Depleted Rockets Defeat Undermanned Bobcats 102-78 By Dennis L. Silva,II. 1.25.06 Prior to Wednesday night’s contest against the Charlotte Bobcats, the Rockets did things a little differently. Seeing that they held a 3-13 record at Toyota Center, the Rockets had sandwiches (the same meal they’re served on the road) in the locker room. They also had the locker room attendant situate themselves on the inside of the door opposed to outside. Apparently these subtle differences did in fact change things as the Rockets blew out the Bobcats, 102-78, before a crowd of 10,938. The Rockets had trouble with the upstart Charlotte team to begin the game. Houston’s lead was only 16-15 late in the first quarter despite the Bobcats’ top three scorers out of the game due to injury. However, Houston went on a 14-5 scoring run in the final five minutes to lead 24-18 heading into the second period. Luther Head and David Wesley each nailed 3-pointers from the left side to push Houston’s advantage to 10 early in the quarter. The Rockets bench, which outscored Charlotte’s 21-8 in the first half, was effective, led by the usual suspects Lonny Baxter (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Chuck Hayes (11 points, 8 rebounds). The Rockets’ lead reached 17 early before Charlotte came roaring back. Behind the sharpshooting of little-used guard Matt Carroll (19 points, 2-4 from 3), the Bobcats closed the half with a 13-4 run, trailing by only seven heading into halftime. The third period was all Rockets as Tracy McGrady went to work. The Rockets went on a 13-2 run early to eliminate any hope that the Bobcats might pull out a victory. McGrady (29 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) scored 14 points in the period as the Rockets outscored Charlotte 31-14 in the quarter. After allowing the Bobcats to hit 48% of their shots in the first half, Houston’s defense buckled down and forced Charlotte to miss 11 of their 15 shots in the quarter. The fourth quarter was garbage time as the penetration of Rafer Alston (8 assists, 0 turnovers) led to a few easy baskets by both Hayes and Baxter to bury Charlotte. McGrady did not play in the fourth after having a bloody nose due to a forearm by Bobcats center Jake Voskuhl in the closing minutes of the third. The injury did not appear to be severe. Houston will play Minnesota Friday at the Toyota Center. Forward Stromile Swift is expected to make his return, and trainer Keith Jones has targeted February 1st as the return date for Yao Ming, although it’s possible he could return sooner. ROCKETS RECAP · Houston outscored Charlotte 40-18 in the paint. · David Wesley contributed 15 points and 6 assists. · The Bobcats shot 9-28 in the second half. · Houston outrebounded Charlotte 48-34. · Charlotte committed 17 turnovers to Houston’s 10. http://www.nba.com/games/20060125/CHAHOU/boxscore.html
You probably should've mentioned in the recap Rockets had never defeated Bobcats -- three overtime losses in all -- prior to this game. Just a brief mention on the history of *rivalry*, ya know.
111, you have no spelling errors, no widely notable grammatical mistakes. WTF? You made me have no fun... Seriously, nice job on the recap. It's funny how most writers on the newspapers have quotes, but this is the first time ever that I read a recap without them. I didn't miss them, although I noticed you didn't have them, but still managed to keep me interested in reading it. Good job. Thank you. You should make one of those Blogs or get a job doing this. Nice.
