Yao gets 32 as Rockets top Pacers 86-76 By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle For a few fun weeks, the Rockets scored easily. They rolled impressively past the Raptors. They could have kicked it in against the 76ers. But entertaining as it was, that's not the Rockets. Somewhere in their DNA, they must still win games like Tuesday, when they could not shoot straight, but defended the life from the Indiana Pacers offense long enough to get one late surge for an 86-76 win, their fourth-consecutive win and seventh in eight games. Averaging 107.9 points in their past seven games, it was their first win in that stretch they had not topped 100, and they never threatened to come close. But Yao Ming had 13 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and Tracy McGrady put in just a few jumpers to finish with 20 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, to help the Rockets outscore the Pacers 21-9 in the final 8 1/2 minutes. The Rockets had gone six minutes without a basket, missing 11-consecutive shots and falling behind the Pacers, 67-65, nearly four minutes into the fourth quarter. Yao knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game before finally McGrady hit a 3-pointer to more than put the Rockets in front and end their long skid without a basket, but to seem to breath life into a suffocating offense. Yao hit the next two shots he took and a free throw. With a McGrady jumper with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, the Rockets led, 77-70, enough for their largest lead of the night. With that, after a long, frustrating night struggling to put together consecutive baskets or any kind of a run, the Rockets swept in for an offensive knockout. With a pair of Juwan Howard jumpers and a Shane Battier 3-pointer in the corner, the Rockets led, 84-74 with 2:20 left. When Mike Dunleavy opened the fourth quarter with a jumper, the game was tied again, 61-61, with the Rockets offensive roll on replaced by a struggle to make 40 percent. For six minutes to end the third quarter and begin the fourth quarter, the Rockets took 11 shots, and missed them all. McGrady, Battier and Rafer Alston each missed 3-pointers to drop the Rockets to 3 of 18 from beyond the arc. Yao missed a hook. Howard had a tip roll out. With a Dunleavy jumper, the Pacers led, 67-65, with 8 1/2 minutes left, and McGrady was sent back in the game, bringing a 5 of 16 shooting night with him, and an increasing sense that for the Rockets, time was running out. As much as the Rockets' flying starts in Toronto and Philadelphia set a pace for everything that followed, they began Tuesday's game at an offensive crawl and rarely picked up speed. On Friday in Toronto, when they hit the first deadball time out, the Rockets had made 8 of 11 shots and led, 19-8. Sunday in Philadelphia, they had made 9 of 11 and led 21-6. On Tuesday, when they called time out, they had made 4 of 9 shots, with three turnovers, holding an 8-6 lead. The Pacers have had all kinds of offensive problems, and could do not do much with the Rockets offensive lull. They did end the first quarter and begin the second with an 8-0 run to take a 20-point lead, but that lasted only 14 seconds before, after the Rockets had missed eight consecutive shots, Kirk Snyder finally took a Yao pass to a slam. The Rockets regained the lead minutes later, but never could do anything consistently enough offensively to build any more than a 39-37 halftime lead. Other than Yao, the Rockets made just 8 of 29 shots in the first half. Yao shot well, making 6 of 8 shots and all three of his free throws for 15 points with eight rebounds. But he had five turnovers, to slow the Rockets' offense that way. The Rockets have often won that way, with plenty of defense and rebounding and a search for just enough offense. But they had grown accustomed to large numbers. The longer they were unable to put together a few possessions without missing open shots or throwing the ball away, the more they seemed to press, as if they could feel time and maybe the game slipping away. Then they found a few minutes of the offense they had enjoyed on the road, and that was enough. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4648296.html
A very short write-up by the Star. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070321/SPORTS04/703210482/1004/SPORTS March 21, 2007 Rockets 86, Pacers 76 Rough road to playoffs for limping Pacers O'Neal reinjures left knee and will likely miss tonight's game at San Antonio By Mike Wells mike.wells@indystar.com HOUSTON -- The Indiana Pacers' 86-76 loss to the Houston Rockets was secondary Tuesday night. The Pacers will likely be without All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal for tonight's game at San Antonio after he hyper-extended his left knee late in the fourth quarter. "He had another episode with his knee," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's going to be very doubtful (against the Spurs)." O'Neal, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, injured his knee when he was fouled by Rockets forward Shane Battier on a dunk attempt with 4:43 left in the game. O'Neal lay on the floor momentarily before being helped up and shooting two free throws. He remained in the game until there were 33 seconds remaining. O'Neal, who has not practiced much since the first week of January, recently missed three games because of his knee. Their eighth straight road loss dropped the Pacers to the ninth seed, percentage points behind eighth-seeded Orlando, in the Eastern Conference. After taking a 67-65 lead on a Mike Dunleavy jumper, the Pacers were outscored 21-9 in the final 8:34 of the game. Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, who finished with 20 points, accounted for 14 of those points. Yao led all scorers with 32 points. Jamaal Tinsley had 22 points for the Pacers. "We played as hard as we played all year," Carlisle said. "We did a lot of great things to hang in and get the lead in the fourth (quarter), then we had a run of missed shots. They made some plays and got the ball in the basket. From there they got it done." Call Star reporter Mike Wells at (317) 444-6053.
Ugh. That article is junk. Just a really, really poor excuse of sports journalism in a leading newspaper.
