Arizona Republic: Late rally in Houston falls short for Suns

Late rally in Houston falls short for Suns

Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 17, 2003 12:00 AM

HOUSTON - Maybe the Suns learned something Sunday night about playoff-intensity basketball. It's too bad they might not get to use it this spring.

After failing to deliver on their promise of a playoff-level effort for a half, the Suns stormed back from a 24-point halftime deficit to get within six before falling 85-75 to the Houston Rockets at the Compaq Center.

<b>And if the Suns do wind up failing to reach the playoffs, they'll probably hear the refrain "Yaaaao Miiiing, Yao Ming, Yao Ming, Yao Ming," bouncing around in their heads like a commercial jingle all summer long.</b>

Yao scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked four shots and lifted the Rockets down the stretch to their fifth straight victory. The only thing that spoiled the night for the Rockets was the revelation by coach Rudy Tomjanovich after the game that he will undergo a biopsy to test "abnormal" cells in his bladder.

It was a game loaded with playoff implications. By virtue of their victory, the Rockets won the four-game season series between the teams 3-1, giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker should they end up deadlocked at season's end.

The Rockets also moved a game ahead of the Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference race. It puts the Suns in a precarious spot with 17 games to play.

"I was surprised," Suns coach Frank Johnson said. "We had to go down by 24 points to get their attention, knowing how big this was? Shocking."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/0317suns0317.html

 

POSTGAME QUOTES
MARCH 16, 2003

ROCKETS COACH RUDY TOMJANOVICH

On the game:
"This was the biggest game and victory in the last four years - since the Dream Era. We still have a lot of work left. We have a monster road trip ahead of us. We got great contribution from the bench - (Kelvin) Cato stepped up big for us. The defense again was fantastic.”

On the Suns’ comeback in the second half:
"The Suns were ready to play. They had us scouted well to where we couldn’t score for a while down the stretch. This game had a playoff feel to it, and I am really proud of the guys for hanging in there and not giving up.”


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MAURICE TAYLOR

On the game:
"It’s definitely a big win. This game right here meant a lot as far as playoff implications, standings, series-wise…it’s definitely a big game, a tough game. We got out on them early. We knew they were going to make a game out of it in the second half, we knew that they were going to make some sort of run."

On the team’s winning streak:
"The first five-game (winning) streak of the season going into a tough road trip, five games in seven nights, in five different cities, it’s definitely going to be a tough road trip. We feel like we’ve got momentum going in, we’ve just got to play basketball."


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GLEN RICE

On Rudy’s announcement:
"It’s something you don’t like hearing, especially from a coach, friend, family member. At this point, all we can do is pray for him and wish him the best. Like he told us, he wants to keep fighting strong and we need him to be strong as well. It was a shock. We came in here and we were pretty much still hyped up (from Friday’s win) and I’m pretty sure I can speak for everybody, everybody just completely forgot about the game and all our concern shifted toward him.”

On the Suns’ run to narrow their deficit to six points:
"It’s crazy, that’s why you really got to take care of business through 48 minutes. The thing that made the difference between the first and second half was the execution. On the offensive end, I think we buckled down and started going back to our ways a little bit. They capitalized on that and fortunately we were able to hang on. It was a big win for us, really…it comes down to the tiebreaker or anything like that, we already got that taken care of. As far as that, we’re in the driver’s seat. Our job is still not done. This road trip is going to be the biggest road trip we’ve had this year and we’re not going out there playing against cupcake teams, so we got to shift a gear even higher.”


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YAO MING

On Amare Stoudemire’s performance:
"I don’t think he played like his normal self, I think he can play better. Our defense today focused on a lot of their key players and it limited what they could do."

On what this win means to the team’s playoff aspirations:
"We’re not in yet."

On his play in the fourth quarter:
"I was just thinking that this is a game that we have to get because it was an incredibly important game."

On his feelings about Rudy’s announcement:
"“It was very serious and Rudy is like a father to a lot of us around here and for him not to be there it seems like we don’t have someone to rely on, to lean on. I hope he gets back soon."

On Houston’s defense:
"Overall, I think it was pretty good. We were able to stop their fast break points and that limited what they could do."


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SUNS COACH FRANK JOHNSON

On the Suns:
"We had a big game and they (the Suns) need to make up their mind whether they’re going to play or not. We knew what we wanted to do, (but) we just didn’t execute defensively. We didn’t execute defensively, which is what we wanted to do. In the second half, we executed the way we wanted to."

On his team's defense:
"They (Houston) did everything we knew they wanted to do… everything offensively, and then in the end, we made some mistakes by allowing their “bigs” to kind of come in. We had so much pressure on the big fella (Yao Ming). We knew not to leave (Glen) Rice. If they were going to make a pass, it was going to be a long pass so we would be able to close out on the long pass, rather than having to do full rotation. In the first half we were rotating when we weren’t supposed to rotate. We were coming when we shouldn’t have come."

On the game:
"(In the second half) we had a chance to cut it to four twice. Cato made a big block on Bo (Outlaw), and I think we had a turnover. They (Houston) had their two big guns. When you shoot 33 percent, you don’t expect to win. We played well enough to win in the second half, but not in the first half."


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SHAWN MARION

On the loss:
“We were playing catch-up the whole game. We were almost there, but when you dig a hole that big, it’s tough to dig out of it. It happens. We were still in a situation to win the game. In the first half, we were real aggressive going to the basket, but we just weren’t getting any calls, (and) other than that, we were just out there trying to play ball. We were trying to put ourselves in a situation to win the game."


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ANFERNEE HARDAWAY

On the game:
"In the first quarter, we were pretty much OK, but in the second quarter we couldn’t stop any of their iso’s and when they started penetrating, they made us help so much they were left wide open. Glen Rice and Cuttino (Mobley) basically had big first quarters and Yao before he got into foul trouble. They were able to get wide open shots and they knocked them down. They shot a high percentage in the second quarter."

On the Suns’ problems tonight:
"We just didn’t execute properly against their zone. We got stops in the third quarter, but we just didn’t make a big enough run to get back all the way back into the game. We got to within six, I think and I think that was the closest. We just spotted them too may points in the first half and we made a run, but it was too late."


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STEPHON MARBURY

On the game:
"They (the Rockets) made plays… big plays. When you put yourself in that situation (being behind), it’s hard. It’s hard to come back and try to win the game."

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/quotes030316