Rockets win 20th straight

[jarrod2323]

The Houston Rockets became the third team in NBA history to win 20 consecutive games, tying for the league's second-longest winning streak with an 83-75 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.


The Rockets joined the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33 straight) and 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20) as the only teams to win 20 or more in a row.

All-Time NBA Win Streaks

An NBA team hasn't been this hot in 37 years. The Rockets beat the Hawks on Wednesday to match the Bucks for the second-best win streak in NBA history.

Wins Team Season
33 Lakers 1971-72
20 Rockets 2007-08
20 Bucks 1970-71
19 Lakers 1999-2000
18 Bulls 1995-96
18 Celtics 1981-82
18 Knicks 1969-70
17 Suns 2006-07
17 Spurs 1995-96
17 Celtics 1960-61
17 Capitols 1946-47
17 Mavericks 2005-06
16 Lakers 1999-2000
16 Blazers 1990-91
16 Lakers 1990-91
16 Bucks 1970-71
16 Celtics 1964-65

Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half and Shane Battier had 15 points as Houston struggled to preserve their winning streak. They were held to their lowest first-half total during the span and trailed 33-32 at halftime.

A basket by Atlanta's Marvin Williams with 5 seconds left in the game ended the Rockets' streak of 10 straight wins by 10 or more points. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 28 points, and Josh Smith had 16 points and a career-high 22 rebounds.

With the Rockets leading 71-70 with 5 minutes remaining, McGrady scored five points in Houston's 10-0 run to take control.

Houston led 59-57 at the end of the third quarter, but Atlanta's Zaza Pachulia opened the fourth with two free throws. Minutes later, he was called for a technical foul after arguing an offensive foul. Battier made the free throw to give the Rockets a 66-62 lead.

Atlanta closed to 71-70 when Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola scored on back-to-back baskets.

After Smith was denied inside, McGrady stretched the lead to 77-70 with a jumper which bounced twice on the rim before falling through the net. McGrady added a 3-pointer with 1:53 left for an 81-70 lead to cap the 10-0 run.

Houston allowed only 89.3 points per game during its 19 straight wins and it set a low scoring pace against the Hawks, who responded to the challenge with strong defense.

McGrady made only two of 10 shots from the field and three of six free throws in the first half as the Rockets shot only 27.9 percent from the field.

Despite a combined 31 rebounds by Smith and Al Horford, the Rockets held a 56-52 edge on the boards and an 18-15 advantage in second-chance points.

Houston has held two straight opponents to 75 or fewer points, following a 91-73 win over New Jersey on Monday.

Talk about the Celtics & Pistons all you want, but what team wants to play the Rockets in a 5-game or 7-game series right now? and how many without Yao?

I thought so

 

[Mexi]

it's funny because the other 19+ streak teams all one the title.
thats more than can be said about the Rockets. (yeah I know the playoffs havent started yet, but we all know they cant win it)

that 33 game streak is untouchable

but congrats anyways to them. 20 in a row is pretty badass

 

[Mexi]

btw, i hope they still have the streak come Sunday.
thats when we'll show 'em who's boss!

 

[MapleLeaf]

Yeah, reality will set in eventually. I mean they really haven't faced anyone during the streak without Yao. I mean New Orleans is the only one that stands out, the rest are weak. The win against the Mavericks was pretty easy because we didn't have our best player.

And once they lose this upcoming week, I see reality kicking in and they drop back down to like 6-7-8 in the west

 

[jarrod2323]

weak teams? Denver, New Orleans.
and Houston beat Dallas without Yao, too...

still, who will want to see them in a long series? there depth is now playing so well, that the "team" is going to be hard to beat. T-Mac isn't relied on to do everything anymore..

and

streak of 10 straight wins by 10 or more points.

 

[MapleLeaf]

Denver doesn't know how to guard anyone. So if you can lock them up defensivly they're easy to beat. New Orleans is the one win I'll give you. That was a good win. But Dallas, without Dirk we suck, we always have over the past couple of years. Yao is nowhere near as important to the Rockets as Dirk is to the Mavs. Plus 6 of the last 7 games the Mavs have played the Rockets when Dirk and Yao have been healthy, the Mavericks have won. So meh.

Anyways I think Houston CAN make it out of the first round if they find the right matchup. Like a matchup with Denver, Golden State. A team where they can use there defensive skills to beat high powered offensive teams who don't know how to guard at all.

But if they get matched up against a team like San Antonio or New Orleans, I don't see it.

This is basically a lot like the Trail Blazers streak earlier. They won like 13 straight and once they lost they have been .500 since. I see that after Houston loses. They're just on such an emotional high that once they lose they'll go back to the team they were before.

 

[MapleLeaf]

 

[jarrod2323]

Make that 22 -- KOBE

 

[.GR]

Wow. This is an amazing run! I dont care who u play.

 

[VC15]

btw, i hope they still have the streak come Sunday.
thats when we'll show 'em who's boss!

ROTFLMAO

 

[bulls12]

btw, i hope they still have the streak come Sunday.
thats when we'll show 'em who's boss!

Who's boss?
:lol:

 

[jarrod2323]

does anyone realize that the Rockets have won 26 out of their last 27 games, and 31 out of their last 35?

pretty impressive

 

[Mexi]

Who's boss?
:lol:

no Pau FTL
and dont give that Yao crap because they've already proven that they can win without him. Just goes to show what a defensive liability he is. The Lakers have yet to prove that they could win without a big.

and to second Jarrod's comment, yeah Houston has been pretty beastly. I give them MAJOR props
but they still wont win jack in the playoffs....
streaks dont win anything unless you win it all.
remember last year when Phoenix and Dallas won 17 straight?
remember the Pats 18 straight?
remember the Rockies 21 out of 22 to end the season?

good news is we play them again in April. Pau and Bynum should both be back by then.
good luck Mike Harris trying to guard Bynum

 

[MapleLeaf]

yeah Houston has been getting sort of lucky when they are facing these good teams

The game they played against the Mavs dirk was suspended
And this game against the Lakers without Gasol.
I wonder if Garnett will go down before the game on Tuesday

 

[jarrod2323]

why is it lucky? why do other teams say we didn't have such-and-such..

Houston is doing this WIHOUT Yao Ming - they're leading scorer. - and many experts say his only true rival is Dwight Howard.

they're playing team ball and that DOES win championships - ask Michael what happened before he decided to let Paxson and Kerr to take important shots.

and if the Rockets were lucky to beat the Mavs without Dirk - then what about the previous two teams that beat the Mavs before the Houston loss, and beat them WITH Dirk ---?

Bynum & Pao - remember Carl Landry was out today, too - a big part of this immaculate run. Harris played only 10 minutes - that's like saying Luke or Mbenga covering Yao.. bad comparison.

what won them the game was Skip owning DFish all night and Kobe taking 33 shots with Battier in his face.. Kobe passes, Lakers probably win

just keep saying they'll suck now, playoffs, etc... cuz so far, everything that's been predicted - they've overcome..

I know they can't win like 46 straight to win it all, but at least it gives me something to look forward to in Houston basketball since 94...

 

[k-durant]

22-0 is not lucky. I've got to give Rockets props. They are playing so well without Yao Ming. Yes, Dallas didn't have Dirk and the Lakers didn't have Gasol but they are still playing really well. This run is unbelievable but it's going to end sometime :/

Good luck to Houston against Boston. If they beat the Celtics, they'll get more respect.

 

[Mexi]

Jarrod, about your sig I said that before Pau got injured.
Once he got injured, I just said F sports and stopped watching them all weekend. I only watched the Pacquiao/Marquez fight(BS), fell asleep during the Hornets/Lakers game (depressed), and only watched the 2nd quarter of Sunday's game....

but, i still said it so meh
you just wait til the playoffs my friend. then we'll see who's talking

 

[Yankees2772]

remember last year when Phoenix and Dallas won 17 straight?
remember the Pats 18 straight?
remember the Rockies 21 out of 22 to end the season?

I remember the Pats and Rockies both playing in the championship.

So that's 1/2 of the teams that did this or something close went to the finals...

Making it to the finals in the west would mean them over the Lakers...

I'd say that's pretty good...

And what the Rockets did is much more impressive than the rest... They have more wins in a row than the Suns + Mavs, so that's not it... The Pats went 18-0, but weren't the first to do so. The Rockies won 21/22, but in that span, they only played 1 playoff team. Still a good feat, but 22/22 > 21/22.

You need to open your eyes and realize that there is more to the NBA than the Lakers... The Lakers have a great team, but as far as I'm concerned, they are just as much of a "sure thing" in the playoffs as any other team (besides the Spurs).

IDK why you're so cocky about the Lakers... They haven't played with Bynum yet, so who knows what he'll contribute... He was putting up about 13/10 off the top of my head... With Gasol that's likely 10/9... Which isn't much better than his replacement.

Gasol has little to no playoff experience, and the same can be said about Lamar Odom and the Laker's bench.

Kobe doesn't know how to win as the #1 option. Kobe succeeded for 1 reason, and that is having the most dominant player in the league's modern history, Shaquille O'Neal, on his team.

So in essence, the only sure things with the Lakers are this:

Kobe will take 25 shots per game.
Derek Fisher will have a solid series, but not have much of an impact.

That alone does not make them the team to beat, especially considering all of the negatives they have, while a lot of teams have many positive things going their way coming into the playoffs.