2014–15 Houston Rockets season

2014–15 Houston Rockets season
Division Champions
Head coach Kevin McHale
General manager Daryl Morey
Owner(s) Leslie Alexander
Arena Toyota Center
Results
Record 56–26 (.683)
Place Division: 1st (Southwest)
Conference: 2nd (Western)
Playoff finish Lost to Warriors 1–4
(Conference Finals)

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com

Local media
Television Root Sports Southwest
Radio Sportstalk 790

The 2014–15 Houston Rockets season was the 48th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the 44th in the Houston area.[1] The Rockets finished the regular season with a 56–26 record, the third best in franchise history. They also won their first ever Southwest Division title and first Division crown since 1994. The Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks 4–1 in the first round, advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2009. They beat the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games after trailing the series 1–3, advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1997. They became just the ninth team in NBA history to come back from such a deficit – and currently the only franchise to do so twice. The Rockets' season ended with a 1–4 loss in the Western Conference Finals to the Golden State Warriors.

Draft picks

Main article: 2014 NBA draft
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Team
1 25 Clint Capela PF/C   Switzerland Élan Chalon (France)
2 42 Nick Johnson PG/SG  United States Arizona

Standings

Southwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div GP
y-Houston Rockets 56 26 .683 0.0 30–11 26–15 8–8 82
x-Memphis Grizzlies 55 27 .671 1.0 31–10 24–17 9–7 82
x-San Antonio Spurs 55 27 .671 1.0 33–8 22–19 8–8 82
x-Dallas Mavericks 50 32 .610 6.0 27–14 23–18 7–9 82
x-New Orleans Pelicans 45 37 .549 11.0 28–13 17–24 8–8 82
Western Conference
# Team W L PCT GB GP
1 z-Golden State Warriors * 67 15 .817 – 82
2 y-Houston Rockets * 56 26 .683 11.0 82
3 x-Los Angeles Clippers 56 26 .683 11.0 82
4 y-Portland Trail Blazers * 51 31 .622 16.0 82
5 x-Memphis Grizzlies 55 27 .671 12.0 82
6 x-San Antonio Spurs 55 27 .671 12.0 82
7 x-Dallas Mavericks 50 32 .610 17.0 82
8 x-New Orleans Pelicans 45 37 .549 22.0 82
9 Oklahoma City Thunder 45 37 .549 22.0 82
10 Phoenix Suns 39 43 .476 28.0 82
11 Utah Jazz 38 44 .463 29.0 82
12 Denver Nuggets 30 52 .366 37.0 82
13 Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354 38.0 82
14 Los Angeles Lakers 21 61 .256 46.0 82
15 Minnesota Timberwolves 16 66 .195 51.0 82

Game log

Preseason

2014 pre-season game log
Total: 6–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 2–2)
Pre-season: 6–2 (Home: 4–0; Road: 2–2)
2014–15 season schedule

Regular season

2014–15 game log
Total: 56–26 (Home: 30–11; Road: 26–15)
October: 2–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 2–0)
November: 11–4 (Home: 6–3; Road: 5–1)
December: 9–5 (Home: 5–3; Road: 4–2)
January: 11–6 (Home: 5–1; Road: 6–5)
February: 7–3 (Home: 6–1; Road: 1–2)
March: 10–6 (Home: 5–2; Road: 5–4)
April : 6–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 3–1)
2014–15 season schedule

Playoffs

2015 playoff game log
Total: 9–8 (Home: 7–2; Road: 2–6)
First Round: 4–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 1–1)
Conference Semifinals: 4–3 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–2)
Conference Finals: 1–4 (Home: 1–1; Road: 0–3)
2015 playoff schedule

Roster

2014–15 Houston Rockets roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From
G/F 1 Ariza, Trevor 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1985–06–30 UCLA
G 2 Beverley, Patrick 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1988–07–12 Arkansas
G/F 33 Brewer, Corey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1986–03–05 Florida
F/C 15 Capela, Clint 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1994–05–18 INSEP (FRA)
F/C 8 Dorsey, Joey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1983–12–16 Memphis
G 13 Harden, James (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1989–08–26 Arizona State
C 12 Howard, Dwight 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 275 lb (125 kg) 1985–12–08 SW Atlanta Academy (GA)
G 3 Johnson, Nick 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1992–12–22 Arizona
F 6 Jones, Terrence 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 252 lb (114 kg) 1992–01–09 Kentucky
G/F 32 McDaniels, K. J. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1993–02–09 Clemson
F/C 20 Motiejūnas, Donatas 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) 1990–09–20 Lithuania
F 16 Papanikolaou, Kostas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1990–07–31 Greece
G 9 Prigioni, Pablo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1977–05–17 Argentina
F 5 Smith, Josh 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1985–12–05 Oak Hill Academy (VA)
G 31 Terry, Jason 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1977–09–15 Arizona
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • (DL) On assignment to D-League affiliate
  • Injured

Roster • Transactions
Last transaction: 2015–03–27

Salaries

Player 2014–15 Salary
Dwight Howard $21,436,271
James Harden $14,728,844
Trevor Ariza $8,579,089
Jason Terry $5,850,313
Kostas Papanikolaou $4,797,664
Corey Brewer $4,702,500
Josh Smith $2,077,000
Pablo Prigioni $1,662,961
Terrence Jones $1,618,680
Donatas Motiejūnas $1,483,920
Clint Capela $1,189,200
Joey Dorsey $948,163
Patrick Beverley $915,243
K. J. McDaniels $507,336
Nick Johnson $507,336
TOTAL $71,004,520

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Regular season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Trevor Ariza 82 82 35.7 .402 .350 .850 5.6 2.5 1.9 0.2 12.8
Patrick Beverley 56 55 30.8 .383 .356 .750 4.2 3.4 1.1 0.4 10.1
Tarik Black‡‡ 25 12 15.7 .542 .000 .520 5.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 4.2
Corey Brewer 56 1 25.1 .429 .284 .760 3.6 1.7 1.1 0.3 11.9
Isaiah Canaan‡ 25 9 14.8 .405 .381 .760 2.7 2.0 0.7 0.0 6.2
Clint Capela 12 0 7.5 .483 .000 .170 3.0 0.2 0.1 0.8 2.7
Troy Daniels‡ 17 0 6.4 .319 .302 .750 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 2.7
Joey Dorsey 69 17 12.4 .552 .000 .290 4.0 0.4 0.6 0.4 2.7
Francisco García‡‡ 14 0 14.3 .270 .222 .250 1.2 1.1 0.6 0.4 3.2
James Harden 81 81 36.8 .440 .375 .870 5.7 7.0 1.9 0.7 27.4
Dwight Howard 41 41 29.8 .593 .500 .530 10.5 1.2 0.7 1.3 15.8
Nick Johnson 28 0 9.4 .347 .238 .680 1.4 0.4 0.3 0.1 2.6
Terrence Jones 33 24 26.9 .528 .351 .610 6.7 1.1 0.6 1.8 11.7
K. J. McDaniels 10 0 3.3 .333 .000 .500 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.2 1.1
Donatas Motiejūnas 71 62 28.7 .504 .368 .600 5.9 1.8 0.8 0.5 12.0
Kostas Papanikolaou 43 1 18.5 .350 .292 .720 2.7 2.0 0.7 0.3 4.2
Pablo Prigioni 24 0 16.8 .343 .275 .870 1.6 2.8 1.1 0.0 3.0
Alexey Shved‡ 9 0 6.6 .333 .333 .820 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.0 3.2
Josh Smith 55 7 25.5 .438 .330 .520 6.0 2.6 0.9 1.2 12.0
Jason Terry 77 18 21.3 .422 .390 .810 1.6 1.9 0.9 0.3 7.0

‡Traded mid-season ‡‡Waived during season

Injuries

Player Duration Injury type Games missed
Start End
Beverley, PatrickPatrick Beverley November 1, 2014 November 4, 2014 Hamstring 2
Jones, TerrenceTerrence Jones November 3, 2014 January 28, 2015 Left leg nerve inflammation 41
Beverley, PatrickPatrick Beverley November 6, 2014 November 16, 2014 Hamstring 4
Howard, DwightDwight Howard November 19, 2014 December 13, 2014 Strained knee 11
Beverley, PatrickPatrick Beverley November 24, 2014 December 6, 2014 Hamstring 6
Canaan, IsaiahIsaiah Canaan November 28, 2014 December 17, 2014 Sprained ankle 7
Papanikolaou, KostasKostas Papanikolaou December 5, 2014 December 18, 2014 Sprained knee 5
Howard, DwightDwight Howard January 23, 2015 March 25, 2015 Swelling in right knee 26
Papanikolaou, KostasKostas Papanikolaou February 23, 2015 April 8, 2015 Sprained ankle 22
Jones, TerrenceTerrence Jones March 19, 2015 April 1, 2015 Partially collapsed lung 6
Beverley, PatrickPatrick Beverley March 23, 2015 Missed rest of season Torn ligaments in left wrist 12
Motiejūnas, DonatasDonatas Motiejūnas March 27, 2015 Missed rest of season Back surgery 11

Transactions

The Rockets had a busy offseason, trading away key contributors Jeremy Lin and Ömer Aşık in July to clear cap space. Houston was after marquee free agents such as LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony, but struck out on all three of those players. The Rockets also let Chandler Parsons, another key contributor from the previous season, sign with the Dallas Mavericks in July, declining to match the hefty offer sheet Parsons received from Dallas. The Rockets would eventually make up for these losses throughout the summer and regular season. As part of the Aşık deal, the Rockets received Trevor Ariza from the Washington Wizards in a sign and trade. Ariza replaced Parsons as the team's starting small forward. In September, the team traded for Jason Terry, a former sixth man of the year with the Mavericks. Terry provided veteran leadership and a spark off the bench for the Rockets. In December, the Rockets acquired Corey Brewer and Josh Smith, who both added significant depth to the roster. At the trade deadline in February, the Rockets acquired Pablo Prigioni and K. J. McDaniels in two separate deals.

Trades

July 13, 2014[2] To Houston Rockets
Rights to Sergei Lishouk		 To Los Angeles Lakers
Jeremy Lin
Future first round draft pick
Second round draft pick (2015)
July 15, 2014[3] Three-team trade
To Houston Rockets
Trevor Ariza (Sign and trade from Washington)
Alonzo Gee (from New Orleans)
Scotty Hopson (from New Orleans)
Protected first round draft pick (2015, from New Orleans)
 To New Orleans Pelicans
Ömer Aşık (from Houston)
Omri Casspi (from Houston)
Cash considerations (from Houston)
To Washington Wizards
Melvin Ely (from New Orleans)
September 17, 2014[4] To Houston Rockets
Jason Terry
Second round draft pick (2015)
Second round draft pick (2016)		 To Sacramento Kings
Alonzo Gee
Scotty Hopson
December 19, 2014[5] Three-team trade
To Houston Rockets
Corey Brewer (from Minnesota)
Alexey Shved (from Philadelphia)
 To Minnesota Timberwolves
Troy Daniels (from Houston)
Second round draft pick (2015, from Houston, belonging to Sacramento Kings)
Second round draft pick (2016, from Houston)
Cash considerations (from Houston)
To Philadelphia 76ers
Ronny Turiaf (from Minnesota)
Rights to Sergei Lishouk (from Houston)
Second round draft pick (2015, from Houston)
February 19, 2015[6] To Houston Rockets
Pablo Prigioni		 To New York Knicks
Alexey Shved
Second round draft pick (2017)
Second round draft pick (2019)
February 19, 2015[7] To Houston Rockets
K. J. McDaniels		 To Philadelphia 76ers
Isaiah Canaan
Second round draft pick (2015)

Free agents

Re-signed

Player Signed Contract Ref.
Daniels, TroyTroy Daniels July 14, 2014 2 years, $2 million [8]
García, FranciscoFrancisco García August 22, 2014 1 year, $1.3 million [9]
McHale, KevinKevin McHale[lower-alpha 1] December 24, 2014 3 years, $13 million [10][11]

Additions

Player Signed Former team Ref.
Dorsey, JoeyJoey Dorsey July 18, 2014 Spain FC Barcelona Basquet [12]
Black, TarikTarik Black August 27, 2014 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball [13]
Papanikolaou, KostasKostas Papanikolaou September 23, 2014 Spain FC Barcelona Basquet [14]
Smith, JoshJosh Smith December 26, 2014 Detroit Pistons [15]

Subtractions

Player Reason left Date New team Ref.
Parsons, ChandlerChandler Parsons[lower-alpha 2] Free agency July 15, 2014 Dallas Mavericks [16]
Powell, JoshJosh Powell Waived October 24, 2014 None [17]
Covington, RobertRobert Covington Waived October 27, 2014 Philadelphia 76ers [18]
García, FranciscoFrancisco García Waived December 19, 2014 None [19]
Black, TarikTarik Black Waived December 26, 2014 Los Angeles Lakers [20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Was in the final year of his contract as head coach. Midway through the season he signed a contract extension to remain head coach for the next three years.
  2. ↑ Was a restricted free agent entering the offseason. Signed an offer sheet with Dallas on July 10, 2014. A few days later, the Rockets elected not to match the offer, clearing the way for Parsons to officially sign with the Mavericks.

Awards, records and milestones

Player Award Date awarded Ref.
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Week December 15, 2014 [21]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Week December 29, 2014 [22]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Month (December) January 5, 2015 [23]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Month (January) February 4, 2015 [24]
James Harden Western Conference Player of the Week April 6, 2015 [25]
James Harden All-NBA First Team May 21, 2015 [26]

Records

Milestones

References

  1. ↑ Houston Rockets Franchise Index
  2. ↑ Lakers Acquire Jeremy Lin and Draft Choices in Trade with Rockets
  3. ↑ Rockets Land Ariza and Valuable First Round Pick
  4. ↑ Rockets Acquire Jason Terry and 2nd Round Picks
  5. ↑ Rockets Acquire Veterans Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in Three-Team Trade with Timberwolves and 76ers
  6. ↑ Knicks Acquire Alexey Shved and Two Draft Picks
  7. ↑ Rockets Acquire K.J. McDaniels and Pablo Prigioni
  8. ↑ Rockets Re-Sign Troy Daniels
  9. ↑ Rockets Re-Sign Francisco Garcia
  10. ↑ McHale Signs Contract Extension
  11. ↑ Sources: Kevin McHale agrees to extension with Rockets
  12. ↑ Rockets Add Depth to Roster with Signings
  13. ↑ Rockets Sign Tarik Black
  14. ↑ Rockets Sign Kostas Papanikolaou
  15. ↑ Free Agent Josh Smith Joins Houston Rockets
  16. ↑ Mavericks Sign Chandler Parsons
  17. ↑ Rockets Claim Earl Clark Off Waivers and Request Waivers on Josh Powell
  18. ↑ Sixers Sign Free Agent Robert Covington
  19. ↑ Rockets Acquire Veterans Corey Brewer and Alexey Shved in Three-Team Trade with Timberwolves and 76ers
  20. ↑ Lakers Awarded Tarik Black on Waiver Claim
  21. ↑ Wall, Harden named Players of Week
  22. ↑ Bulls' Butler, Rockets' Harden named Players of the Week
  23. ↑ Lowry, Harden named Kia Players of the Month
  24. ↑ Hawks' starters, Rockets' Harden named Kia Players of the Month
  25. ↑ James Harden Earns Western Conference Player of the Week
  26. ↑ James Harden Named to 2014-15 All-NBA First Team
  27. ↑ Rieken, Kristie (14 December 2014). "Howard, Harden lead Rockets over Nuggets, 108-96". NBA.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  28. ↑ http://stats.nba.com/featured/elias_top_5_questions_2014_11_19.html

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.