As stunning as it was for Shane Battier to play against the Grizzlies and not see Pau Gasol, he has had to get accustomed to change.
"We're finally coming to a point in my post-Grizzlies career where the makeup of the roster is remarkably different than my time there," said Battier, who spent five seasons in Memphis before last season's trade to the Rockets. "The only holdovers are Mike Miller, Hakim Harrick and Brian Cardinal. I knew it would be that way at some point soon enough, but I didn't think it would be that in my second year.
"I'll still get that feeling, that anxious butterflies feeling, when I see the Memphis Grizzlies colors. When I look at the faces, there's not really any guys I went through the wars with there. It's a little different feeling than when we first played them this year."
Getting comfortable
Rockets forward Bobby Jones moved to the active list in time for consecutive games against his former teams, Memphis on Friday and Denver on Sunday.
He had his most productive game of his career with his first game on a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies, scoring 20 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists Jan. 18 against Seattle.
"For the most part, I didn't feel the pressure," Jones said. "That was a career high for me and people don't have back-to-back career nights. I'm an opportunity player. I'm not a player who needs to get a shot off to have an effect on the game. I just let the games come to me. Other people felt like I wasn't being aggressive or performing as good as I should have. But everything happens for a reason.
"I had a couple of good practices (with the Rockets). I'm still trying to memorize the plays. But it's a good environment here."
Hometown boy
Rockets guard/forward Gerald Green arrived in Houston for Friday's game with a large "H" and a star cut into his hair, celebrating his return to his hometown.
"I'm from Houston, so I got to be Houston man," said Green, who also has a tattoo of the Houston skyline over the word "Houston"
