Cruise control jams into reverse for chillin' defeat By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle ATLANTA - The Hawks were supposed to pack it in for the night. Right there, down all of 11 points with six minutes left, the Rockets expected Atlanta to dutifully play the roll of Eastern Conference patsy and slink away quietly. But this being barely two weeks into the season and with Atlanta carrying just three players from last season's team, the Hawks have not mastered rolling over. So the Rockets showed them how. When the Hawks decided to try harder for a few minutes, the Rockets collapsed as if they had never seen such a thing. They scored two points in the final six minutes to blow a game they had controlled from the outset, 88-84 on Tuesday night at Philips Arena. The Rockets were so in command, they had even scored on a fast break, with Jim Jackson giving them an 82-71 lead. But in the final six minutes they made one of 12 shots, with four turnovers and three shots launched just to beat the shot clock. By the time Yao Ming scored inside, the Rockets had missed nine consecutive shots and the Hawks took a 15-0 run to their first lead of the night. "I think we let our guard down," Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said. "They stepped it up a notch. And we were just kind of chillin' out there on cruise control. Then when they took the lead we tried to toughen up and bring our intensity back up. But it was too late." The Rockets had spent the second half willing to trade baskets with a team that had ranked 28th in the NBA in scoring. The Hawks, making just 41.5 percent of their shots this season, made 56.3 in the second half. The Hawks, averaging 86.7 points per game, scored 51 in the second half. "Our defense slacked off," guard Charlie Ward said. "We didn't help each other. Guys were making cuts and getting layups." That did not cut much off a Rockets lead that had reached 14. But when Atlanta coach Mike Woodson benched his starting backcourt to go with rookies Royal Ivey and Josh Childress, they pressured the Rockets and the Rockets, coach Jeff Van Gundy said, "just melted down." "We just folded," Van Gundy said. "We didn't take care of the ball. We didn't execute. We allowed them to score and get to the free-throw line. "It's concentration. When you get a lead and it's too easy, you expect it's going to be like that. When shots don't fall and you have that easy attitude, you don't score and they do ... and anything can happen." More than anything, the Rockets couldn't get the ball inside to Yao. With the Hawks playing behind Yao and sending almost no defensive help, Yao scored easily for three quarters. He had made 12 of 13 shots, missing only a layup. With a quarter to play, he had 25 points and nine rebounds and seemed to have a chance at the career-high 43 he scored against the Hawks last season. Then the Hawks began fronting him defensively and he was eradicated from the offense. Until the final seconds, Yao took only one shot in the fourth quarter, a 13-footer he rushed to beat the shot clock. "We have to get the ball high-low a little bit," Van Gundy said, "try to get him posted on the move some." But Yao said that after a three-second violation late in the third quarter, he became cautious about staying in the lane to get better position. "I've faced it a lot," Yao said. "There has to be some way. I just don't think we prepared well enough." The Rockets hung on to their lead into the final minutes. Ward seemed to have a breakaway before Antoine Walker ran him down. Moments later, Ivey was fouled and made two free throws to pull the Hawks within 82-81 with 2:16 left. When Ivey slapped away Ward's next pass, Ivey went in for a layup with 2:02 to play, giving Atlanta its first lead at 83-82. "I was playing with a lot of confidence," said Ivey, chosen in the second round out of the University of Texas. "I was playing my defense, doing what I do." Walker, who had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, pushed the lead to three. And after McGrady missed a jumper, the Rockets had a possession to capture the entire breakdown. Facing pressure, Maurice Taylor almost threw the ball away twice before getting it to Jackson with enough time left only to fling a 3 that crashed off the backboard and rim. Taylor got the rebound and missed the layup with 25.9 seconds left. "Ball pressure, making the game tough for us, getting up into us — I give those guys a lot of credit," said McGrady, who had 21 points but made just seven of 20 shots. "It seemed they had more energy down the stretch than us." But then, the clock operator had more energy than they did. But at least he knew when the game ended. jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rockets Summary Let's get physical The book on defending Yao Ming has become easy to read. Teams either front him to keep the ball out of his hands, get as physical as officials will allow or do both. With NBA officials calling so many more fouls on the perimeter this season, they have allowed anything short of blunt instruments in the paint. After averaging 14 free throws in his previous two games, Yao took just one each against New Jersey on Monday and Atlanta on Tuesday. "On the perimeter, you're sort of getting an idea what a foul is," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "On the inside, I truly don't know what a foul is. But you know what, our play surely needs more improvement than the officiating needs improvement. "The question will be if the physical play will make him (Yao) continue to just be a background singer. He got fouled. He got fouled on shots. He got fouled on cuts. And you know what, it's not going to change in his career in the NBA. It did not change for ( Shaquille) O'Neal. O'Neal figured it out. Yao is going to have to figure it out. "Everyone knows in the NBA if you're smaller, you're going to get away with more than guys of size. You can point it out to the league. The league says they'll watch it. You shouldn't spend excessive time complaining. It's not changing. The solution is be effective anyway." Yao's frustration showed in New Jersey, but he said he must learn to play through fouls he believes go uncalled. "I can't control the refs," he said. "If they don't call that, all I can do is try to be more aggressive and get used to it. It's hard. It's really difficult. But that's the only way." Painful slam Besides showing an impressive play, the many replays of Yao Ming's dunk against New Jersey showed Yao grab his left elbow and the pad that protects its slight tendon tear. Yao hyperextended the elbow when hit while holding the rim but recovered with a few exercises on the bench. "At that moment, it was really painful," Yao said. "It was after a couple minutes getting better. At that time, my hand could not make a fist. It was like I was hit by an electric shock." Glad to be home Former Rockets first-round pick Jason Collier seems to have found a home at home with the Atlanta Hawks. Drafted out of Georgia Tech, Collier was out of the NBA after the Rockets chose not to resign him in 2003 until he played the final 20 games of last season with Atlanta. He signed with the Hawks as a free agent. "I'm very happy," Collier said. "My wife's family is here. We have a home here. We live here in the offseason." Only Maurice Taylor, Yao Ming and Bostjan Nachbar played with Collier with the Rockets, mitigating the significance of playing against his former team. "It's pretty much like any other game," said Collier, who started but played only eight minutes. "I guess there's overtones from being there. But a lot of the people that were there are not there anymore." Press row view It can happen early. It can happen late. First quarter. First half. Final minutes. Eventually, the Rockets go through a stretch in which they simply don't play hard — or at least don't play with intensity. Comebacks happen in the NBA. They are almost a given. For all of the team's experience and expectations, the Rockets believe they can put it in cruise control and get a victory. Jeff Van Gundy has repeatedly said this is not yet a good basketball team. It seems determined to prove him right. Inside the numbers In the past two games, Yao Ming has taken two free throws. ... The Rockets were outrebounded for the fourth consecutive game. ... The Rockets' 14.3 percent shooting from 3-point range was their worst this season. ... The Rockets' bench was outscored 43-14. ... The Rockets are 1-2 in the second half of back-to-backs with two back-to-backs to go this month. Did you know? The Rockets were outscored 12-2 in fast-break points, and they have outscored an opponent on the break in just one of their nine games. -- JONATHAN FEIGEN http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2905459
