[Chron] Rockets edge Trail Blazers 99-95 for 50th win

Rockets edge Trail Blazers 99-95 for 50th win

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

PORTLAND, Ore. — With his former teams meeting in the arena at the end of Clyde Drexler Drive, it seemed only appropriate the Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers paid tribute.

Last week, the Rockets lost to the Blazers without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Wednesday, they played Dancing with the Stars at the Rose Garden.

Beyond even the worst Glide missteps on the show, it was not pretty. But with Yao and McGrady performing a stomp just long enough, the Rockets built a 25-point lead before surviving 99-95 with a second-half performance that would not impress the kindest judges.

"Any time you sweep a road trip in this league, it's a great accomplishment, and to be part of a team that wins 50 games is a hell of an accomplishment in the Western Conference," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "And yet we played an awful, awful, awful fourth quarter.

"My greatest fear is we continue to make the same mistake. We get into a playoff situation (and) we do the same thing, then we'd have to live with the same regret for an entire summer — that we played the score instead of playing the game. That's where mental strength is such a component to winning in this league."


Sore but 'fine'

To their fourth-quarter collapse in which they allowed a season-high 36 points, the Rockets added a brief scare when Portland rookie Brandon Roy, diving for a loose ball, fell into Tracy McGrady's left knee in the last minute. McGrady did not return but said he was not concerned. Trainer Keith Jones said the knee was "fine."

"It's sore, but nothing's torn," McGrady said. "I'm sure I'll feel better. It scared me because of the way he landed on my knee, but I was able to get up and walk it off. There was just a little pain. The first thing I thought about when he landed on me was Gilbert Arenas. Fortunately, it wasn't that severe."

Unsaid was that McGrady, who finished with 32 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and the other starters should never have been on the court by then.

With the Blazers' Joel Przybilla, Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge already out for the season and Ime Udoka on Wednesday joining them because of a sore right knee, the Blazers were incredibly thin in the frontcourt.

Yet facing all that and a 25-point deficit, the Blazers pushed the Rockets all the way to the final seconds.

"Our effort changed after we had a 25-point lead," said Yao Ming, who finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds. "You know, the end of a road trip, big lead and particularly they have their backup players on the court. We thought they'd give up or something, and we can finish it right now. But with their pride, they played really, really well, and we played with low energy."

After building their largest lead midway through the third quarter, the Rockets eased up and never got it going again.

With four minutes left, the Blazers were within five points. But Yao, who had missed his previous two free throws, hit two, and McGrady dropped in a 3 and two more free throws to give the Rockets a 10-point lead heading into the final 3:10.

Even then, however, the Rockets could not close it out comfortably. The Blazers were still within six in the final minute, with Alston missing two free throws with 24.2 seconds left. When Travis Outlaw knocked down a 3-pointer, Portland was within 94-91 with 12.8 seconds left.


1 1/2 games up on Utah

Finally, Alston made two free throws with 11.9 seconds left to end it, giving the Rockets their seventh 50-win season and second in the past three years. With Utah's loss to Denver, the Rockets took a 1 1/2 -game lead in their race for home-court advantage in their upcoming playoff series.

"Any time you sweep a road trip, you have to leave the road trip being pleased," McGrady said. "At the same time, there were some things we did extremely wrong in this game. We played well for three quarters. I guess we looked at the score and let our guards down and once again. A team fought back and made it a game."

The Rockets made it a tougher game than it had to be but, as if competing on reality TV, did enough to move on.

Rockets not mad at Wells
Coach, players have nothing but fond memories

PORTLAND, ORE. — With Bonzi Wells' career with the Rockets now certain to end out of uniform, Wells and coach Jeff Van Gundy still have not spoken. Van Gundy, however, offered a sample of what he might have said.

Van Gundy said he called but could not reach Wells. They exchanged text messages.

Van Gundy would not share the contents of their communication, but he said he did not have problems with Wells most of the season and described his lack of production with the Rockets as at least in part the result of a poor fit.

Wells skipped Monday's game in Seattle. He returned to Houston on Tuesday as the team decided he would not play again.

"He was fine," Van Gundy said. "I have nothing but positives to say about him. This one incident, he should have called me. Other than that, he handled himself very well.

"I was never seduced by one playoff series," Van Gundy said of Wells' success in a first-round playoff loss with Sacramento last season. "That was not what attracted me (to signing Wells). That was a different team, a different situation. He was guarded by two-guards there because (Ron) Artest was guarded by threes. ...

"That one playoff series wasn't the reason to bring him in. He needed a team and we felt like we needed more talent. Sometimes those things work out well, other times not as well. This time it didn't work. Certainly it wasn't his fault, or only his fault. We're just moving on forward."

Rockets players said they were sorry to see him go, but they did not seem surprised at the decision after Wells' skipped Monday's game and left the road trip.

"I left him a message and told him to keep his head up and his spirits up and things will work out," guard Rafer Alston said. "When we signed him, I expected to play with him and have him in the playoffs. It's tough knowing he is a guy that has more playoff experience than a lot of us on this team. It's tough not to have him. He's a good person. He's been a great teammate. He was great and fun to be around."

The Rockets, however, were left speaking of Wells' time as a teammate in past tense.

"It's sad," forward Chuck Hayes said. "It's sad that our teammate that was with us since training camp is not going to finish the season with us. Everybody's got a different story. I guess his is finished with us."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

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