Game 45: Houston Rockets (29-14) @ Phoenix Suns (26-18)

[SunsRback4Good]

Who: Houston Rockets @ Phoenix Suns

When: Friday, January 23, 2015 @ 7:00pm (9:00pm ET), FSNAZ

Where: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ






Houston Rockets starting lineup:

C- Howard
F- Motiejunas
F- Ariza
G- Harden
G- Beverly

Reserves: Smith/Brewer/Terry/Dorsey/Papanikolaou















Phoenix Suns starting lineup:

C- Len
F- Tucker
F- Mark. Morris
G- Dragic
G- Bledsoe

Reserves: Morris/Thomas/Green/Wright/Plumlee

[Revived]

This one's gonna be hard. Houston doesn't have any significant injuries and are gonna be pissed off after the big loss to GSW on Wednesday.

[i505]

I hope Dragic tears it up tomorrow. Make the clutch guys dream some more.

[Revived]

I hope Dragic tears it up tomorrow. Make the clutch guys dream some more.

He's good but he's not good enough for the Rockets to trade the Pelicans draft pick for him

#clutchfanslogic

[LukasBMW]

Hope we can beat these **** heads.

Good test for us.

[Makaveli2]

That's bs, morey would gladly trade the pick and a few assets for dragic. It's dmo the fans don't want to trade.
Sun's logic this team is perfectly fine running three pretty good pgs, one soon to be a max or close to a max. Forget about the other positions sg, sf, pf, c. Three good pgs on a team has always worked in the past .

I hope Dragic tears it up tomorrow. Make the clutch guys dream some more.

He's good but he's not good enough for the Rockets to trade the Pelicans draft pick for him

#clutchfanslogic

[sunskerr]

That's bs, morey would gladly trade the pick and a few assets for dragic. It's dmo the fans don't want to trade.
Sun's logic this team is perfectly fine running three pretty good pgs, one soon to be a max or close to a max. Forget about the other positions sg, sf, pf, c. Three good pgs on a team has always worked in the past .

I hope Dragic tears it up tomorrow. Make the clutch guys dream some more.

He's good but he's not good enough for the Rockets to trade the Pelicans draft pick for him

#clutchfanslogic

So Dmo is too good to trade for Dragic? o ok.

[Makaveli2]

It is what it is. Not saying he's too good for dragic, but dmo is someone the rockets would like to develope. He's a 7 ft guy that plays some what big and has decent post moves and some range. I think we can agree that 7ft with game usually has pretty good value in the NBA.
Additionally dragic is a fa this summer, and rockets will have the opportunity to go after him then without losing any assets. If they trade for him they would be taking a risk because he could bolt after the season like d12 and the lakers. dragic says he wants to test free agency, I'm sure it's the same case if he was traded to the rockets, why take that gamble with a player like dmo. What the rockets most likely would offer is NO pick, tjones, Jason Terry (expiring contract) and additional assets such as additional picks. But I understand thats not enough to interest the suns and their fans. Even adding dmo to the package I don't think the suns budge because Sun's are stacked at pf. quite frankly I know Sun's aren't interested in dmo, but the rockets feel he's a great fit with their team.

The trade is not happening imo. Not due to dragic value, but what the rockets the risk of dragic bolting in free agency.
Sun's are also taking a risk in not trading dragic. He could leave especially if they don't do anything with having 3 pgs.
I'm not trying to hate , I'm just disagreeing with the comment I replied to. Rockets and their fans would be happy to trade NO pick and tjones for dragic. There might be some , but not all of us are delusional like laker fans.

That's bs, morey would gladly trade the pick and a few assets for dragic. It's dmo the fans don't want to trade.
Sun's logic this team is perfectly fine running three pretty good pgs, one soon to be a max or close to a max. Forget about the other positions sg, sf, pf, c. Three good pgs on a team has always worked in the past .

He's good but he's not good enough for the Rockets to trade the Pelicans draft pick for him

#clutchfanslogic

So Dmo is too good to trade for Dragic? o ok.

[AtheJ415]

It is what it is. Not saying he's too good for dragic, but dmo is someone the rockets would like to develope. He's a 7 ft guy that plays some what big and has decent post moves and some range. I think we can agree that 7ft with game usually has pretty good value in the NBA.
Additionally dragic is a fa this summer, and rockets will have the opportunity to go after him then without losing any assets. If they trade for him they would be taking a risk because he could bolt after the season like d12 and the lakers. dragic says he wants to test free agency, I'm sure it's the same case if he was traded to the rockets, why take that gamble with a player like dmo. What the rockets most likely would offer is NO pick, tjones, Jason Terry (expiring contract) and additional assets such as additional picks. But I understand thats not enough to interest the suns and their fans. Even adding dmo to the package I don't think the suns budge because Sun's are stacked at pf. quite frankly I know Sun's aren't interested in dmo, but the rockets feel he's a great fit with their team.

The trade is not happening imo. Not due to dragic value, but what the rockets the risk of dragic bolting in free agency.
Sun's are also taking a risk in not trading dragic. He could leave especially if they don't do anything with having 3 pgs.
I'm not trying to hate , I'm just disagreeing with the comment I replied to. Rockets and their fans would be happy to trade NO pick and tjones for dragic. There might be some , but not all of us are delusional like laker fans.

That's bs, morey would gladly trade the pick and a few assets for dragic. It's dmo the fans don't want to trade.
Sun's logic this team is perfectly fine running three pretty good pgs, one soon to be a max or close to a max. Forget about the other positions sg, sf, pf, c. Three good pgs on a team has always worked in the past .

So Dmo is too good to trade for Dragic? o ok.

Um, no. Houston will not have the opportunity to go after Dragic in FA. Houston has nearly zero cap space ($65 million in committed money for 2015). So unless Dragic is okay taking the league minimum he won't be suiting up for Houston absent a trade. I've seen countless fans post this crap about how Houston can just sign him away, but the salary cap prevents any of that from being even a remote option. Dragic may leave, but he's not going to Houston. Also, Phoenix would feel pretty damn good going against Houston in FA again for Dragic. His brother is on the team and he chose Phoenix over Houston last time.

As for DMO, yes he's a good player Houston would like to develop, but Dwight only has so much longer as an elite player. As Dwight declines, so does Houston's real shot at competing. Their window for contention is shrinking, and isn't really in line with DMO's development window. I find it incredible to believe DMO would prevent them from getting an All-NBA player turning 28 for a team trying to win now. Unless DMO is seen as an all-star, he's not someone to hold off on a trade for just to build around going forward. Holding him is essentially trading a better chance of competing now for having a slightly better base to build around 3 years from now. Doesn't make sense in my mind for Houston's current situation.

Either way, kind of pointless to debate. Even with the NOP pick included, the poo poo platter of at best average role players in Shved, Terry, Capela, etc.. is not going to get anywhere. And there are MANY rockets fans who wouldn't include even the pick.

Finally, Dragic is a 2 guard in Phoenix's system. He's 6'4". There are small periods where Thomas is on the floor with Bled and Dragic, but it's not usual, and it's also surprisingly successful (average outscoring opposition by 19 ppg). Calling it a 3 pg lineup is a bit of a misnomer. It's a 2 pg lineup 99% of the time, and both of those pgs are really combo guards. It works due to Dragic's size for a pg and Bledsoe's crazy wingspan and athleticism, which allows them both to easily guard opposing lineups without hurting for not having a traditional 2 guard.

[MathiasPW]

Go to the Trade Thread. There is enough of this nonsense there for a lifetime.

Hoping PJ can minimize Harden's impact without early foul trouble. I think our best chance in this game is with a good bench performance. IT better keep the rythm he had in the last few games, and hoping Green gets one of those nights.

[bigfoot]

Dragon roars tonight

[JTrain]

Smother Harden with Bledsoe and PJ, double team Dwight and frustrate him early, then let the Josh Smith eat away at them.

[Jdiddy701]

Not a believer in the Rockets. Suns win tonight.


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[RunDogGun]

I think we should tell MkMo that Smith said his mother can play better defense than Morris. Unleash the beast!

[spanishninja]

And we need Alex Len 100% tonight.

[NashyAnkles]

OKC on a 4 game win streak. We need this.

[Qwigglez]

Absolutely need this game. I hope Alex Len gives Dwight problems all game long. Though I believe we have enough bodies to guard Dwight with Len/Wright/Plumlee. I'm more worried about D-Mo going off for 10-16 points, we can't give them easy buckets. If PJ can get it going offensively that will keep their defense honest, and make Harden have to play on both ends of the court. Unless Harden is guarding Dragic/Bledsoe but I think they'd want Harden to keep his energy for the offensive side.
Alex Len gonna go for 20-10-5 against Dwight

[Jdiddy701]

Hope Suns have the mentality to move up in the standings.


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[Revived]

Absolutely need this game. I hope Alex Len gives Dwight problems all game long. Though I believe we have enough bodies to guard Dwight with Len/Wright/Plumlee. I'm more worried about D-Mo going off for 10-16 points, we can't give them easy buckets. If PJ can get it going offensively that will keep their defense honest, and make Harden have to play on both ends of the court. Unless Harden is guarding Dragic/Bledsoe but I think they'd want Harden to keep his energy for the offensive side.
Alex Len gonna go for 20-10-5 against Dwight

Eh not really. I think Houston's the better team here and will have plenty of motivation after getting their ass kicked by GSW. I don't think PJ could guard Harden and if Len was having trouble with Kaman, his chances with Dwight aren't good.

Len will need to stay out of foul trouble all game long and the a Markieff, Goran, Bledsoe and IT and Green will all need to show up for the Suns to even have a chance.

I do doubt we can pull this off though, Houston's just too strong. Game should be fun and close and hopefully we learn from it win or loss and move on. I think we can withstand a loss here and at LAC as long as take care of business the rest of the way after that. Would be unbelievable to pull of an upset here but regardless, Im just hoping for no injuries for the Suns.

[Jdiddy701]

Does anybody hear the Sirius NBA channel on the radio? I was just on it defending why PJ Tucker deserves some credit for defensive player of the year. Baron Davis shot me down so quick. Am I talking crazy?


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