| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Houston Rockets aren't going anywhere
for the playoffs, but throttling the Portland Trail Blazers gave
them that special kind of euphoria.
|  | | Shandon Anderson scores two of his 30 points for the Rockets. |
Shandon Anderson had 30 points and 10 rebounds, and the Rockets
used a blistering second half to stun the Portland Trail Blazers
118-105 Wednesday night.
"I've never been in the playoffs, but the atmosphere was
wonderful," said rookie Steve Francis, who scored 18 points.
"They couldn't stop Shandon."
Cuttino Mobley added 22 points and Walt Williams had 18 for the
Rockets, who shot an amazing 74 percent in the final two quarters,
and 85 percent in the garbage-time fourth, when they made 11 of
their 13 shots.
The Rockets also broke a nine-game losing streak and beat a
winning team away from home for just the second time this season.
Houston's last road win over a team currently above .500 was back
on Nov. 12 -- a 97-81 defeat of the Los Angeles Lakers.
"(This is) the biggest road win for us the whole season,"
Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We hadn't beaten a
contender; we've been close."
The Rockets were coming off a last-second 102-100 loss at
Vancouver the previous night, during which they blew an 18-point
third-quarter lead. Beating the Blazers gives hope for a team that
suddenly became young and clueless without injured veterans Charles
Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon.
"Being young and inexperienced, we've let a lot of games get
away," Tomjanovich said. "But these guys have grown, and kept
making play after play tonight."
Steve Smith scored 24 points and Rasheed Wallace had 21 to lead
the Trail Blazers, who had won three straight to bounce back from a
rough 6-8 stretch.
"The guys played hard at times, but I was disappointed with the
fact that we were soft," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said. "I
talked to them at halftime about being more aggressive. It didn't
work."
With the Lakers' win over Golden State, Portland lost the race
for homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Los Angeles' win
at the Rose Garden on Feb. 29 started Portland's slide.
The Rockets were getting beaten on the glass early, but they
stayed around because of Mobley's outside shooting and the inside
drives of Anderson and Francis.
Houston trailed by three at halftime but surged to a 13-point
lead by making 10 of its first 11 shots in the third quarter while
the Blazers started 1-for-10. The Rockets shot 67 percent in the
period, with Anderson making all six of his shots and scoring 15
points.
The Blazers fought back to cut the lead to 85-80 by the fourth,
but Houston stayed hot. An awkward, leaning jumper off the glass by
Matt Bullard pushed the lead to 95-88, and a 3-pointer by Francis
made it 98-89 with 6:44 left.
A layup and foul shot by Anderson made it 106-93 with 4:30 to
go.
"We got our outside game going, and there were no shot-blockers
inside," Anderson said. "We had it going both ways."
The Blazers led by as many as six points in the second quarter
but fell flat coming out of halftime, missing nine straight shots
after Wallace hit a short jumper to put the Blazers ahead 55-52.
Williams started the Rockets' 15-0 run with consecutive
3-pointers, and Kenny Thomas added a 3 and a fastbreak layup to
help widen the lead to 67-55.
The shots finally started falling for Portland, but the Rockets
kept up the pace. A 3-pointer by Anderson pushed the lead to 76-63,
and his tip-in kept it at 13 with 2:45 left in the period.
Smith hit two 3s during a quick 9-0 run to cut it to 80-76, and
the Blazers trailed 85-80 heading into the fourth after Wallace's
hook shot with 3.4 seconds left.
Game notes
Houston joined Toronto as the only teams to win at both
Portland and the Lakers this season. ... The Rockets improved to
9-29 on the road and are trying to avoid their first single-digit
road record since they went 8-32 in 1983-84. ... Portland's Brian
Grant, recovering from fasciaitis on his right foot, had another
strong game with 10 points and 12 rebounds. He had three offensive
boards and a putback on one first-quarter sequence. ... Blazers
point guard Damon Stoudamire averaged 6.8 points and 29 percent
shooting (11-38) in four games against the Rockets.
| |
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 107
Atlanta 86
Detroit 111
Boston 106
Indiana 105
New Jersey 101
Sacramento 108
San Antonio 98
Houston 118
Portland 105
LA Lakers 111
Golden State 104
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Shandon Anderson had a great night, scoring 30 points and grabbing 10 boards.
avi: 947 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Steve Smith nails a key 3-pointer, keeping the Blazers in the game.
avi: 643 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
