[Chron] Rockets cruise to win over Nets

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Complete Rockets coverage Yao Ming had come back days before, played a few games, even came home with a win.

But he was back Friday. So too were the Rockets, dominating the New Jersey Nets, 112-91, on Friday, snapping a three-game Rockets home losing steak before 18,144 at Toyota Center.

Yao had by far his most solid of the three games since he came back from his broken leg on Monday, getting 24 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes. He left the game late in the third quarter when bruised his left thigh, having made 6 of 10 shots for 22 points with 12 rebounds in just 26 minutes. But he returned for a few minutes, doing enough to at least demonstrate that he was not limited by the bruised thigh.

When he came back, the Rockets had taken their lead to as much as 30, with Tracy McGrady scoring 34 points with five assists and four rebounds, as together, they dominated the start and the third-quarter run that blew the game open.

With McGrady regaining his touch and Yao scoring easily, the Nets were barely hanging on late in the third quarter when they got desperate. They went through a few minutes fouling Chuck Hayes so intentionally that Kobe Bryant would even admit it.

On the first attempt to grab him, Hayes dodged Jason Kidd and Yao scored inside. Hayes had been making 61.5 percent of his free throws this season, not much worse than McGrady. But he was having trouble remaining behind the line on Friday, making 2 of 4 while the Nets were sending him to the line.

When that ended, however, the Rockets took off again, with a 15-0 run to end the third quarter and begin the fourth in which the Rockets took their lead to as much as 34.

The Nets remained only that close with former Rockets first-round pick Bostjan Nachbar scoring a career-high 29 points on 10 of 14 shooting. But Vince Carter and Kidd combined to make just 7 of 28 shots. The Nets' starters scored just 27 points.

McGrady scored eight points in the final minutes of the third quarter and start of the fourth. The Nets' offense crashed completely. And with 7:06, in case there were still concerns, Yao returned to the floor for a few more minutes to work out the kinks.

With Yao seeming on his way to the 27 points he scored in his first two games back from the injury -- in the first half -- the Rockets were in a position to open up a rout of an early lead.

When Yao passed to McGrady at the top of the circle for a 3, Yao and McGrady had combined for 16 points of the Rockets 23 points. Moments later, Juwan Howard put in a jumper for a 15-point Rockets lead.

By the end of the quarter, McGrady would add a jumper and another 3, with the Rockets taking a 13-point lead into the second quarter. But McGrady ended the quarter missing a long heave at the buzzer, then went 0 for the second quarter, missing all four of his attempts.

While he went cold, with McGrady and Carter matching each other's 4 of 13 half, the Nets did find a small forward to light it up. But it was not Richard Jefferson, in his first game since Jan. 22 when he went out for ankle surgery.

Nachbar made 5 of 7 shots in the first half, including 3 from beyond the 3-point arc, to score 17 points in 14 first-half minutes, and to help drive the Nets back from down 15 to within three.

The Rockets recovered enough to take the lead back to 10 when Rafer Alston ended the half with a 3-pointer. But though the Rockets could not keep up their early pace, the Nets had not stopped them, either. With the exception of a few desperate minutes in a hack-a-Chuck, they never would.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

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