[Rasheed Wallce]We're going to bust those (Rockets) chumps next time....

Dec. 12, 2007, 11:34PM
Rockets' defense holds off Pistons

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Fouled on a fourth-quarter breakaway, Rockets guard Bonzi Wells walked to the sideline to inbounds to ball, apparently hoping to be anywhere but sent back to the free-throw line.

As he went back to the foul line, Steve Francis covered his eyes. Dikembe Mutombo folded his hands in front of his face as if in prayer. Wells missed.

Long into the night, the Rockets missed free throw after free throw, keeping the Detroit Pistons in the game and assuring that one way or another, missed shots would determine a winner. Finally, when the Pistons missed their final five attempts, the Rockets held on despite their wayward free-throw shooting for an 80-77 win on Wednesday at Toyota Center.

"I've never seen a night like that when we missed so many free throws and won the ball game," said Tracy McGrady, who had 29 points, but went 0-for-5 at the line. "It's unexplainable."

The Rockets were 6-of-22 on free throws and made just one of their first 15. But once Wells put in two, the Rockets seemed to relax enough to surge offensively and build a 10-point lead.

"It's mental, it's definitely mental," McGrady said "It's just you and the basket. The fans definitely don't make it easy on you. Every time you miss a free throw 'aaaaaaaagghhh.' That's the worst thing you can do to a player. He's thinking about it every time he goes up there.

"Bad night at the free throw line, but we won the game. Aaaaaaagggghh."

Time for extra shooting

Even Yao Ming, an 88 percent free throw shooter, made just 3 of 6. He made the last one, however, when the Rockets might have been better off with a miss with eight-tenths of a second left.

"Oh, man," Yao said. "We can lose a game because of that. Tomorrow, I'm going to come here and shoot at least 100 free throws. It's almost like you give away free points and give away a game.

"That's the way to defend us. Just foul us, we'll miss free throws, grab the rebound, come to us."

When Yao made the second of two free throws, the Pistons called a timeout to advance the ball to the frontcourt. They could not get their shooters open, however, inbounding instead to Antonio McDyess. Rafer Alston knocked the ball loose before McDyess could get his shot away, a blocked shot to end the game.

In a way, that was fitting, with the Rockets dramatically improving their defense from the losses in Toronto and Philadelphia. The Pistons made just 30 of 83 shots (36.1 percent). Their 33-point first half was seven points shy of their lowest scoring half of the season.

"We are going to see those chumps again," Rasheed Wallace said. "We are going to bust their (tails) the next time we see them. We going to see them again and they better be ready."

When the Rockets were in their depths of their free-throw shooting problems, the game was tied 63-63. When Wells finally dropped in a free throw and then, after a miss, another, the Rockets celebrated with a sudden flurry of scoring that took control of the game.

"When the fans get to booing after you miss a few free throws, it gets your confidence down," Wells said. "They were like rattling in and bouncing out. I don't know what it was."

10-point lead not safe

Alston, back after missing two games with a strained groin, hit a 3-pointer. Yao drove past Wallace to throw down a dunk. McGrady knocked down a 3-pointer with Yao hitting a jump hook, giving the Rockets a 10-0 run to a 73-63 lead with 4:43 remaining.

The Rockets even finally made a pair of free throws, with Yao swishing two from the line to give the Rockets an eight-point lead with just 2:37 remaining to protect it.

But after the Pistons' Chauncey Billups and Yao traded baskets, Wallace sank a 3, Yao turned it over and Richard Hamilton put in another 3-pointer, reducing the Rockets' lead to 79-77 with 1:22 left.

No one made another shot. McGrady missed a jumper. Billups missed. Yao missed from 18 feet with 22.9 seconds left.

Finally, the Rockets seemed to have the stop to clinch the win, with Billups losing the ball out of bounds with 11.4 seconds left. But it was ruled to have gone out off the Rockets, giving the Pistons a few more shots at the lead.

Wallace missed his 3 with six seconds remaining. Tayshaun Prince got the rebound and Billups missed with 2.2 seconds left, sending Yao to the line with two free throws to clinch it.

Naturally, he missed. But after falling to persevere on the road, this time, the Rockets found a way, even if it was a strange one.

"It was a huge win for us," Rick Adelman said. "After the last game and a half, we came out and played hard and did a lot of good things. But it was just unbelievable at the free-throw line."