[Hou Chron] Rockets blast Wizards to hike win streak to eight

Rockets blast Wizards to hike win streak to eight

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

NBA:
Houston 123,
Washington 93
FINAL

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Team W L PCT GB
San Antonio 40 12 .769 ---
Dallas 33 16 .673 5.5
Houston 31 21 .596 9
Memphis 30 22 .577 10
New Orleans 11 41 .212 29
As of Feb 15 2005 7:26 a.m. CT
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COMING UP
Tuesday:
vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio:
Listings; KILT (610 AM)

Perhaps it is the clearest sign yet of how well the hottest team in the NBA is playing that it became particular about how it wins.

But the Rockets found Tuesday that the spring-break strut has just a bit more bounce after acing the midterms.

The Rockets had won their previous seven games, but when they blew out the Wizards 123-93 at Toyota Center on Tuesday night, they had a win to validate their winning streak the way other wins could not.

"This is definitely a win we can feel good about," Rockets guard David Wesley said. "It's nice. It's nice to blow a team out before the break. We could have been struggling. We could have lost thinking about the All Star break. We came in, took care of business and can feel good going into the break.

"It was fun. Everybody got a chance to play. It was the kind of game you want to end on."

The Rockets became picky about how they win when they blew double-digit leads against Indiana and Portland to limp to unsatisfying victories, particularly when they won Sunday but played poorly enough to feel rotten about it.

But on Tuesday, the Rockets never trailed by more than a bucket, and outran, outrebounded and outpassed a team with just the sort of quick, young matchup problem players that have given the Rockets trouble.

It might have helped that the Wizards were playing their fourth game in five nights. Already without guard Larry Hughes, Washington lost Juan Dixon after eight minutes. Gilbert Arenas, hounded by Wesley from the tip, made just 3 of 14 shots.

But had the Rockets won by merely sucking the life out of the Wizards' offense, the streak would have reached the same eight games. It felt better doing it with five players scoring in double figures, and with Tracy McGrady obliterating his recent shooting slump, going for 34 points with nine assists and six rebounds.

"He played a really good home game," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I think he's been the most dominant perimeter player in the league on the road and we need that same thing at home. He was great tonight."

McGrady, with the sort of analysis Van Gundy could appreciate, said he was great Tuesday evening because of the extra work he had put in Monday and Tuesday afternoons. McGrady had made 37 of 102 shots in his previous five games. On Tuesday, he knocked down 14 of 22.

"I needed to be me," McGrady said. "I've kind of been struggling a little bit the past couple games. I put in some extra time in yesterday, and it paid off."

With McGrady's shooting touch back, everything was as the Rockets wanted, at least offensively. Yao Ming made 11 of his 14 shots to score 23 points with nine rebounds and four blocked shots in just 32 minutes. Wesley made 8 of 14 shots for 18 points. Bob Sura led the Rockets in rebounding with 10. Juwan Howard continued his run of strong play during the streak, making 7 of 13 shots for 18 points.

"Everybody is pretty comfortable with their roles, playing together as a team," McGrady said. "Guys are playing with a great deal of confidence. I think the intensity has picked up and guys are playing smarter basketball. We're doing a great job of outrebounding our opponents and getting out in the open floor to get some easy buckets."

The Wizards spent the first half running through much of their wide array of traps and presses.

The Rockets spent the half running through the Wizards.

Much of the Rockets' offensive improvement was simply a matter of improved shooting. After making 39.7 percent of their shots on Sunday and 41.9 percent in Indiana on Friday, the Rockets rolled through the first half, regularly getting the ball inside to Yao while McGrady found the shooting touch he has recently lacked.

By the time the Rockets finished the first quarter with a 35-30 lead, they had as many points as they have scored in the opening quarter this season, the Rockets were humming along at 60 percent shooting.

Even if that did not build their now customary double-digit lead, they pushed the lead to 15 late in the first half and led 62-49 when Yao ended the half with an offensive rebound and slam seven-tenths of a second before the buzzer. They made 56.5 percent of their first half shots, had just four turnovers and took care of the boards.

But have consistently built big leads in their winning streak. The fun would be in making it bigger