Rockets make it 22 Straight

So much for the Los Angeles Lakers ending the Houston Rockets winning streak.

The Rockets (46-20) topped the Lakers 104 to 92 to make the Lakers (45-21) victim number 22 in this amazing winning streak.

The Rockets are now the number one team in the Western Conference.

Rafer Alston led all scorers with a career-high 31 points. Bobby Jackson scored 19 points. That's 50 points from Houston's so called "point guards".

"Rafer Alston....31 points....says alot and everyone else contributed and that makes it tough," said Lakers forward Lamar Odom. "They made a run and we couldn't control them."

The Lakers had no answer for Alston and Jackson throughout the game.

"Bobby Jackson was a great addition for them," Kobe Bryant said after the game. "He came in tonight and had 19 points off the bench, he hurt us. It was a great acquisition, bench players that come in for them, Luther Head played well, and their bench is their key to this long streak."

The first quarter was close as the lead changed twice and was tied twice. The Rockets enjoyed the largest lead of the period with a six point lead (16 to 10). The Rockets led 24 to 23 at the end of the period.

Then, with Tracy McGrady sitting on the bench, the Rockets' reserves owned the second quarter. Jackson scored nine points; Mike Harris added six points; and Luther Head scored seven. Those 22 points helped the Rockets outscore the Lakers 35 to 21 in the quarter and lead 59 to 44 at the half.

Tracy McGrady did not a single point in the half; but, the Rockets still led by 15 points.

The Rockets shot 19 for 39 (48.7%) in the half while limiting the Lakers to 17 for 40 (42.5%).

The Rockets' offense went south in the third quarter as the team missed 11 straight shots to open the period. The Lakers took advantage of the Rockets' drought and scored 12 straight points before Alston drained a three-point shot to put the Rockets ahead 62 to 56. The Lakers kept the game close the rest of the third period before Alston, once again, drained a three-pointer to put the Rockets ahead 71 to 66 heading to the fourth quarter.

"He was terrific. He hit every 3," said Rick Adelman of Rafer Alston. "The shot that he hit in the 3rd quarter was huge. That 3 put us up 5 or 6. That was a big momentum turn, but he was good the whole game."

The game was nip and tuck for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter; and, with a two point lead (86-84), Shane Battier converted a driving lay-up to kick start a 17 to 4 run to put the Rockets ahead 103 to 88 with only 1:32 left in the ball game.

"This is the NBA so we know that teams are going to make a run," said Bobby Jackson. "We started that 3rd quarter without a basket for 6 minutes and that is not typical of us, but you're going to go through some droughts.We didn't get down, we stayed composed and we continued to stay within our game. We toughed it out and made things happen at the end."

The Rockets go for win number 23 in a row when they host the Boston Celtics Tuesday, March 18. Tip-off is set for 8:30pm.