[Chron]Sura steps up as Rockets nip Nets in overtime

Sura steps up to ease pain
Rockets follow lead of injured guard to put a hurting on Nets

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

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COMING UP
Saturday:
vs. San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio:
Listings; KILT (610 AM)

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Bob Sura and Tracy McGrady hobbled across the court as if a tough game of shuffleboard would be a challenge.


Sura dragged his right knee. McGrady shuffled along trying not to use his pained left thigh.

Those heady days of flying past the century mark were long gone. Instead, the Rockets limped.

But while McGrady walked like Sura, Sura shot like McGrady, until the Rockets finally put away the injury-staggered New Jersey Nets 94-85 in overtime Thursday night at Toyota Center.

With the win, the Rockets moved two games past .500 for the first time this season.

Beyond that, they began a game as they had so often, falling behind 17-3 before they seemed to notice.

But in grinding out a win, they might have left behind the dreary early months of the season spent losing such games.

"We get out to that rough start and a month and a half, two months ago, it would have gotten worse for us," said Sura, who had a career-high 35 points. "To be able to bounce back, play better, this was steps for us."

But the problem is those steps could remain labored and painful.

Sura's sore right knee continues to hang over the Rockets' season; McGrady left a third consecutive game because of an injury (a strained left quadriceps).

But this time, when he came back he did not appear healed as he had in a fourth-quarter blitz in Denver and second-half roll in Dallas.

He struggled through the last 14 minutes and then said he was worried about how long his latest injury would hang around.

"This injury right here I am concerned about," McGrady said. "With the toe (bruised the night before), I thought it would be fine today, which it was.

"This injury that I'm dealing with now, pretty much I'm concerned with carrying over."

McGrady demoted himself to "decoy" and Yao Ming was caught in a funk, but Sura was upgraded to unstoppable.

Sura made 11 of 16 shots, with his overtime 3-pointer putting the Rockets in command for the first time all night.

With two more free throws, he had 35 points, 11 better than his previous high this season.

"We know Sura is a good player, but we didn't expect 6-of-7 on 3s," Nets forward Jason Collins said. "I mean, look at the percentages."

Sura had been making 22.9 percent of his treys this season.

But he needed to make just one Thursday night to feel as if he would remain on target for the rest of the evening.

"I've been playing well of late," Sura said. "Tonight was a breakout game for me.

"I expected to play this way. I kind of got rolling last year with Atlanta, was able to play great. The last 10 or 12 games, I was able to play really well."

RESOURCES
The Rockets have had a player score 35 or more points in a game on five occasions this season, with three of them coming in the last two weeks: Pts. Player Opponent Date
48 Tracy McGrady Dallas Dec. 2
45 Tracy McGrady Denver Jan. 9
42 Tracy McGrady Milwaukee Dec. 31
40 Yao Ming Toronto Dec. 20
35 Bob Sura New Jersey Thursday

He had breakout games before. But with McGrady scoring just four points after his third-quarter injury and David Wesley and Juwan Howard unable to make the shots they had knocked down so reliably in Wednesday's 124-114 win at Dallas, Sura took over as he had not before, seemingly because he had to.

But it did look familiar.

"He made some shots I didn't think he was capable of hitting," McGrady said. "I didn't think he had them in his game.

"But he made me into a believer tonight. He kind of reminded me of myself."

But that would not have been enough.

The Rockets had wasted chances to win the game in regulation, especially when Yao missed a pair of free throws with a two-point lead and just 37.6 seconds left to play.

Nets center Nenad Krstic got free for a dunk that tied the game.

After running the clock down to its last ticks, McGrady could not get free.

He instead sent a pass to Wesley in the corner for a rushed 3 that missed in the last second, giving the Nets another chance to get their first win since losing Richard Jefferson to a ruptured left wrist.

But once in overtime, the Rockets finally found some offensive help for Sura.

Howard, who had hit just two of eight shots up until then, began the overtime with a jumper, then spun free in the lane to sink a runner.

When he added two free throws, the Rockets led 87-83 with 1:34 remaining.

But after a Jabari Smith jumper, the Rockets seemed in control for the first time all night when Sura answered by dropping in his sixth 3-pointer of the night.

And for whatever injuries kept them grounded, they were happy to conclude they had seen how to win with a limp.

"Bobby is what I call the X factor on our team," McGrady said. "He goes out and lays it all on the line on the court, defensively, offensively.

"He's the floor general on this team. He's the energy guy. We just follow his lead."

With Sura playing through pain, McGrady might have followed his example too closely. But the Rockets won because Sura also followed McGrady's.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


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Rockets Summary
Point guard possibilities
Still searching for a third point guard, the Rockets could bring free-agent Rod Strickland in for a workout as soon as today and have recently picked up scouting efforts of CBA and NBDL prospects, including former Pittsburgh guard Brandin Knight, team sources said Thursday.

The team might not be ready to make an offer of even of a 10-day contract, sources said, but wanted to be in a position to move quickly.

Strickland, a 6-3 guard, is a 38-year-old veteran of 16 seasons, playing for nine teams. Knight is averaging 10.1 points and 5.5 assists in 29 minutes per game with the Asheville Altitude of the NBDL.


A breakthrough
The Rockets have been considerably more productive on the break since the trades for David Wesley and Jon Barry, even when neither has scored themselves on the break.

"It helps to have someone who's run-conscious," Wesley said. "I'm out there, and I'm running and trying to get guys to think about running. This is what coach (Jeff) Van Gundy has been trying to get all along."

Van Gundy, however, said it is difficult to change habits.

"For the most part, runners run, waddlers waddle and walkers walk," he said. "There's some things mentality-wise that are a little bit harder to change than some others. That's one of them. It's not about speed per se.

"It's about instantaneously seeing a change of possession and running even when you don't get rewarded. Knowing if you do it every time, you'll get rewarded a few times. If you do it a few times, you will be rewarded very little because you're not giving yourself opportunities. And if you do it very little, you'll probably get rewarded none."


Impressed with change
While the Nets have tried to retool around the acquisition of Vince Carter and Jason Kidd's return from an injury, they might be able to be encouraged by the Rockets' offense surge.

"(From) 88.7 points a game to right now where they're just under a 100, that's a great turn," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "As an outsider looking in, getting (Bob) Sura back was big. Balancing out their roster by getting David Wesley also helped. But I think (Tracy) McGrady's assertiveness has been off the charts.

"There's something to be said that it does take time, especially when you have two elite players, to jell and find their way while playing together. At times early, maybe it's `We're gonna go to Yao (Ming). Then we're gonna go to Tracy.' Now they just seem to have such a great flow."


Inside the numbers
The Rockets' three-game winning streak matched their longest this season. ... With the Rockets making nine of 18 3-pointers, they have hit 51.6 percent of their 3s in the past three games. ... The Rockets' 12 first-quarter points were their fewest in a quarter this season and one fewer than they scored in overtime. ... Jon Barry had a season-high eight rebounds.


Press row view
The Rockets have had high-scoring games against bad defensive teams. On Thursday, they had a good defensive game against a terrible offensive team. But such details might not matter as they had early in the season when the Rockets were losing and trying to figure out why. There are ways to qualify their recent surge of six wins in eight games. But the Rockets will get plenty of chances to prove themselves in the coming weeks. For now, every win will do.


Did you know?
With 18 points, Tracy McGrady's streak of scoring at least 20 points ended at 14 consecutive games while Yao Ming had six points to end his streak of scoring in double figures at 19.

JONATHAN FEIGEN


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2992126

 

I really don't care how he sounds as long as he plays for us. That said it was a little pretentious

 

Like I said I really don't mind it all, I personally just didn't expect T-Mac to say that, Hell I hope we get more of it.