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Wednesday October 15, 2008 10:46 PM

Rockets Revert To Small Ball to Slay Grizzlies


Aaron Brooks and Von Wafer key Rockets three-point barrage

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

HOUSTON - No Yao. No T-Mac. No Battier.

No problem.

With three-fifths of last year’s starting line-up taking the night off, the Rockets relied on small ball to de-claw the Grizzlies Wednesday night, 101-97.

Houston’s (relatively) little line-up shot lights out from start to finish, especially from beyond the arc. Led by the suddenly-scorching Aaron Brooks and Von Wafer, the Rockets went an astounding 18-of-29 from three-point land during an otherworldly display of outside shooting.

Brooks was unstoppable throughout; both in terms of creating offense for himself - scoring 14 in the first half - and for others, as proved by his game-high nine assists. And no player benefited from Brooks' play making abilities more than the aforementioned Wafer. The third-year guard from Florida State broke out of a mini-slump by putting on a shooting clinic for everyone in attendance, draining 7-of-9 from downtown on his way to a game-high 23 points.

Perhaps most impressive was Wafer's ability to maintain his stellar marksmanship in crunch time. With the Rockets trailing by two in the game's final minutes, Wafer drained back-to-back triples to put Houston back on top - the final one touching nothing but nylon despite the best efforts of a Grizzlies defender who had draped himself all over the native of Homer, Louisiana.

“I’m still trying to get my legs under me," said Wafer after the game. "This is the best I’ve felt in a while, but I still need to get my legs under me. I have to tip my hat to D.J. (Strawberry) tonight; he really helped me out when I started to press myself. He told me to just play like I did in college and just play ball. I love the late game shots, when the shot clock is winding down. It feels good to knock it down."

While Brooks and Wafer were the stars of the night for Houston, they were by no means alone in their efforts. In fact, their play was indicative of an all-around sterling night for everyone in the Rockets' backcourt. Houston's guards combined to score 76 points; quite impressive considering the group lacked the scoring exploits of the always-explosive Tracy McGrady, who sat out once again as he continues to recover from offseason knee and shoulder surgery.

Yao Ming, meanwhile, was given the night off as part of the team's plan to limit the big man's workload in an effort to keep him fresh throughout the season.

And 1's: D.J. Strawberry started in place of T-Mac and put up McGrady-like numbers, totaling 20 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds. The second-year guard from Maryland even went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc; pretty impressive for someone not typically known for his three-point shooting acumen.

“Everyone was doing a good job of penetrating and getting to the basket, so they have to leave someone open," said Strawberry after the game. "Between me and Von, those are the shots we practice. That’s why we’re out there; we have to be able to make those shots. It’s the opportunity to show what we can do to not only the coaches but to every other team. We’re fighting for roster spots so every night we have to prove what we can do out there on the court, and tonight was a great game for both of us. We had the same situation late against Oklahoma City and we let it get away. So it felt good to get a win tonight.”

Head coach Rick Adelman's take on the game: "We shot 30-something percent from twos and 62% from threes. Those two young guys (Von Wafer, D.J. Strawberry) really played well and made some big shots. We gave up way too many plays at the basket, and that puts a lot of pressure on us when we’re not that big up front. Defensively we got beat way too much off the dribble. We just did not defend very well. We have to use our quickness, our defense should be better than that. We have to do a better job on the pick-and-rolls. We did a little bit better in the fourth quarter tonight. We had let two previous games get away, but we took care of it tonight.

“Aaron did a good job getting into the middle tonight. Our big guys did a good job of finding guys on the outside. Yao will get more time in the next few games. Our rotation will get closer to season form in the next few games.”

Joey Dorsey got the starting nod in his Memphis homecoming. He scored 5 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

The Rockets return home to prepare for a Friday night match-up with Sacramento. Tip-off takes place at 7:30 PM. For ticket information, visit Ticket Central, or call 713-627-DUNK.

Have a question for Rockets.com? Send it to Jason Friedman via email at: jasonf@rocketball.com.