Rockets rally in fourth, beat Knicks 116-111 in overtime

Trevor Ariza starred late as the Houston Rockets rallied past the New York Knicks 116-111 in overtime in the National Basketball Association on Sunday. They forged a 101-101 deadlock on a 3-pointer by Thornton with 32 seconds remaining and neither team could get the win in regulation as Thomas missed a 23-foot jumper and Harden missed a 19-footer right before the buzzer. Reggie Jackson is tied with James Harden for the league lead in points scored on drives, averaging 8.4 per game…

If last year’s New York Knicks had announced that Carmelo Anthony was missing a game due to an unspecified illness most fans would have instantly written the game off as a loss. Harden then coasted in for the layup but a 14-footer with 91 seconds by Galloway evened the game at 111-111. “We have to do more to get everyone else involved as well”. NY coach Derek Fisher coached in his 100th career game since taking the job one week after Oklahoma City was eliminated in the 2014 Western Conference finals and of the franchise’s 27 coaches, he is the 15th to coach at least 100 games. “NBA games are long and we had some untimely turnovers”. The Knicks painfully found that out in the fourth quarter after watching a 14-point lead disappear faster than your bank account on Cyber Monday.

The Knicks said Lance Thomas would start in Anthony’s place Sunday night. Afflalo missed a three, but the Rockets fumbled the ball out of bounds, giving the Knicks another chance with 10.5 seconds left.

The Rockets improved their record to 7-10 on the season, and are now riding a two game winning streak after defeating the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night. Marcus Thornton scored 18 points after being held scoreless for the first three quarters. The Rockets, who have won six straight games at Madison Square Garden, are now 3-3 under Bickerstaff, who took over prior to Houston’s game with Portland on November 18. As much credit as should be given to the Rockets for their play down the stretch, there should be just as much blame placed on the Knicks for their own.