My bad if this has been posted ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Houston 90, Miami 70 By MICHAEL A. LUTZ, AP Sports Writer November 12, 2003 AP - Nov 11, 11:57 pm EST More Photos HOUSTON (AP) -- They'd already competed long and hard at pingpong, Chutes and Ladders and checkers. After all those years, Jeff and Stan Van Gundy finally faced off as basketball coaches. In just the second time in NBA history that brothers coached against each other, Jeff's Houston Rockets sent Stan's Miami Heat 90-70 on Tuesday night. Not only did Jeff beat his brother, the Rockets handed the Heat its second worst loss in a string of seven straight losses to open the season. Miami is the only winless team in the NBA. The Van Gundys joined Herb and Larry Brown as the only brothers to coach against each other in the NBA. ``I almost feel guilty,'' Jeff said. ``It's like why were you blessed with talent and he wasn't? There was a huge talent discrepancy and huge size discrepancy, which we're happy about, but we're going to have to play better to continue to win.'' Jeff surprised Stan before the game started by walking down and shaking his hand. ADVERTISEMENT ``That sort of surprised me, Jeff came down,'' Stan said. ``That's rare for him to do that. That's why I didn't get up.'' The players realized it wasn't a regular game. ``You think about that kind of thing,'' Miami's Brian Grant said. ``Coach didn't say anything of that nature, getting a win because of his brother. But the players knew. Of course we're down. It's wearing on everybody not just the coach.'' The Rockets tried to concentrate on the game. ``I couldn't tell from anything they were doing,'' Steve Francis said. ``It wasn't about Jeff or Stan. It was about Houston versus Miami and I respect that.'' The family reunion started Monday night when the Heat arrived in Houston and Stan went to Jeff's home for dinner. ``His wife, Kim, told me to make sure I use the words `homemade' and gourmet' and it was,'' Stan said. ``It was unbelievable -- steak, potato, salad -- it was wonderful. She said to say she cooks like that every night.'' AP - Nov 11, 11:47 pm EST More Photos The brothers continued their banter in pregame exchanges in the hallway outside the locker rooms. ``I wish it was me going against Jeff, I'm sure I'd come out on top,'' Stan said. ``It's more serious when we have to face Francis, (Cuttino) Mobley and Yao (Ming).'' The brother-brother intrigue was more entertaining than the game. Houston missed its first six shots and didn't get a basket until 6:33 remained in the first quarter as the Heat took an 11-5 lead. The Rockets recovered to lead 43-36 at halftime and took command in the third quarter. Houston was led by Mobley, who scored a season-high 30 points. Yao had a career-high seven blocked shots. He had 16 points and eight rebounds. Eddie Jones led the Heat with 21 points. The Van Gundys rarely looked at each other during the game. Stan, wearing a tan jacket, was more animated than his brother, dressed in a dark suit. When it was over, they walked off at opposite ends of the court. Jeff had his head down and Stan looked up real quickly, saw that his brother was headed off, and left with his team. Their parents, Bill and Cindy, watched at home in suburban Miami. ``I absolutely do not have a favorite,'' their mom said shortly before the game started. ``I feel empathy for the loser and joy for the winner, but it's definitely a win-lose proposition.'' The last head-to-head meeting between the brothers was in 1984 when Jeff was a senior at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y., and Stan was the coach at Castleton in Vermont. It was the championship game of a holiday tournament and Nazareth won, with Jeff earning the MVP award. ``I never heard them say they wanted to be anything else, doctor, lawyer, anything else,'' Cindy Van Gundy said. ``Around junior high, I knew they'd be coaches. I hope they learned values, devotion to family, and a work ethic from both Bill and me.'' They definitely learned competitiveness as youngsters playing all sorts of games. The pingpong matchups against their parents were quite serious. ``They wanted to win,'' Bill Van Gundy said. ``But winning might have beentoo competitive playing against their mother and slamming her.'' Notes From 1976-78, Larry Brown coached at Denver and Herb Brown coached at Detroit. Larry was 4-2 in those matchups against his brother. ... Heat forward John Wallace is the only player to have played for both Stan and Jeff. ``They're both Xs and Os guys, very defensive-minded. You ask one about theother and they say the same thing -- very competitive,'' Wallace said.
