Rockets' Streak Fizzles Out at Madison Square Garden Against the Knicks
The Houston Rockets, with a record of 19-21, faced off against the New York Knicks, who held a 25-17 record. In a game that saw both teams pushing their limits, the final score read 109-94 in favor of the home team.
At Madison Square Garden, fans witnessed an intense battle where the Rockets started strong with an early lead in the first quarter. The team's performance was highlighted by their aggressive defense which resulted in nine blocks and six steals throughout the game. However, despite these efforts and maintaining a close gap with 23 assists and only ten turnovers, they were unable to sustain their momentum.
The Rockets showed proficiency from the free-throw line with an impressive 84 percent completion rate but struggled beyond the arc hitting only eight out of thirty attempts for a three-point percentage of just 27 percent. Inside scoring was more effective for them as they made over half their two-point shots.
Houston's bench contributed fifteen points to their total score but it was not enough to match up against New York's twenty-one bench points. The biggest lead held by Houston was a mere three points compared to New York’s substantial twenty-point advantage at one point during playtime.
The Knicks capitalized on fast break opportunities less efficiently than Houston did; however, they managed to dominate in rebounding with sixty total rebounds compared to forty-four from Houston. This included twelve offensive rebounds which led to thirteen second-chance points for New York while Houston could only muster four second-chance points.
New York also had better ball distribution resulting in twenty-four assists and took advantage of turnovers scoring twelve points off them whereas Houston scored six off turnovers. The efficiency on both ends of the court favored New York as evidenced by their higher efficiency rating and effective field goal percentage.
As time wound down at Madison Square Garden, it became clear that despite some resilient stretches from Houston including leading for over six minutes during playtime – it wasn’t enough against a determined Knicks side that led comfortably for over thirty-four minutes.
Looking ahead after this setback on foreign hardwoods, fans can catch The Rockets back home at Toyota Center when they take on Utah Jazz scheduled on January 20th at 6:00 PM local time. This upcoming matchup will be broadcasted live on Space City Home Network channel number 674 as well as KJZZ for those following from away territories.