Rockets 96, Sonics 89
Monday afternoon, the Rockets celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a 96 to 89 win over the Seattle Supersonics.
Yao Ming led all players with 30 points and 17 rebounds.
For the second straight game, Tracy McGrady came off the bench. T-Mac added 17 points; six rebounds; and five assists. However, McGrady said his left knee bothered him a great deal.
"Today was really bad. Not only was I tight but I was also feeling pain in my knee. It's going to be that way because I can't rest to let it heal all the way up. It's just something I'm going to have to tolerate. It was good to see that I played more minutes tonight. I stayed out there for a good portion of the third quarter when I was really tired."
Houston (22-19) led 53 to 52 at the half; but, Seattle (9-32) began the third quarter with a 7 to 2 which was capped off by a 3-point shot by rookie Kevin Durant. (Durant finished the game with just 12 points on 4 for 13 shooting from the field.)
"I want to keep being aggressive and go to the basket stronger," Durant said. "I'm trying to be more of a ball handler and work on the pick-and-roll plays. Every level has been difficult for me to adjust to at the beginning. I don't think there is any pressure, I just try and have fun and keep learning and try and progress."
The Rockets answered with a 12 - 2 run to lead 68 to 61 with 5:03 left in the third quarter. Houston stretched the lead to 77 to 65 before Seattle's Wally Szczerbiak swished a three-pointer to end the third quarter.
After leading by as many as 13 points (81 to 68) in the fourth quarter, the Rockets' offense went stagnant and the Sonics inched closer and closer.
Szczerbiak swished a wide open three-point shot to pull the Sonics within four points (89 to 85) with 1:50 left in the game.
However, Yao Ming drained two free throws and Sonics rookie forward Jeff Green missed two free throws and Szczerbiak missed two three-point shots before McGrady hit two free throws to put the Rockets ahead 93 to 85 to put the game away.
Once again, the Rockets didn't play well in the fourth quarter; but, they did enough to win the ball game.
"It's good to get the win. I just didn't think we played very well," said Rick Adelman. "We talked about how they pushed the ball and they hurt us in transitions. We just did enough to win the game but we have to play a lot better than that if we are going to win in Seattle."
Yao Ming led all players with 30 points and 17 rebounds.
For the second straight game, Tracy McGrady came off the bench. T-Mac added 17 points; six rebounds; and five assists. However, McGrady said his left knee bothered him a great deal.
"Today was really bad. Not only was I tight but I was also feeling pain in my knee. It's going to be that way because I can't rest to let it heal all the way up. It's just something I'm going to have to tolerate. It was good to see that I played more minutes tonight. I stayed out there for a good portion of the third quarter when I was really tired."
Houston (22-19) led 53 to 52 at the half; but, Seattle (9-32) began the third quarter with a 7 to 2 which was capped off by a 3-point shot by rookie Kevin Durant. (Durant finished the game with just 12 points on 4 for 13 shooting from the field.)
"I want to keep being aggressive and go to the basket stronger," Durant said. "I'm trying to be more of a ball handler and work on the pick-and-roll plays. Every level has been difficult for me to adjust to at the beginning. I don't think there is any pressure, I just try and have fun and keep learning and try and progress."
The Rockets answered with a 12 - 2 run to lead 68 to 61 with 5:03 left in the third quarter. Houston stretched the lead to 77 to 65 before Seattle's Wally Szczerbiak swished a three-pointer to end the third quarter.
After leading by as many as 13 points (81 to 68) in the fourth quarter, the Rockets' offense went stagnant and the Sonics inched closer and closer.
Szczerbiak swished a wide open three-point shot to pull the Sonics within four points (89 to 85) with 1:50 left in the game.
However, Yao Ming drained two free throws and Sonics rookie forward Jeff Green missed two free throws and Szczerbiak missed two three-point shots before McGrady hit two free throws to put the Rockets ahead 93 to 85 to put the game away.
Once again, the Rockets didn't play well in the fourth quarter; but, they did enough to win the ball game.
"It's good to get the win. I just didn't think we played very well," said Rick Adelman. "We talked about how they pushed the ball and they hurt us in transitions. We just did enough to win the game but we have to play a lot better than that if we are going to win in Seattle."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 10:10 PM
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