[Chron/DMN] Rox vs Mavs. Feigen article, Blinebury blog + Sefko

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5322045.html

Nov. 22, 2007, 1:17AM
Rockets let one get away
Mavs prevail after scoring 38 in fourth quarter

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

The Rockets had brought themselves back to that familiar breaking point where games are won and teams are measured and separated from one another.

They had led much of the way and by as many as 17 points until they were a good two minutes from beating Dallas and ending their losing streak at four games.

But everything the Rockets did well the previous 46 minutes they did poorly down the stretch. Just about every way that they could blow the game, they did. With an all-too-familiar implosion, their lead began to disappear until all that was left was a 100-94 loss to the Mavericks on Wednesday night at Toyota Center.

The Rockets had a five-point lead and the ball with 100 seconds remaining. That was when they fell apart, much as they had at Dallas on Nov. 5.

"Two minutes left, we have a five-point lead," said center Yao Ming, who had 30 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots. "I think that's happened before.

"We didn't make enough basketball plays to win the game. In the last 1:40, we turned the ball over. The game was in our hands. We just let it slip away."

Another loss to Mavs
As much as blowing a 17-point second-half lead and extending their losing streak hurt, the Rockets were just as tormented by the aching similarity to so many other games against Dallas. It was their fifth consecutive loss against the Mavs and ninth in the past 10 games, many with Dallas owning the final decisive minutes.

"Obviously, they did a really good job, and that is where we have to get to," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "I'm concerned about how we're trying to execute and figure out down the stretch what we're going to have to do to finish games off."

The breakdown began long before the final minutes. When Adelman went to the bench for defensive help, he found none. A 14-point lead in the fourth quarter was reduced to three in 4 1/2 minutes.

"We didn't lose the game in the last five minutes," said Rockets forward Shane Battier, who had 12 points and two rebounds. "We lost when we allowed 38 points in the fourth quarter. I don't care who you are. If you play that poor of defense throughout the quarter, it's going to be tough to get stops down the stretch."

Tracy McGrady, who had 15 points and 12 assists but struggled with his shot because of a sprained right elbow, sank a jumper and then passed to Yao for a layup, giving the Rockets a seven-point lead with five minutes left.

When Dirk Nowitzki followed a jumper with a basket off a strong drive, the Rockets' lead was cut to 90-86 with 2:49 remaining, giving Nowitzki 18 points to go with 14 rebounds.

Dirk denied
That's when the Rockets appeared to have made the stop they needed. Battier stuffed Nowitzki, and McGrady grabbed the rebound and passed to Yao, who was fouled hard by Devin Harris.

But Yao made just one free throw and then missed a jumper. Jerry Stackhouse nailed a corner 3 with 1:09 left before McGrady turned the ball over. Harris finished a drive, was fouled by Yao and completed a three-point play that put Dallas up 92-91 with 34.2 seconds left.

McGrady stepped around a Yao screen but missed a 19-footer with 24.9 seconds left, forcing the Rockets to quickly foul Stackhouse, whose two free throws pushed the lead to 94-91 with 23.2 seconds remaining.

The Rockets went for the quick basket, with Yao scoring. After Stackhouse hit two more free throws, Mike James was fouled but made just one of two shots, leaving the Rockets two behind. Stackhouse again was fouled and returned to the line, and his two free throws slammed the door shut.

"We just got to make the plays," James said. "Dallas is not that much better of a team than us. That's not the issue. It's just that during the two games we played against Dallas, we've allowed certain things at the end of the game ... that we gave up that we shouldn't have."

Stackhouse added a rub-it-in dunk with 1.1 seconds left, but by then the game had been won and a point clearly made.

"If the game ends at 46 minutes, then we win the game," Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said. "You've got to do it for 48."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

 

http://blogs.chron.com/franblinebury/2007/11/do_you_feel_a_draft_mavs_100_r.html

November 21, 2007
Do you feel a draft? Mavs 100, Rockets 94.

Same old story between the Rockets and Mavs.

Nobody closed the door.

This is a recurring theme. Like a slasher movie. Only with more blood and gore.

The Rockets surrendered 38 points to Dallas in the fourth quarter. Which goes a long way toward explaining how they coughed up a 5-point lead in less time than it took the Mavs to clear their throats at the end.

First, a 3-pointer from out of the right corner by Jerry Stackhouse and then a Dancing With the Stars waltz all the way to the basket for a layup and an old-fashioned three-point play by Devin Harris.

One minute you're preparing to feast on a delicious win over perhaps the best team in the NBA. The next minute somebody's sticking a fork in and passing you around the table as the main course at Grandma's house.

"Two minutes left, we have a five-point lead," said Yao Ming. "I think that's happened before.

"We make mistakes again. They go to a smaller lineup. I can't match up on a three-point shooter. I try to find who is smaller, but not a shooter from perimeter to defend.

"We didn't make enough basketball plays to win the game. In the last 1:40 we turned the ball over. The game was in our hands. We just let it slip away."

It's early. We know. And 6-6 doesn't mean an end to anybody's season.

But it's five losses in a row. This latest one with Tracy McGrady back in the lineup. And most disturbing, it came with a fourth quarter collapse that was a virtual replay of the first game at Dallas and their most recent visit to San Antonio.

The last two minutes were a turnover by McGrady, a missed layup by Yao, a missed jumper by Yao, a turnover by McGrady, a missed jumper by McGrady.

The Rockets want to be called contenders with a new head coach, a new offense and new supplementary parts. Yet they still haven't made fundamental changes from last spring in the playoffs against Utah, when they couldn't ever quite finish the job.

Head coach Rick Adelman keeps fretting over the offense. Players such as Shane Battier point to the defense.

"I don't know what we need to do to get better," said Yao.

It must be Thanksgiving. We're knee-deep in turkeys.

Posted by Fran Blinebury at November 21, 2007 09:01 PM

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...mavs/stories/112207dmspomavslede.24b0522.html

Dallas Mavericks bounce back to beat Rockets

10:46 PM CST on Wednesday, November 21, 2007

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com

HOUSTON – Jerry Stackhouse, shooting 22 percent from 3-point range for the season, had the ball in his hands at crunch time. So did Devin Harris, going against a guy 15 inches taller and 125 pounds heavier than him.

Clearly, the Dallas Mavericks had the Houston Rockets right where they wanted them.

Strong plays from Stackhouse and Harris, not to mention an encore to the outrageous 24-point comeback less than 24 hours earlier, delivered a wild 100-94 victory to the Mavericks on Wednesday night at Toyota Center, running their winning streak to five games.

This time, a 17-point deficit had to be wiped out, but it had to be done in much less time. The Mavericks had to revive themselves late in the third quarter and throughout the fourth.

"I could feel it," said Jason Terry. "You could just feel that somebody was going to hit a big shot."

So two Mavericks did. Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming had teamed to push Houston up 74-57 with less than 90 seconds to go in the third quarter.

It was McGrady’s first game back from an elbow injury, and he and Yao were armed and dangerous. The Mavericks shot 29 percent and appeared lifeless in the third quarter.

But they kept hammering away, creeping within three, then slipping back, facing a 91-86 deficit with 1:40 to play. Naturally, the ball swung to Stackhouse, who has been in a season-long shooting slump.

"These guys stay on me," Stackhouse said. "No matter how many I miss, they tell me that I’m going to have to make a big one at some point, so keep firing."

So he did, swishing a 3-pointer from the corner to bring the Mavericks within two.

After McGrady, who had a dozen assists, threw a bad pass, Harris got the ball and had a path to the basket that was blocked by only one thing: the 7-6, 310-pound Yao.

Harris slithered under the big man and coaxed in a layup. He was fouled and put the Mavericks ahead with the free throw.

McGrady missed, and Stackhouse hit six free throws and a buzzer-beating dunk to escort the Mavericks to the win and give Houston its fifth consecutive loss. The Mavericks became the first Texas team to win a road game in Texas. Houston and San Antonio had lost in Dallas, the Rockets had been whipped in San Antonio and returned the favor to the Spurs at Toyota Center.

"We’re so much tougher mentally than we were last year," coach Avery Johnson said. "This summer must have done something to us."

The Mavericks made plays at both ends. With McGrady getting the ball on virtually every Houston possession, the Mavericks sagged in on him.

"Tracy normally is their big fourth-quarter guy," Johnson said. "We tried to collapse on him and make somebody else beat you. We got burned a couple times, but McGrady is the guy who can beat you."

Not this time. Stackhouse’s shot was proof that shooters need to keep shooting. You never know when the next one’s going in.

Then there was Harris, who led the Mavericks with 22 points and five assists. Josh Howard had 20, and Nowitzki had 18 to go with 14 rebounds.

Harris said the play on which he drove past Yao was intended to create a mismatch like that. Nowitzki agreed.
Dallas Mavericks guard Devin Harris challenges the shot of Houston's Yao Ming.
AP
Dallas Mavericks guard Devin Harris challenges the shot of Houston's Yao Ming.

"Once we got our small lineup out there with me at center, we wanted to run a pick and roll with whoever Yao was guarding," Nowitzki said. "If he switched, Devin could go to the hoop, if not, somebody would be open."

The Mavericks also got a strong showing from Brandon Bass, who had a career-best 17 points and played solid defense when he had to go against Yao one-on-one. Yao had 30 points but was 2-of-6 from the field in the fourth quarter.

"Bass helped us big time," Johnson said. "Even though it was preseason and didn’t count, we thought he did a good job on Yao in that game (in October)."

It was just another unlikely event in a game full of them.

Houston had gone up 65-51 after starting the second half with a 19-4 binge.

But as bad as the third quarter was for them, the Mavericks were clutch in the fourth. They shot 60 percent and held the Rockets to 7-of-18 shooting (38.9 percent).

"We kept fighting," Stackhouse said. "We had a lot of pride and a lot of character to keep playing like that. We’re a battle-tested team, and we don’t fear any situation."

Especially not after overcoming 41 points worth of deficits in two games.