[Chronical] Rockets escape with win

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3038570

Rockets escape with win
Victory streak hits 7, but Trail Blazers nearly steal game at the finish
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle


The Rockets might never lose again.


If they did not lose Sunday, when they did everything it takes to lose, it must be impossible.

But somehow, they did just enough to escape with the ugliest of 81-80 wins, extending their winning streak to seven games. They then celebrated their longest winning streak this century by explaining how awful they were.

"We don't feel good about that victory," Bob Sura said. "A win is a win. We'll take it. But there is not a good feeling in the locker room."

As often as teams fool themselves, and as much as the Rockets have, Jeff Van Gundy said, during their winning streak, the Rockets could not come up with anything to cheer.

They blew an 18-point second-half lead. Then after somehow surviving that, they nearly blew a five-point lead in the last 12.5 seconds, escaping with the win only when Damon Stoudamire missed a running, half-court 3 at the buzzer.

"If they had 10 more seconds," Yao Ming said, "they would have beaten us."

Either that or if the Rockets were capable of losing, they would have.

But in a way, Van Gundy said, that was the problem. The Rockets have won so reliably and then built a lead so seemingly secure, they switched back into cruise control.

"This has been coming for a while," Van Gundy said. "Thankfully, we didn't have to pay the ultimate price, which is a loss. We put very little into the game, and we put very little into the second half. We were very fortunate to win.

"Winning subconsciously softens some teams up and some players up. If you've watched the last two, three games, instead of being hungry for more, we've been softened up by the result of winning."

That became a bigger problem when Portland was unable to make a shot in the first half. The Rockets held the Blazers to the worst shooting quarter (15.4 percent in the second) and worst shooting half (29 percent) that anyone has had against them this season to lead by as much as 17.

But from then on, the Rockets did all they could to drop an anvil on their winning streak and goal to sweep their way to the All-Star break.


Disappointing win
"It's disappointing," guard Jon Barry said. "It's a win. But it's just a horrible, horrible second half. I don't know what we were doing out there. We were completely discombobulated offensively in the second half. Defensively, just not as good. Just everything."

The only praise the Rockets could muster for their play was Van Gundy's assessment that the defense in the first half was "OK." The Rockets had let leads slip away before in their winning streak. They had let leads shrink before this weekend.

But this time, they seemed incapable of doing anything well. Tracy McGrady could not find his shot, making just six of 19 attempts and missing two late free throws.

Portland completed its comeback from an 18-point deficit when Derek Anderson nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with three minutes left in the game. Juwan Howard missed a baseline jumper, and Stoudamire put the Blazers in front for the first time since the opening minutes, cutting to the basket for a layup with 2:21 left.


Overcoming adversity
The Rockets were unable to put the ball in the basket. But almost as evidence they could not lose, that worked for them. McGrady pump-faked Darius Miles off his feet and banked in a jumper with a foot on the 3-point line. McGrady missed the free throw, but Zach Randolph lost the ball out of bounds. Yao scored on a drive, but again, the Rockets did not put the ball in the basket quite as planned. Miles goal-tended Yao's shot and added a technical foul for grabbing the rim.

David Wesley sank the technical free throw with 1:54 left to put the Rockets from down two to up 75-72. McGrady could have put the win away, but missed both free throws. But after Theo Ratliff missed inside, Sura got the ball to the rim, scoring on a drive for a 77-72 lead with 37.2 seconds to play.

Still, the Blazers stayed in the game. Stoudamire and Miles each wrapped 3-pointers around Howard free throws, with Miles' 3 keeping the Blazers within a point with 3.1 seconds to play.

With the Rockets leading 81-80, Portland fouled Wesley, the Rockets' best free-throw shooter. But he missed both attempts, the second intentionally, leaving the Blazers 2.1 seconds to get off one last shot.

"This is one we don't feel real great about, but it's on the left column," Barry said. "It beats losing. It's like we can't stand prosperity. We throw away leads all the time."

But the message was made clear.

"Coach did that," he said, "in the little postgame soiree we had."

The Rockets, he said, did not need a loss to get the message. It was enough that it felt as if they had lost.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


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Rockets Summary
Van Gundy flips
There was no surprise that Jeff Van Gundy, known to defend fellow coaches, would be critical of the firing of Flip Saunders, one of the league's most respected coaches among his peers. But Van Gundy went beyond opposing the move.

"What it does tell you ... don't overachieve in coaching," Van Gundy said. "They had all their injuries last year, won 58 games, went to the Western Conference finals, and all that did is everybody said, `What's next.' ... What does that get you? Two weeks of bad play and you're out. Two weeks!

"Thanks for 10 years. Two weeks. Get out. That's why, don't ever tell me when coaches have the leverage, they shouldn't use it. Guess what? When management sees fit, boom, out."

Van Gundy said the criticism that the Timberwolves had never won a playoff series until last season was equally unfair, but that Saunders' reputation around the league is so good that he would soon have his choice of jobs.

"If you look at the record before he took over, they won 26 percent of their games," Van Gundy said. "He had all these 50-win teams. Why didn't they advance? Who was he playing? Now last year, they're missing (Wally) Szczerbiak, (Troy) Hudson, (Sam) Cassell goes out in the Western Conference finals with hip problems and they still take (the Lakers) to six games. "If they weren't behind him, it's better for him. You know how many people who recognize his greatness will be knocking on his door trying to get him?"


Trade watch
Portland's Derek Anderson said he has been told he will be traded to the Rockets, and he hoped the deal goes through.

"It's just not meant for me (in Portland)," Anderson, 30, said. "They said I was coming here, but I haven't heard anything. I hope they make a decision soon. I'd love to be here if the opportunity presents itself."

A Rockets source said the deal was discussed "about a month ago" and has not been addressed since.


JONATHAN FEIGEN