Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Rockets waste chance to gain on Grizzlies

HOUSTON -- Every game among the elite teams in the Western Conference feels like a fistfight.

The Memphis Grizzlies stole a game from the Houston Rockets with a 102-100 victory on Wednesday at the Toyota Center.

The loss dropped Houston from a No. 3 seed to a No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. The victory kept Memphis in a comfortable spot, now three games ahead of Portland as the No. 2 seed.

At the start of the night, Houston was a No. 3 seed coming off a difficult loss in Atlanta as James Harden sat in a hotel room suspended for kicking LeBron James in the groin during a game on Sunday. Memphis lost at home to Utah the previous night as Zach Randolph missed the game with the flu.

The Grizzlies had lost three of four games and their status atop the Southwest Division appeared to be wavering.

"We let one slip away [Tuesday night] at home against Utah, one that we felt like we should've won," Memphis guard Courtney Lee said. "No matter how many people we had out, we let that game slip away. Today was a long day, with no shootaround, so we had a lot of time to sit there and think about the [Utah] game and think about [the Houston] game. We knew how much this game meant to us, and we got out there and played like it."

Every game means so much now with the playoff standings changing almost on a daily basis.

Houston coach Kevin McHale understands this more than anybody seeing how his club knocked off Cleveland in overtime on Sunday only to get beat in a haggard fourth quarter against the Hawks on Tuesday.

The Rockets were tied at 79-79 heading into the final quarter on Wednesday, but an 8-0 run by Memphis forced McHale to call timeout and employ a smaller lineup. The Rockets rallied to tie the game and again in the closing moments when Harden, with the ball in his hands late like he should, was whacked on the arms by Randolph as he drove to the basket.

None of the three referees blew a whistle for a foul, leaving the loose ball to be snagged by Memphis.

Marc Gasol, who played a solid game with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists, made a difficult 10-footer with Terrence Jones giving chase with one-tenth of a second remaining for a two-point lead.

The Toyota Center was stunned.

So were the Rockets players. McHale drew up a last-second play, but Harden's pass toward the rim failed to get tipped in, closing the show.

"We had turnovers early and we missed shots early," McHale said of the fourth quarter. "We missed easy plays and allowed them to get a 10-point lead. We went small and fought back. We had an opportunity to win the game and didn't."

After the buzzer, McHale yelled at referee Ken Mauer, who only listened before his crew was escorted off the floor by Houston's finest.

McHale, angry about not only a foul that never came, is now faced with a team that has lost its past two games heading into a Friday contest against the Detroit Pistons.

Before the game, McHale was asked about how his big men were playing, considering how Memphis and Detroit utilize their bigs. Detroit uses Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, each of them standing 6-foot-11.

McHale didn't give a ringing endorsement of his own big men.

"There have been times when our guys have struggled a little bit against some of the bigger teams," McHale said. "I know we couldn't keep [Cleveland's] Tristan Thompson off the boards. We had a helluva time keeping [the Clippers'] DeAndre Jordan off the boards. The Lopez brothers bothered us. Sometimes you're going against guys that are much bigger than you, but our guys have played well."

Houston won the rebounding battle (40-38) but not the points inside (54-50) against Memphis.

"We allowed them to walk in front of us," McHale said of Memphis. "They cut off the ball. They got layups and cuts steady off of us. We were not very good defensively. We gave them 102 points and [Memphis] had a hard time scoring."

Yes, this is how things are in the West for those of you bundled up on the East Coast and not staying up late for some of these games. We have fistfights, shouting matches and everything you expect in the playoffs.

Why wouldn't it be like this when elite teams meet?

"It's tough, that's a tough 'L,' man," guard Patrick Beverley said. "That's a tough 'L' because we spent so much energy fighting back. We gave it our all and it's tough."

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