[Chron] Rockets Beat Mavs at Own Game

Rockets beat Mavs at own game
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

DALLAS -- Leaving the court, Bob Sura slid up next to Jeff Van Gundy and said, "Hell of a defensive effort."

Van Gundy looked at Sura, busted out in laughter and said, "Hey, we're an offensive team."

Van Gundy was joking, Sura said, merely playing along happily in the glow of a stunning victory. But for 48 spectacular minutes, the Rockets' offense was no joke. The Rockets out-Mavericked the Mavericks, rolling to a 124-114 win Wednesday at American Airlines Center with easily their best offensive show of the season.

So impressive was the Rockets' offense, they did not seem impressed at all, as if they expect nights like these.

"We got good shots," Rockets guard David Wesley said. "It wasn't like we were hitting amazing shots, fadeaway 3s. Tracy (McGrady) hit some amazing shots, but he does that. The rest of us, we were taking the shots we get when we took what they gave us. We were penetrating when we had to. We were rebounding the basketball. And that's going to give us chances to get out and run and get transition baskets."

The Rockets basically did everything that can be done offensively. Not only did four players top 20 points for the first time this season, the Rockets had more points, field goals, 3-pointers and assists than in any game this season. They made 61 percent of their shots, also their best of the season, and with 124 they had their most prolific game a game after their previously highest scoring game.

So complete was the Rockets' second-half surge, the only negative might have been McGrady's post-game X-rays.

At this rate, McGrady might run out of body parts. But a game after he hurt a thumb, wondered if he could play at all, then blitzed the Nuggets, McGrady bruised his left big toe, wondered if he could play at all, then led the Rockets' second-half rally.

"At the time, I really thought I was going to be done. When I went to the bench (in the second quarter) I thought I was going to shut it down because I was in so much pain just sitting there. It was a throbbing feeling. I padded it up and tried to give it a go, but that still didn't work. I came in at halftime, iced it up a bit, put a little more padding on there and I was fine.

"I was fine until that alley-oop Bob threw me."

But like the first half, when he came back in and nailed a 3-pointer almost as soon as he stepped back on the court, moments after the alley-oop slam, be drove through the gut of the Dallas defense for a vicious slam.

McGrady scored 23 of his 30 points in the second half, making nine of 13 shots and five of six 3-pointers for a half that matched his 23-point second half in Denver on Sunday.

"I was just in one of those zones, man," McGrady said. "Any time I came up the court and saw any daylight, I was confident I was going to knock the shot down."

But he sent the Rockets into another gear as a playmaker, finding Juwan Howard on high screen and rolls and Wesley at the 3-point arc to collect 11 of the Rockets' 33 assists.

"We know as a supporting group, Yao and Tracy have to be our nucleus," Howard said. "Those two have to carry us. But we have to ... take advantage when we got open looks. Tonight we did that with Wesley hitting shots in the corner and myself hitting jumpers when the defense was sagging down on Yao."

There was almost nowhere McGrady or Sura could turn and not find a shooter. Howard especially lit it up, scoring his season-high 29 on 14-of-19 shooting. Wesley had his top scoring game, making eight of 16 shots for 21 points. Yao Ming made five of eight shots and knocked down 10 of 13 free throws to score 20.

"When you got guys hitting like we were hitting, it really spreads the floor," Wesley said. "You try to double. You try to run guys at Yao and Tracy. And it's about the rest of us hitting our shots."

The Rockets had begun the second half with one of their familiar bouts of sluggishness. But this time, it lasted only a few minutes, put them in a hole no deeper than six points and was ended quickly.

Trailing 67-61, the Rockets came out of the time out and swept to an 11-2 run in which McGrady nailed a 3-pointer, threw down his alley-oop and then set up a Yao dunk.

Even when the Mavericks moved from down 11 to within four, McGrady punched down his dunk and then nailed two more 3-pointers to put the Rockets up 11 with eight minutes left.

While McGrady grabbed the highlights, Howard rained in five consecutive jumpers, until Jon Barry found him inside for a layup.

When McGrady followed that with a 20-footer, the Rockets led 112-97 and had made 64.2 percent of their shots.

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