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Tuesday, Apr. 11 9:00pm ET
Houston ends game with 14-2 run | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
DENVER (AP) -- The Houston Rockets are getting things done with less recognizable players. The Rockets, without Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon, won their fourth straight and for the eighth time in 11 games Tuesday night, beating the Denver Nuggets 103-93. Walt Williams had 23 points and 12 rebounds and the Rockets outscored Denver 14-2 in the final 6:20. Houston has a one-game lead over the Nuggets for fifth place in the Midwest Division. "It's important for us to play well because these are the guys we are going to have for a while," said point guard Steve Francis, who had 13 points and 11 assists. "In order for us to be successful in the future, we all have to play together, want to win, and sacrifice." Barkley retired earlier this season and Olajuwon is sidelined for the remainder of the season as well. Williams was 7-of-12, making all four 3-point attempts, but had only a 3-pointer in the second half. Kenny Thomas and Cuttino Mobley added 15 points each for the Rockets, who avoided losing the season series to Denver for the first time since 1993-94. "Our young guys' confidence is soaring," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "After the past week, they feel like they can beat anybody." Nick Van Exel led the Nuggets with 27 points and 11 assists. Raef LaFrentz had 16 points for Denver, which lost its second straight. Houston took control late as Steve Francis tied it 91-91 with 6:20 left and Thomas hit two shots over Antonio McDyess. Shandon Anderson hit a reverse layup and Williams sank a 3-pointer before Van Exel stopped a nearly five-minute Denver drought with a layup. But the Nuggets never scored again. "I would like to credit their great defense, but we missed layups, wide open shots and I don't think we had any extremely difficult shots in the last eight minutes of the game," Denver coach Dan Issel said. "Then we let our shooting the ball affect the rest of our game. We stopped guarding and stopped rebounding." Denver took a 78-74 lead into the fourth quarter, but Matt Bullard's 3-pointer provided the Rockets with a brief 81-80 edge. McDyess' fadeaway jumper got the Nuggets the lead right back and baskets by Van Exel, Keon Clark and George McCloud gave Denver a 91-87 lead. Trailing 51-45, McCloud awakened the Nuggets with six points and set up a layup by LaFrentz with a perfect pass as they took a 62-61 lead midway through the third quarter. They extended the lead to 67-61 as LaFrentz hit a layup and free throw, then Van Exel nailed a 15-foot jumper while the Rockets went 2-for-10 and turned the ball over four times. Mobley snapped a five-minute scoring drought for Houston with a basket with 5:14 left, but LaFrentz hit a reverse dunk and Van Exel had a 3-pointer and a running one-hander to push Denver's lead to 74-63. Two free throws by Mobley brought the Rockets within 74-71, but Clark and Ryan Bowen had a basket each in the last 1:10 of the quarter. Clark sparked a 10-6 run at the start of the second with six points, including a dunk to get the Nuggets within 28-26. Williams, who had 16 in the period, hit a pair of 3-pointers and a two-fisted dunk off a miss as Houston built a 44-35 lead. Williams connected on his third 3 of the quarter in the final 25 seconds, but Clark countered with a reverse layup to cut the Rockets' lead to six points at halftime. "We are not giving up," said Thomas. "We're not going to make the playoffs, but the fact is we are not giving up, and we are playing hard." Game notesPoint guard Chris Herren (sore tooth) was unavailable for the Nuggets. ... Walt Williams returned early in the second quarter after leaving the game with 3:11 left in the first after knocking knees with Chris Gatling. ... Denver has connected on 437 3-pointers, second most in franchise history to the 636 in 1996-97. ... Houston's last win in Denver came on May 5 in the last game at McNichols Arena. ... The Nuggets have given up at least 100 points 44 times. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Houston Clubhouse Denver Clubhouse RECAPS San Antonio 98 Sacramento 92
Houston 103
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