Houston Roundball Review Archive: February 2007 JVG and Skip after Rockets Blowout of Bobcats

Saturday, February 10, 2007

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- Instead of wilting to a deficit like last night versus the Dallas Mavericks, tonight, the Houston Rockets shook off a slow start to rout the Charlotte Bobcats 104 to 83 before 18,061 fans at Toyota Center.

Houston (32-18) trailed Charlotte (18-33) 13 to 2 just eight minutes and 38 seconds into the ball game.

Nine of those points came on wide open three-point shots from guard Raymond Felton and forward Matt Carroll.

The Rockets calmed down on offense and improved on defense to end the first quarter with a 29 to 28 lead.

Luther Head scored nine points in the second quarter as the Rockets outscored the Bobcats 31 to 18 to take a 60 to 46 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

Six Rockets players scored in double figures.

Luther Head led all scorers with 17 points. Tracy McGrady (just 6 for 17 from the field) and Juwan Howard added 16 points each. Kirk Snyder scored a season-high 15 points off the bench; and, Dikembe Mutombo poured in 14 points (and a game-high 14 rebounds) while Rafer "Skip to My Lou" Alston scored 14 points; dished out eight assists; and swiped a career-high nine steals.

The Rockets forced the Bobcats to commit a season-high 27 turnovers thanks to a 20 steals.

The 20 steals tied for the third-most in team history.

Jeff Van Gundy: "...a great group..."

Rafer Alston: "We played the entire game...

Listen to more archived MP3s.