http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/rox/2502242 April 13, 2004, 1:38AM Rockets wrap up seventh seed By JONATHAN FEIGEN SEATTLE -- With his starting backcourt dancing and screaming and celebrating rather than playing, Jeff Van Gundy wanted to learn something about the Rockets who would play instead. It worked, too. With Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley keeping their injuries off the court, Van Gundy found something about the players who stepped up to fill the void. It turns out these Jackson kids can play. Mark Jackson, starting at point guard, had a season-high 25 points and nine assists, and Jim Jackson, playing shooting guard, added 22 as the Rockets held on for a 111-107 win over the SuperSonics on Monday, clinching the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs. "Jim Jackson has had an unbelievable year," Van Gundy said. "(With) Jim Jackson, you can make a case (he) has been our most consistent player, easily make a case. And Mark had one of those turn-back-the-clock nights." But besides his two Jacksons, Van Gundy saw a few other things from less-experienced players. Bostjan Nachbar, starting at small forward, had 11 points, did a solid job defensively on Rashard Lewis and nailed a key 3-pointer with 30.9 seconds remaining. Yao Ming had 20 points in his best, most energetic performance in weeks. And Scott Padgett, starting with Kelvin Cato held out of the game, added 12 points, bringing the energy that helped key the fast start to both halves. With the win, the Rockets took a two-game lead on the eighth-seeded Nuggets with one game left. Whom they will play in the first round was narrowed to either the Lakers or Kings. The Kings could have clinched the second seed with a win but lost in Denver. The Lakers, with two games left, trail the Kings by a half-game, and the Kings hold the tiebreaker. The Rockets, however, might have taken a much-needed step toward getting ready for either team with six players scoring in double figures -- even with Mobley and Francis out -- and with their radically altered lineup beginning the game with a 13-2 run and the second half with an 8-2 run. "Our readiness to start the game and our readiness to start the third quarter was critical," Van Gundy said. "Our guys did a good job. "I liked our competitive spirit. I thought Scott Padgett did some good things as a starter in both halves. I just liked the way we played a lot better than we have been playing. I thought we competed harder. I liked the way we played with much better competitive spirit because (of the way they played) in Utah, we're not going to play like that anymore. No. Not if I'm the coach, we're not." But the Rockets won as much because of how they finished as how they started. With 1:37 left, Vladimir Radmanovic -- who came off the injured list to score 21 points off the bench -- nailed a 3 to cut the Rockets' lead to three. Mark Jackson made two free throws before Flip Murray, who had 24 points, made one. But after Yao was called for traveling on his spin move, Murray was fouled again and made both attempts with 49.2 seconds left to bring the Sonics to within 102-100. But with the Rockets clearly needing one more solid possession, Yao was double-teamed inside, and found Nachbar at the 3-point arc for the triple that gave the Rockets a five-point lead with 30.9 seconds left. "Boki having the courage to take the last shot -- Yao made a great play and Boki having the courage to take it -- that was very good," Van Gundy said. "We got the ball to Yao in the post. Yao made a good pass against the double team. You don't know if you're going to make that, but to step up and take that was very good." They would need the cushion. Mark Jackson, who had made 10 of his previous 11 free throws, would miss two with 24.7 seconds left, letting Radmanovic pull the Sonics within two with another 3-pointer. Sent back to the line with 12 seconds left, Mark Jackson made both attempts, and after a Flip Murray layup, made two more. Jackson, who might have bunions older than opposing point guard Luke Ridnour, outplayed the Sonics' rookie from the start. But in the third quarter, he nailed two 3-pointers, giving him as many on Monday (three) as the rest of the season combined. By the fourth quarter, he was ripping down rebounds with shouts. "That's veteran leadership," Jim Jackson said of Mark Jackson's night. "He's played in this league and done some phenomenal things. That's because he understands how to play the game. When it was time for him to play a big role, he stepped right into that position." Murray sank another layup, but Jim Jackson dropped in two free throws to close out the win. Between them, Mark and Jim Jackson might have done more than just lead the way to a win. They might have even showed the kids how to play hard and smart and still enjoy themselves. "It gave them a lift," Mark Jackson said of his high-volume exuberance. "But it shows this game is fun. You can't take it too seriously. And it makes it easier to forget when teams make a run and you look up and you're only up four or up two, and you can take a deep breath and say, `We're going to be all right.' "
Rockets summary Starters sit out Coach Jeff Van Gundy had not changed his position. He still did not consider resting players a worthwhile goal in late-season games. But guards Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley were scratched from Monday's game in Seattle, the first this season either has missed because of injury. Francis has been playing with a sprained right wrist and an inflamed left elbow. Mobley bruised his left shoulder in Utah on Saturday. "This was their decision," Van Gundy said. "It's always better to play if you can play. They along with Keith (Jones, the Rockets' trainer) decided it. It's better that I stay out of injury decisions. They know their bodies and Keith knows his medicine. I don't know either, so it's better I stay out of it." Jones said Francis' injuries had not been improving and that Mobley "is just sore." "I'm also starting (Scott) Padgett," Van Gundy said, "instead of (Kelvin) Cato." Asked if Padgett was starting to give the Rockets a better matchup against the SuperSonics' mobile, perimeter shooting power forwards, Van Gundy repeated, "I'm starting Padgett instead of Cato." Subs step in Mark Jackson started at point guard Monday, with Bostjan Nachbar getting his second start of the season at small forward and Jim Jackson shifting to Cuttino Mobley's shooting guard spot. "It's a huge game for them, for some of them," coach Jeff Van Gundy said of reserves receiving extra playing time. "Some of them might not realize how big a game it is for them, whether we had the injuries or not. "I am tired of players on other teams saying (the Rockets) didn't really want to play and being right. That's not just the bench players. That encapsulates everybody. But let's face it, our bench has been, if possible, more erratic than our starters. I'm not going to go into a playoff series hoping someone is going to play hard enough or smart enough or well enough. I'm going to have to be confident they will do it. That's not to say you're going to play great every night. But you can certainly know the game plan, be disciplined to stick with it and be ready to play. "Mo Taylor's effort in Utah was outstanding -- outstanding, and not from a made-shot standpoint. In the second half he was 1-for-7. It's hard to win with that shooting, but we can't win without that effort." Padgett and Nachbar said they viewed Monday's game as an opportunity. "It's important to go out and play well all the time," Padgett said. "But ... it's important, especially with the playoffs right around the corner. Anytime you have a chance to make a good impression and put a thought in a coach's head, maybe they will look down that bench in the playoffs and think, 'he just played well. I remember it. Let's put him in.' " Said Nachbar, "I want to show (Van Gundy) I'm still here, being ready. If there is a chance in the playoffs for a game he might need me, I'll be ready." Breaking the tie While the Rockets jockeyed for playoff position in Seattle, having just enough wins against the other playoff contenders and the NBA tiebreaker rules had already made the road trip to Utah and Seattle anticlimactic. The Rockets already had clinched at least eighth place in the Western Conference in any possible three-way tie with the Jazz and Nuggets. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record; the Rockets split with both the Jazz and Nuggets. The next tiebreaker is conference record; the Rockets are behind both teams in that consideration. Utah was eliminated on Monday night. In a three-team tie, however, the Jazz would have been the odd team out. The tiebreaker -- record in games played amongst the tied teams -- would favor the Rockets and Nuggets because the Nuggets won three of four meetings against the Jazz. The Nuggets are 5-3 against the Rockets and Jazz. The Rockets are 4-4 against the Nuggets and Jazz. The Jazz are 3-5 against Denver and Houston. The Trail Blazers' loss last week in San Antonio, coming as the Rockets beat the Nuggets, assured the Rockets a playoff spot because the Rockets won three of four games against Portland, giving them the tiebreaker edge in any ties that might have come up involving the Blazers. Portland also was eliminated on Monday. -- JONATHAN FEIGEN
