Rockets Hold off Kings 108-100
The Houston Rockets took care of business Monday night and defeated the Sacramento Kings 108 to 100. The win gives Rockets head coach Rick Adelman his 800th career NBA victory.
"It's unbelievable," said Tracy McGrady. "It's a great accomplishment and it is an honor to be a part of it. I tip my hat to him to because that's a lot of wins in this league. Congratulations, Coach."
"It feels like 800," said Adelman. "I know that when you hit something like that you really think about all the good things that happen to you. Like I said, 'I got two great situations before this and now this team.' So, I have been really fortunate to have three different teams that are very, very good and that's why you get wins like that."
The Rockets (48-23) led the Kings (31-39) by as many as 11 points (74 to 63) in the ball game; but, to their credit, the Kings kept coming back in the ball game.
Rafer Alston led all scorers with 28 points. After tweaking his left ankle early in the game, Tracy McGrady struggled shooting the ball; however, McGrady scored eight points in the fourth quarter on 3 for 4 shooting to help the Rockets pick up the victory. McGrady finished the game 5 for 16 from the field.
Kevin Martin led the Kings with 18 points while Ron Artest and Francisco Garcia each scored 17 points. Garcia's 17 points helped the Kings' bench outscore the Rockets 49 to 31.
Though both teams scored 40 points in the paint, it seemed the Kings scored more than the Rockets because of the lay-up drill the Rockets defense allowed. The Kings scored on 17 lay-ups or dunks -- seven came in the fourth quarter.
"We were lax in our help side defense tonight; and, the Kings had a lot of opportunities at the rim and that spells trouble for us. We can't afford to let teams get to the rim against us. We needed to keep them on the perimeter and make them take contested two point shots. We were a little out of sync; but, it will be good to go to practice tomorrow and iron those things out."
After Artest scored a lay-up to cut the Rockets lead to two points (91 to 89), Rockets forward Carl Landry scored a lay-up on an assist from McGrady and Rafer Alston drained two free throws and knocked down a 9-foot jumper to put the Rockets ahead 97 to 89 with 2:38 left in the ball game.
The Kings made one final push with an 11 to 7 run to trim the Rockets lead to 104 to 100 with 40.8 seconds remaining; but, Alston and Shane Battier made four threes for the final score.
Battier scored 15 points tonight for his fourth straight game in double-figure scoring. In addition to playing very good defense on Ron Artest, Chuck Hayes recorded a season-high 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists tonight.
The Rockets attempted a season-high 42 free throws and made a season high 33 as well. The Rockets also out rebounded the Kings 39 to 29.
The Kings shot 51.9% (40 for 77) from the field and dished out 25 assists on the 40 made shots.
"It was a needed win for us," Adelman added. "A very dangerous team we played. They are very good offensively when they get everyone going. Artest, Martin and Brad (Miller) and all those guys, they're a very dangerous offensive team. They just shot it so well; but, our guys persevered. Tracy came up big for us in the fourth quarter for us. Rafer was good all night. He was good all night long."
"It's unbelievable," said Tracy McGrady. "It's a great accomplishment and it is an honor to be a part of it. I tip my hat to him to because that's a lot of wins in this league. Congratulations, Coach."
"It feels like 800," said Adelman. "I know that when you hit something like that you really think about all the good things that happen to you. Like I said, 'I got two great situations before this and now this team.' So, I have been really fortunate to have three different teams that are very, very good and that's why you get wins like that."
The Rockets (48-23) led the Kings (31-39) by as many as 11 points (74 to 63) in the ball game; but, to their credit, the Kings kept coming back in the ball game.
Rafer Alston led all scorers with 28 points. After tweaking his left ankle early in the game, Tracy McGrady struggled shooting the ball; however, McGrady scored eight points in the fourth quarter on 3 for 4 shooting to help the Rockets pick up the victory. McGrady finished the game 5 for 16 from the field.
Kevin Martin led the Kings with 18 points while Ron Artest and Francisco Garcia each scored 17 points. Garcia's 17 points helped the Kings' bench outscore the Rockets 49 to 31.
Though both teams scored 40 points in the paint, it seemed the Kings scored more than the Rockets because of the lay-up drill the Rockets defense allowed. The Kings scored on 17 lay-ups or dunks -- seven came in the fourth quarter.
"We were lax in our help side defense tonight; and, the Kings had a lot of opportunities at the rim and that spells trouble for us. We can't afford to let teams get to the rim against us. We needed to keep them on the perimeter and make them take contested two point shots. We were a little out of sync; but, it will be good to go to practice tomorrow and iron those things out."
After Artest scored a lay-up to cut the Rockets lead to two points (91 to 89), Rockets forward Carl Landry scored a lay-up on an assist from McGrady and Rafer Alston drained two free throws and knocked down a 9-foot jumper to put the Rockets ahead 97 to 89 with 2:38 left in the ball game.
The Kings made one final push with an 11 to 7 run to trim the Rockets lead to 104 to 100 with 40.8 seconds remaining; but, Alston and Shane Battier made four threes for the final score.
Battier scored 15 points tonight for his fourth straight game in double-figure scoring. In addition to playing very good defense on Ron Artest, Chuck Hayes recorded a season-high 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists tonight.
The Rockets attempted a season-high 42 free throws and made a season high 33 as well. The Rockets also out rebounded the Kings 39 to 29.
The Kings shot 51.9% (40 for 77) from the field and dished out 25 assists on the 40 made shots.
"It was a needed win for us," Adelman added. "A very dangerous team we played. They are very good offensively when they get everyone going. Artest, Martin and Brad (Miller) and all those guys, they're a very dangerous offensive team. They just shot it so well; but, our guys persevered. Tracy came up big for us in the fourth quarter for us. Rafer was good all night. He was good all night long."
posted by Kris Gardner @ 10:19 PM
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