’re still playing with house money. We’re huge underdogs. Can we put together another performance like tonight? I don’t know, but we’re going to take our chances.

(is the bench underrated): Yes. I don’t think most people really ever watch us play. If you listen to the national media, once Yao went out no one really gave us a shot to win. If you really watched our team you know that we play with a lot of determination and we have a deep bench, and we expect that when someone goes down we can plug another guy in and still play well and at a high level. Now obviously we can’t replace Yao Ming – he’s our best player – but we’re sure as heck going to play hard to try and fill that deficit.

(on Chuck): Chuck is an amazing defender. What Chuck does is amazing. It may not look like much, but he’s a strong son of a gun, and he has amazing feet and plays the post so smart. Is he was three or four inches taller, he’d be a really tough force to be reckoned with and he’d be on all-defensive teams. He really is amazing.

(on Aaron): Aaron’s come a long way and he’s going to be a great player in this league. He really is. He’s got unbelievable skills and once he continues to grow and puts together the mental with the physical, he’s going to be a tough guy to stop in this league.

KYLE LOWRY

We never gave up on ourselves. Everybody who’s counting us out, they’re going to say what they’re going to say but we play for each other and that’s all that matters.

I think this team is just resilient. We have players who have that grit and grind in them and refuse to lose, and that shows character.

Everybody counted us out since Yao (Ming) went down but I believed that we went out there and played like we had something to prove. We played well. We hit a lot of shots. Shane (Battier) came out and started the game 11/11 and then everyone and Aaron (Brooks) picked it up. We just fell into place after that.”

(On the small lineup) “I thought we did a little bit more tonight. I think the lineup was definitely effective. I think guys went out there and played. It is very important that everyone in this locker room played well-rounded. Everybody came out and picked it up.”

CHUCK HAYES

Great win. Great win. It was a collective effort from everybody. Shane did a great job, you can’t say enough about that guy. Aaron was able to get into the paint and make shots, and hit open threes. Everybody just fed off each other.

We knew the defense was going to be there. Yes, we don’t have Yao, but the defense is going to be there. The offense was going to have to come by committee and today Shane did a great job starting us off with the threes. And Ron started off with a breakaway layup off their turnover and we were able to capitalize.

I don’t think they were expecting us to be as energetic. I think they were expecting us to come out and mope over the fact that Yao was out, but this team since I’ve been here we’ve always handled adversity well. Injuries have been a part of this team since I’ve been here and we’ve always had guys step up.

(on outrebounding LA):

It was very important. Gasol’s length, Bynum’s length, Odom, Ariza… I mean it’s not even an argument that athleticism is on their side. But if you put a body on that athleticism and try to make them go through somebody, you give yourself a better chance.

It’s a three-game series and one of those games happens to be here. We’ll make the adjustments that we need to and get ready for Game 5. They still have home-court but we’ve won there. We went in there and beat them in Game 1 on their floor and here in Game 4 we beat them without Yao. When the ball goes up in the air it’s just basketball; it’s guys playing hard and wanting to win.

(on the Rockets defense):

We hit shots and we defended. We wanted to crowd the paint and once we crowded the paint, we wanted to get to their shooters. You’ve got to commend Shane (Battier). Once again, he’s doing a great job on Kobe (Bryant). He is giving us his best effort and that’s all we could ask for.”

(On the Rockets forcing the Lakers to commit 11 turnovers) “We are faster now without Yao in there and we can move our feet. If we can create a turnover and just spring the court to cause confusion, maybe we will get lucky and get an open three point shot or an open lay up will come from that. We created turnovers with our ability to close out the paint and move our feet and we tried to play without fouling.”

PHIL JACKSON

(on the game) “Unfortunately we never could get into the ball game this afternoon. We never got ourselves with a lot momentum. Maybe the last quarter we had something, but it was too little too late.”

(on the team) “We're a little bit of a team that needs to have sometimes a spark put in us to play. You guys heard my litany before the game. You know what I was concerned about. There's absolutely no surprise.”

LAMAR ODOM

(on his injury that he will have an MRI and cat scan tomorrow) “I won't be able to practice but hopefully I can help the team on Tuesday. (on the play he was injured on) “I drove to the hole hard and I thought Battier slid over and I fell and landed awkwardly.”

(on the game) “They played a heck of a game and it was probably one of our worst games of the year. They are used to playing without Yao. They all played well and they just beat us. It hurts.

DEREK FISHER

(on the game) “Had we gotten out to a better start the outcome could have been different. We needed to start strong, put questions into their minds and put them back on their heels, but we didn't do that.”

TREVOR ARIZA

(on the game) “They came out and hit their shots and played and with a lot of emotion. They played with a sense of desperation. Any time a team loses a star player they seem to come out and play with a greater sense of urgency. Houston played hard and they hit a lot of shots from all over the court. We didn't play as hard as they did.”

(on the series) “We have to play smarter and hit our shots on Tuesday. If we could play tonight, I'd be ready to go.

KOBE BRYANT

(on the play of the Rockets) “They shot he ball extremely well to start the game and that put us in a hole and we couldn't recover from it.”

(on whether or not the Lakers underestimated the Rockets) “No, I don't think so. I just don't think we started the game with the right energy or the right focus or sense of urgency. You know that they (Rockets) are going to come out and play hard. They are not going to back down or go away. We just didn't come out with the sense of urgency that I would have liked.”

JORDAN FARMAR

(on the game) “This game a lot differently, by the Rockets than the rest of the way the series has gone. They ran a ton of screen and rolls and that is different than what they do with Yao in the game. We have to make adjustments to their new style. We have to it as a unit and as a team.”

(on the Rockets) “They played well and with a lot of confidence. They all came out with a green light and Battier got the offense off to a fast start and they never let up.”

SHANNON BROWN

(on the series) “We have to come out and play differently on Tuesday. We're not panicking. We'll have to make our adjustments and be ready to play.”

(on the game) “They did a great job of executing their offense. Houston jumped on us early and it was tough for us to recover. They shot the lights out.. They hopped on us quickly.”

NOTES

Today’s attendance of 18,313 marks the ninth straight sellout for the Rockets dating back to the regular season (3/28/09-5/10/09).

Houston scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed in a 99-87 win over the Lakers in Game Four. The Rockets also recorded an 89-88 victory in Game Four vs. Portland (4/26/09). Prior to this postseason, Houston had not won a Game Four in the playoffs since a 95-92 victory vs. Utah (5/25/97) in the 1997 Western Conference Finals.

The Rockets held the Lakers to 36 points (16-35 FG) in the first half of today’s game, which marked Los Angeles ’ lowest scoring half of the entire season. Including the regular season series, the Lakers did score fewer than 40 points in any half against the Rockets in 2008-09. The lowest point total for a half by the Lakers was a pair of 40-point first halves (on 3/11/09 and on 5/4/09).

Houston had just 11 turnovers in today’s game. The Rockets entered this outing averaging 18.6 turnovers in the seven previous meetings with the Lakers in 2008-09.

The Rockets were 10-of-29 (.345) from downtown today, setting this year’s playoff high for 3-pointers made in a game.

Including today’s victory, the Rockets have actually won their last four games without the services of both Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming (4/9/08, 3/16/09, 4/10/09 and 5/10/09).

Aaron Brooks led Houston with a playoff-career-high 34 points (12-20 FG, 4-9 3FG, 6-6 FT), four assists, three rebounds and one block. Brooks set his previous best with a team-high 27 points (10-17 FG, 5-8 3FG) in Game One at Portland (4/18/09). His regular season high was a 30-point (11-20 FG, 4-7 3FG, 4-4 FT) effort in a 116-112 victory vs. Phoenix (3/6/09).

Shane Battier finished with a playoff-career-high 23 points (6-12 FG, 6-6 FT), which included a 5-of-10 performance from beyond the arc. His previous high in the playoffs was 22 points (7-7 FG, 4-4 3FG) in Game One last year vs. Utah (4/19/08). Battier also matched his postseason best for 3-pointers made, which he originally set in a 5-of-7 outing in Game Five vs. Utah (4/30/07).

Luis Scola posted 11 points (4-11 FG) and pulled down a playoff-career-best 14 rebounds. Scola, who also recorded 10 points (5-11 FG) and 12 boards in Game Three vs. the L.A. Lakers (5/8/09), now owns five career postseason double-doubles

Chuck Hayes scored two points (1-2 FG), grabbed nine boards and had a playoff-career-high four steals in a start at center for the injured Yao Ming. His last postseason start came in the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

Kyle Lowry added a playoff-career-high 12 points (5-8 FG, 2-2 FT), two assists and two steals.

Kobe Bryant had just 15 points (7-17 FG, 1-4 3FG), five assists and four steals today. Including the regular season, Bryant had scored 30-plus points in all three of his prior visits to Toyota Center in 2008-09.

Pau Gasol topped the Lakers with 30 points (11-17 FG, 8-13 FT), nine rebounds and two blocks. Gasol has now registered at least one block in seven of the eight total games against the Rockets in 2008-09.

Lamar Odom left today’s game due to back spasms.

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