Game 1 - Rockets at Pistons - IncredibleShift's Blog

IncredibleShift's Blog

Game 1 - Rockets at Pistons

Posted on January 23, 2012 at 08:57 PM.

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I just played my first game as well:

Game 1

Rockets 79 - Pistons 88

I came out firing out of the gate, taking a 24-13 lead early, behind 14 points from Tayshaun Prince. Houston battled back to be down one at the end of the first half, until Brandon Knight sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give me a four point lead at the half. I came out firing again, taking an early nine point lead in the half, but the Rockets battled back to tie the score, but I led 69-67 at the end of 3 quarters. I held a 79-73 lead with 6 minutes left in the fourth, but Kevin Martin buried an open 3 to cut the deficit to three. On the next possession, the had another open 3 to tie the game, but missed long and Jason Maxiell controlled the defensive board. After that, I never looked back. Tayshaun and Monroe each added an and-one down the stretch. Battling foul trouble most of the game, Greg Monroe didn't manage to stay on the floor very much, but he was able to provide 16 points, including a huge tip slam to give me an 8 point lead with 3 minutes to go in the game. I held on for an 88-79 victory. My scoring was extremely balanced, with Tayshaun scoring 21, Monroe had 16, Ben Gordon scored 14, Stuckey had 12 and rookie Brandon Knight added 14 points and 6 assists off the bench. I played pretty well, despite scoring 88 points and shooting 40% from the field and 7/22 from behind the arc. Williams, Scola, Lowry, and Dalembert all scored in double figures for the Rockets. Here's my current rotation:

Stuckey/Knight/Bynum
Gordon/Stuckey
Prince/Daye
Jerebko/Maxiell/Villanueva
Monroe/Wallace

Here's my analysis on my players after the first game:

Stuckey - A little disappointing, but knocked down his only 3 point attempt and hit all of his free throws. I just don't see him being a 20 PPG scored like I had hoped.

Knight - Played pretty well. Only shot 3-11 from the field, but had to take some bad shots at the end of the shot clock. Went 6/6 from the line, added 6 assists, and played pretty good D on Lowry.

Bynum - Didn't get much time, but had a nice assist. Solid 3rd point guard.

Gordon - Hot early and struggle much of the rest of the game. Has the potential to be my leading scorer if he can find some consistency.

Prince - Hot early from behind the arc, and got to the basket in the 2nd half, although he didn't shoot well from the stripe. Played solid defensively.

Daye - Didn't get much time either, but I think he went 0-4 from the field. Ouch.

Jerebko - Got some rebounds and hit a few shots. Not too great defensively but he's a sufficient power forward right now.

Maxiell - Similar to Jerebko, he grabbed some boards, but played much better defense.

Villanueva - Came in at C in the end of the first half, and converted on two layups from Knight on a pick-and-roll play. Scored 4 points in 3 minutes of time. This may have earned him some more.

Monroe - Played pretty well too. Foul trouble most of the game kept him off the floor, but he was very efficient when he was in the game. Scored on the pick-and-roll as well as driving to the basket. Struggled defensively at times guarding Scola.

Wallace - Had 5 or 6 rebounds and played decent D. That's all I can ask of him.

Overall, I'm already having a blast with Association. Can't wait to play more games and progress further. Cheers!