[Chron] Rockets avenge blowout by Raptors, win 114-100

Alston singes Raptors
Rockets reverse trend by blitzing Toronto; guard sets pace

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

TORONTO — He could have screamed or danced. He could have skipped his way happily about the court, as he has been known to do. Rafer Alston did something more satisfying. He just stood there.

Alston launched one last 3-pointer from the corner and held his follow-through high above his head, letting the satisfaction wash over him. Moments later, he fouled out.

But by then, the Rockets were safely on their way to a 114-100 victory over the Toronto Raptors before 20,101 at Air Canada Centre on Friday, reversing the Raptors' rout of the Rockets last month at Toyota Center.

Alston had a big hand in the win, as did just about everybody the Rockets put on the floor. He finished with 23 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

He said being traded by the Raptors after one frustrating season had nothing to do with his performance Friday. Neither did Toronto's wins over the Rockets in the first three games since the trade.

The Rockets followed the Raptors' rout with one of their own, building the same 22-point lead the Raptors had in Houston. Like the Raptors that night, the Rockets never trailed.

"It was a fun night," Alston said. "You would like to play that type of game every night, fundamentally sound all over the court, help out defensively, rebounding and help out Tracy (McGrady) and Yao (Ming) with scoring. It was a thrill."

There was a lot of that to go around.

The Rockets pounced from the opening tip. They matched their season high with 35 points in the first quarter, making their first five 3s and shooting better than 70 percent through 15 minutes.

"It was important to set that tone," said McGrady, who led the Rockets with 24 points and added seven assists. "Once we got our comfortable lead, it was about staying focused, staying confident. We knew they'd make a run."

Yao had 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Plenty of answers

Even when the Rockets struggled and the Raptors got back in the game — after the Rockets made 15 of 22 shots for 35 points in the first quarter, Toronto made 14 of 22 for 35 points in the second — the Rockets seemed to have offensive answers wherever they turned.

"Last time, we didn't have Yao," McGrady said. "It was easy for them to go to a box-and-one and disrupt our offense a little bit.

"Obviously, we did a great job of creating in the offensive end and were making shots. When you (don't) have that presence down low, which we didn't last time against them, it was all jumpers and we weren't making them, so it's tough.

"Tonight, we had Yao back, worked inside-out, got some 3s and we made them."

Even defensively, while the Raptors made a healthy 48 percent of their shots, the Rockets improved from their previous game against Toronto.

How to defend Bosh

Raptors forward Chris Bosh got 19 rebounds but the Rockets won the rebound battle 47-33. Bosh had 16 points, but he averages 22.7 and made just 6 of 19 shots with Chuck Hayes, especially, allowing nothing easy.

"It's not so much what he does when he gets the ball, it's what can I do before he gets it?" Hayes said.

"If I can make him work to get the ball, that wears on him through the course of the game. If I'm right on him when he shoots, that will wear on him."

But more than anything, the Rockets hit the Raptors the way the Raptors had hit them — with scoring in bunches that controlled the game.

"It felt good," Alston said. "It was a big game. We needed it."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

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