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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) – Rasheed Wallace and the Portland Trail Blazers
came to life just in time to beat the Houston Rockets.
|  | | Houston's Steve Francis has his hands full trying to evade a trio of Trail Blazers. |
Wallace scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half as the
Trail Blazers beat the Rockets 95-89 Monday night.
"He had only six shots at the half and we know we've got to
establish him," Portland coach Mike Dunleavy said of Wallace.
"Our guys did a good job of looking for him in the second half and
he did a good job of getting open and working one-on-one."
Damon Stoudamire shot 4-for-7 from 3-point range and added 18
points for Portland, which had lost three of its last four.
Steve Francis had 14 points and nine assists for the Rockets,
who had won four straight. Hakeem Olajuwon had 16 points and 11
rebounds for Rockets. Shandon Anderson added 15 points.
Houston jumped out to an early lead and held a 55-48 advantage
at halftime.
Stoudamire hit consecutive 3-pointers as the Trail Blazers used
a 12-4 run for a 60-59 lead with 7:49 left in the third quarter.
"In the second half, we tried to get the ball out of Cuttino
(Mobley) and Steve's (Francis) hands," Stoudamire said. "We tried
to make other people make plays and we got some turnovers then and
in the end we made some big plays that made the difference."
Houston went on 16-9 run and held a 75-69 at the end of the
third.
"We played a pretty good game for three quarters and then we
had a horrible fourth quarter," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich
said. "They made play after big play and we didn't. It's that
simple. They made tougher shots than we missed."
Portland rallied in the fourth and tied the game at 79 on a pair
of free throws by Wallace with 6:32 left.
"They are very talented," Tomjanovich said. "What bothered me
about this game is that we had a chance to win, but the decisions
were just not there. At times, we just weren't there."
The Trail Blazers took the lead on a 16-foot jumper by Steve
Smith. Wallace followed with a 3-pointer as Portland opened an
84-79 lead with 5:31 left.
"They've got two great guards, we were trying to make them get
the ball to other people," Wells said. "It's tough to go against
those guys."
Anderson scored nine points in the first eight minutes of the
game as the Rockets seized the lead with a 12-4 run. Houston led
28-22 after one quarter.
"Rasheed is a terrific player inside and outside. We have to
put the ball in his hands -- he just has great versatility,"
Dunleavy said.
The Rockets admitted they slipped in the final quarter.
"We felt like we had this one," Rockets forward Maurice Taylor
said. "We had a chance to get a couple of steals that could have
gone our way. Even when we were down by seven we fought hard and
felt like we still had a chance."
Game notes
Francis and Cuttino Mobley are the third-highest-scoring
backcourt in the NBA behind Allen Iverson and Aaron McKie of
Philadelphia and Jerry Stackhouse and Chucky Atkins of Detroit. ...
With 17 road victories, the Blazers trail only Philadelphia and
Utah for the most road wins. ... Maurice Taylor has led the
Rockets in scoring the past three games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 85
Seattle 82
Charlotte 82
Indiana 72
Milwaukee 98
Philadelphia 91
Golden State 84
Chicago 78
Portland 95
Houston 89
Orlando 93
Denver 86
Utah 99
Atlanta 82
Dallas 103
LA Clippers 92
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