Rockets left wanting Pistons build early lead, win 96-83 By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The bare-fisted Pistons did not have to chew nails or bloody noses. They did not have to break bones, or even fingernails. The Rockets played six solid minutes. Then the Pistons stomped the feet, maybe growled a little bit, and the Rockets ran off like scared rabbits. As has become their custom, the Rockets faced a decent first-half run, the sort that comes by in almost every NBA game, and turned it into another insurmountable first-half deficit. They rallied again and fell short again, this time stretching their losing streak to four games with a 96-83 loss to the Pistons before a Yao Ming-inspired sellout of 22,076 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The losing streak matched the Rockets longest of the season, snapped a seven-game Pistons losing streaking and dropped the Rockets to two games behind the Suns for the last playoff spot. More troublesome than even that, however, it might have offered another example of damage that will be difficult to repair. "Self-confidence is something that can be contagious," said center Yao Ming, who threw himself into the teeth of the league's best defender and came out on the other side with one of his toughest, most determined games. "If one person loses it, maybe it's OK," Yao said. "But once two people do, it starts effecting everybody. I think this is something our whole team has to work on." The Rockets eventually recovered enough to play their usual determined second half. But by then, they were again merely trying to do the damage they had done to themselves much earlier. For the third consecutive game, they fell behind by more than 20 points as through another team's decisive first-half run, the Rockets showed all the mental toughness and unshakable confidence of a Brownie troop. The Rockets missed the sorts of shots that any team must make. They knocked down just 4 of their first 19 shots, made 26.1 percent of their first-quarter attempts (six of 23) and with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half, were clicking along at 22.8 percent shooting. "We just could not put the ball in the basket in the first half on all kinds of different shots. You have to give them credit for some of that, but some of them were there." But when the Rockets started missing, their confidence seemed to be so shattered, they settled for high-speed fliers thrown at the rim as if the best they still believed they could do was hope for shots to fall. They began making defensive assignment and game plan mistakes. They made, Steve Francis said, "stupid mistakes." 'When you start forcing the issue, you start doubting yourself," Rockets forward Glen Rice said of the mental breakdown that followed the physical slump. "We were doubting ourselves on our shots. The shots we were taking, we can make. But any time you start second-guessing yourself, things aren't going to go your way." Yao made himself an obvious exception. He continued to go at Ben Wallace, the league's Defensive Player of the Year last season. Wallace had held Yao to 1-of-4 shooting in the first meeting, the Rockets' worst loss of the season. But Yao continued to attack the rim and shoot jump hooks over Wallace, unafraid of failing again. "Yao did a good job against a very good defensive player," Tomjanovich said. "He was 1-for-4 in Houston (against Detroit). I thought he learned something about taking charge." He finished with 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting, with eight rebounds. Wallace had 13 rebounds, for him a below average night. "I used the last game against him as a reference," Yao said. "He is a great shot-blocker (Wallace had two), but that also means he fouls at times." The Rockets trailed by 18 at halftime with Steve Francis 0 for 6 and starting forward Eddie Griffin and James Posey a combined 2 of 10. But as always, when finally desperate, the Rockets made their move. They chipped away until they were down by 10 with 4:56 left and by nine with 1:20 remaining. That was a bit fluky. The Pistons were willing to let Jon Barry match up on Cuttino Mobley no matter how many times Mobley blew past him on the dribble. The Rockets went back to their 2000-2001-isolation game and Mobley rolled up 13 points in the fourth quarter, coming close to the team's total in each of the first two quarters. If the Rockets' still had a chance, it ended in the final minute. With the Pistons holding a nine-point lead, Maurice Taylor drew a technical foul. Richard Hamilton made the free throw for a 9 for 9 night from the line and 26 points. Then Clifford Robinson ended any remaining doubt by nailing a 25-footer at the shot-clock buzzer for a 94-81 lead with 54.5 seconds left. Before long, Tomjanovich had to praise a team that had come in with a seven-game losing streak for "the way they carry themselves." And the difference between a struggling, veteran team and the reeling Rockets was obvious. "They're veteran and smart," Tomjanovich said. "They know who they are. That's what this year is all about. "It's been our concern. Every game is so dog-gone important. How many guys have been through this stuff? That's a concern. How strong are we going to stay? Who's going to help us pull out of it just like they pulled out of it today?"
