[Chron] Rockets give in early as Suns roll to 109-75 rout

Feb. 17, 2006, 1:31AM
Rockets give in early as Suns roll to 109-75 rout


By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

PHOENIX - The Rockets' starters, long since yanked from the game as if Jeff Van Gundy wielded one of those long vaudeville hooks, could barely move, whipped numb and left to watch it all with empty, disbelieving eyes.

This was only fitting. When they were in the game, they could barely move, whipped from the start and unwilling or unable to do much more than watch in disbelief.

In this often dark and dreary season, the Rockets have had bad nights. But just when things were looking bright with wins in seven of eight preceding games, the Rockets hit the All-Star break with their worst loss, taking a 109-75 pounding from Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night that served as the Sun's most lopsided win of the season.

"When you put out that kind of effort, you're going to get beat and beat bad," Rockets guard David Wesley said. "Sometimes you may lose for whatever reason, but when you have guys not putting in effort; they were all scoring and easy. We weren't stopping anything.

"A game you never showed up, never had a chance, one through 12 very little (effort), there is no way to accept that or excuse that. That just flat-out stinks. But you put out that effort, I guess you deserve it."

The Rockets trailed by as many as 47 points until the end of the benches kept things from getting any uglier — at least until Stromile Swift turned an ankle on a behind-the-back pass in the final minute.

The Rockets, however, had begun their weekend off much earlier.

Their 32-point halftime deficit was the largest in the NBA this season, but it would keep getting worse until the Suns' only competition was with the 1986-87 SuperSonics who had given the Rockets their worst whipping in team history.


Facing record loss

The Suns had almost all of the fourth quarter to chase the 56-point thrashing the Rockets absorbed nearly 20 years earlier. Yet, keeping the Suns from building a 50-point lead did not qualify as much of a triumph.

"I was surprised we were one of those teams that the last game before the All-Star break — and mediocre teams do that — didn't show up," Van Gundy said. "The Suns had two games, in Denver and against us, and I think every team should try to emulate their energy and passion on an every-night basis.

"The game wasn't as close as the score indicated. They were clowning for the last six minutes, behind-the-back, through-the-leg passes, trying to throw lobs to Pat Burke. If they continued to play, they could have named their number."

While the Rockets played All-Star Game defense three days ahead of schedule, the Suns battled and scrambled as if in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Nash toyed with the Rockets' defense — but he also scrambled for loose balls well into the third quarter when the Rockets had cleared their bench.

Raja Bell, Shawn Marion and Boris Diaw scored easily — but they worked so hard defensively that the Rockets could not take a breath without inhaling purple.

Yao Ming was so engulfed in shorter and swifter defenders, he could take just two shots in the first half — missing both — while usually passing to open shooters who missed, too. He added zero rebounds to his zero first-half points, and did not get a field goal until four minutes into the second half.

Yao finished with six points, two fewer than his previous low this season, also against the Suns. He never did get a rebound in his 19 minutes.

"I have to learn how to score against the double-team," Yao said. "I passed too much in the first half. For the most part, that is the right pass. When I'm double-teamed, I have to pass the ball.

"But they just wanted to keep the ball out of my hands. I think I need to catch it and go sometimes. And when I kick it out, I think we need a more drive game instead of (taking the) first jump shot."

Tracy McGrady got shots, but made just four of 15 for 10 points.

'Flat-out ugly'

But shooting was just somewhere on the list of shortcomings. The Rockets went through the motions slowly until Van Gundy benched everyone.

"It just so happened we didn't have that energy and those guys, they didn't cash in early for the (All-Star) break," McGrady said. "Obviously, we did. That was flat-out ugly."

So ugly, the Rockets could barely stand to watch, but could not turn away.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


---------------------------------------------------------------------------


ROCKETS SUMMARY

No All-Star festivities

Rockets forward Tracy McGrady, who has been dealing with "personal family issues" for about two weeks, said Thursday he had decided to skip today's All-Star media availabilities and participants meeting to talk with a friend about his situation.

"With what is going on, I'm not going to be there," McGrady said. "I need to get away, just take some time and just chill. I won't be participating.

"Everything is pretty much getting handled. I needed somebody I trust to have a conversation with and talk things out, a friend, a person that is real close and understands my situation and what I've been dealing with."

McGrady would not be more specific about his "personal family issues," though said he was handling them better than he had been.

On Tuesday, he said he had "exorcized the demons.

"I'm just dealing with some off-the-court things and it's really affected my play," he said. "I just told myself to try to put that aside and come out here and just compete and leave all that personal stuff away from my profession and just play ball."


More point time for Head

With the trade for Keith Bogans, coach Jeff Van Gundy said he still wanted to play rookie Luther Head — changes Van Gundy said would have Head playing more at point guard, rather than shooting guard.

"With Bogans coming in, I was still committed to playing Luther so I was committed to playing without a backup point guard," Van Gundy said after the Rockets dealt backup point guard Moochie Norris.

"It's not ideal for him (Head). It's a tough thing for a guy that's played that position his whole life.

"But I do think it gives us his best chance to guard effectively. He's caught in a little bit of a quandary. Offensively, he's more of a two, a lot more of a two. Defensively, he's more one."

That did not mean that Van Gundy believed Head is good at defending point guards. "It depends on who the one is," Van Gundy said. "We hope he keeps improving."

Head said he thought he was better equipped to play the position than he was early in the season, when he struggled at the point.

"I feel I can do it," he said. "It's all about getting reps in and going in and doing it. I've been playing mostly two so we'll see.

"I think I know the game more. I'm used to the offense more. I think I'm more comfortable now so I think I'd be more comfortable at point now."


Praising Suns' defense

The Rockets were determined not to abandon their new-found determination to run, even though the Suns run well. Rather, the Suns' defense is good enough for the Rockets to seek any easy basket they could find.

"They play their game as well as anyone plays their game in the league," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "That doesn't mean other teams should not try to run the ball up as well, because they're very underrated defensively.

"If you look at their field goal percentages (opponents made 44.5 percent of their shots last season, 44.3 percent this season), they're similar. Joe Johnson could guard multiple positions and Raja Bell does that. Shawn Marion is probably the most unique defender in the league. He's a great help defender ... and can shut people down.

"That's what makes them very good defensively. They've added good defenders in Bell and ( Kurt) Thomas. Their quickness and their length are very, very good. Your game has got to be a well-balanced game. You're never going to sacrifice offense for defense or defense for offense, or either offense or defense for rebounding. You have to try to be good at everything."

JONATHAN FEIGEN

 

Can we change the headline on the front page to "Slaugher in Phoenix?"