Chron: Rockets give Spurs undivided attention

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2416886

SAN ANTONIO -- The win was still fresh, with the adrenaline and exhaustion combining in a strange mix of feelings.

The Rockets were not thrilled with needing three overtimes to beat the Hawks on Sunday night. Western Conference playoff teams are not supposed to struggle so to beat Eastern Conference teams that are counting the days until they can be wrecking-balled and rebuilt.

But the Rockets did win. They did make the shots. They did see Yao Ming fight through his fatigue to carry them through the longest NBA game since the Rockets' only other triple-overtime affair nearly three years earlier.

There were 63 minutes of basketball to celebrate or lament or both. But instead, the Rockets found themselves thinking of a completely different team and challenge.

They might have narrowly gotten away with looking ahead to the Spurs on Sunday. But by the time Sunday night closed in on Monday morning, the Rockets could not help thinking about San Antonio and didn't have to fight the temptation.

"We want them back," Rockets guard Cuttino Mobley said. "They beat us three times this season. Two games were kind of tough ones. They came in and beat us twice. They beat us at their place. We've got to go there and play hard."

Despite any encouraging signs the Rockets might have taken from Sunday's win, they could not tell themselves they had proved anything against the Hawks, particularly after another loss in Dallas on Saturday still fresh in their minds and with another trip to San Antonio waiting.

The Rockets have lost 12 consecutive games in San Antonio, having never beaten the Spurs on the road since Tim Duncan joined the NBA. Since the start of the 1998-99 season, the Rockets are 2-20 against the Spurs, having endured an 11-game losing streak and the current six-game series skid.

The Rockets are 2-12 on the road against Western Conference teams, including 0-7 against the Midwest Division. If the Mavericks and Spurs have become measuring sticks more than real rivals, the Rockets have not measured up, going 0-5 against the other Texas teams this season.

"We realize we've got to play better on Tuesday," Rockets forward Maurice Taylor said. "The way we played (against the Hawks), San Antonio isn't going to take us into overtime. They would beat us in the first four quarters.

"It was a good win, but we're not really impressed with the way we played. If we play this way come Tuesday, we'll get blown out."

Most of the Rockets' games against the Spurs have at least been close enough to be decided in the final minutes. If nothing else, the Rockets got plenty of practice playing the last minutes in Sunday's triple-overtime win.

"We fought, and we fought," guard Steve Francis said. "I thought that was great. We need to rest, fly to San Antonio. This is our last meeting with them this season. We need to do better.

"I think we're all definitely getting better. We're also getting stronger as a team and really believing in each other. I think that's really been helping us out. We got the win at home against an East team. We were definitely in need of a win after losing our last game. But we also have a tough week ahead of us. We wanted to stay focused."

The Rockets, who are 5-6 this season in games decided by four or fewer points, lost by three in their previous meeting with the Spurs. But they have won close games against Atlanta and Chicago before and after that game, indicating some improvement when games are decided in the final minutes.

"I hope so. We'll see with really good teams," Mobley said. "Taking nothing away from Atlanta, but we'll see when we play the elite teams and come through in the stretch."

After facing the Spurs tonight, the Rockets enter a key stretch of the season. They play nine of their next 10 games at home and face the Lakers, Mavericks and Grizzlies, all teams ahead of them in the Western Conference, in that stretch. After that, the Rockets finish the season with 11 of 16 games on the road, potentially making the three weeks of home games important to the Rockets' playoff push and positioning.

But the Rockets said it is still a bit too soon to think about playoff seeds.

"There's 27 games left," Francis said. "So probably at the 15-16 games-left mark, I'll definitely be paying attention."

For now, the Rockets could not help but think about the Spurs, to the point they were unwilling or, more likely, unable to think about much else.

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Rockets summary

Yao No. 1

With his 41-point night on Sunday, Yao Ming surpassed Steve Francis as the Rockets' leading scorer, averaging 16.9 points per game.

Yao also leads the Rockets with averages of nine rebounds and 1.78 blocked shots, making him one of only eight players to lead his team in each of those categories. Clippers forward Elton Brand, Spurs forward Tim Duncan, Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett, Grizzlies forward Pao Gasol, Suns forward Shawn Marion, Nets forward Kenyon Martin and Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal also lead their teams in all three categories.

Yao would be just the fourth player to lead the Rockets in each category. Hakeem Olajuwon did it 11 times, Moses Malone four times and Ralph Sampson once.

In Rockets wins, Yao is averaging 19.1 points on 56 percent shooting, 9.9 rebounds and 2.09 blocked shots. In losses, he has averaged 13.8 points on 49.8 percent shooting, 7.7 rebounds and 1.35 blocked shots.

Set lineup

The Rockets have used the starting lineup of Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Yao Ming, Kelvin Cato and Jim Jackson in 52 of 55 games this season, the most games for a Rockets starting lineup since the 1993-94 season.

That season, Otis Thorpe, Robert Horry, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell had a 48-19 record in 67 starts together and led the Rockets to the NBA championship