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 Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley sparked a 3-point barrage
Monday, and the Rockets rolled to the third-largest victory in
franchise history, a 130-81 win over Grizzlies at Toyota Center.
With Ariza and Beverley setting the pace by hitting their first six
combined 3-point attempts in the opening quarter, the Rockets shot
16-for-33 from behind the arc. Ariza finished with 16 points, one of
nine players to score in double figures for the Rockets, who led
wire to wire.
The last time the Rockets had nine double-figure scorers was Feb.
16, 1993, against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Rockets center Dwight Howard said of the Grizzlies, "With a team
like that, you want to put them away. Cleveland played them the
other day (March 7) and started the game kind of slow and they took
an L. We didn't want that to happen to us tonight, especially being
on the road as long as we have been (five games) and coming back
home and playing."
 Beverley had 10 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals,
while Houston forward Donatas Motiejunas added 18 points and six
rebounds in his strongest showing since his deadline trade to the
Pistons was revoked.
The Rockets (34-33) ran roughshod from the opening tip despite
lukewarm starts from James Harden and Howard, who were held without
a basket in the opening quarter and finished with 15 and seven
points, respectively. Harden added seven rebounds, eight assists and
three blocks; Howard supplied a team-high 13 rebounds plus five
blocks.
"That's what I was doing tonight," Harden said of laboring to create
open looks for his teammates. "I really wasn't trying to score, I
was just being a facilitator, trying to do all the intangible things
to get the win."
The Grizzlies trotted out a motley-crew roster and trailed 21-6 less
than five minutes into the contest. Matt Barnes keyed a mini 8-0 run
with back-to-back 3-pointers, but Houston followed by stretching its
lead to 31-16 before building an insurmountable cushion with an 8-0
spurt in the second that included a Jason Terry 3-pointer and
Motiejunas' three-point play.
The bloated margin kept swelling, growing from 18 points to 56-32
when Harden followed an Ariza transition dunk with a 3-pointer and a
technical free throw. Memphis didn't have the bodies or experience
to muster a counterattack, surrendering a 15-3 run early in the
third capped by a Motiejunas 3-pointer that stretched the Rockets'
advantage to 80-45.
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"Half our team is D League," Barnes said. "It's just one of those
situations where we've been bit by the injury bug and nobody is
going to feel bad for us. Teams like Houston see that and they want
to blow you out, so we have to come and be ready to play every
night."
Memphis, playing without regulars Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach
Randolph, trailed by as many as 53 points. Barnes paced the starters
with 14 points while adding seven rebounds. Jarell Martin and Alex
Stepheson scored 17 and 12 points, respectively, in reserve, with
Stepheson grabbing 15 boards. The Grizzlies committed 20 turnovers.
"I was really proud of our guys," Grizzlies coach David Joerger
said. "We got 100 shots up and 62 shots in the paint and did a
tremendous job, but it was just one of those nights."
NOTES: Grizzlies G/F Vince Carter and G Lance Stephenson joined
Memphis' extended list of unavailable players, sidelined by a left
calf strain and right wrist sprain respectively. Carter sat out
against the Hawks on March 12, meaning Monday night marked the first
time since mid-December that Carter missed consecutive games. ...
Rockets F Michael Beasley didn't need long to find his groove after
joining Houston in advance of its recent five-game road trip,
averaging 16.5 points and 5.0 rebounds against the Celtics and
Hornets to complete the trip. "He has a knack to put the ball in the
basket," Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Beasley. ...
Grizzlies G/F Tony Allen averaged 15.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.25
steals in his first four games following an eight-game absence due
to a sore left knee. He averaged 29.9 minutes during that stretch,
eight-plus minutes more than his opening 24 games this season. He
scored just five points Monday.
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