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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Maurice Taylor and the Houston Rockets are
thriving in close games.
Taylor scored eight of his 25 points in the final 3:23 as the
Rockets rallied from a late six-point deficit and beat the New
Jersey Nets 108-106 Thursday night.
"We couldn't score for a while there in the fourth quarter,"
Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "But Mo (Taylor) comes back
and doesn't lose his confidence and hits a big shot to put us ahead
again. That shows the kind of confidence we have right now."
Taylor hit a 21-footer from the top of the circle with 1:06 to
play to give Houston a 105-104 lead after the Nets had led 100-94
with 5:30 to play.
The Rockets pulled off a fourth-quarter rally for the fourth
time in eight days. Houston recorded similar victories against the
Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State and Indiana.
"Rudy has given me a lot of confidence," Taylor said. "In the
time out, he said if the ball swings my way to take the shot.
"I think these close games are making us better. In the
beginning, if we didn't blow a team out, we didn't win. We were
losing the close ones. But now we're getting used to coming up with
big plays and big rebounds at the end of games. Do we want to do it
every night? No. But it's good to know we can when we need to."
Stephon Marbury had 34 points but didn't score the final 6½ minutes. He missed his last four shots, including a driving layup
as time expired that would have tied the game.
"It was a real good look but it didn't go down," Marbury said
of the last shot. "It hurts because we lost. It always hurts when
we lose. With (Steve) Francis out (the last quarter), we had the
opportunities to take advantage of, but we didn't.
"My shots weren't falling (in recent games) but I guess I got
in a groove tonight. I don't think I got tired at the end. I never
get really tired, but my shots just didn't go in."
New Jersey coach Byron Scott was pleased with the Nets' effort.
"Our execution down the stretch was good but we missed some
shots at the end that we normally make," Scott said. "I think the
guys competed the whole game. We could have caved in a long time ago
but we didn't."
Cuttino Mobley scored 30 points and Moochie Norris scored three
of his 17 points in the final minute as the Rockets won for the
seventh time in nine games and for the 11th time in 14 games.
Kelvin Cato and Kenny Thomas each had 10 points for Houston.
Francis, who left the game in the third quarter with a sore right
knee, finished with seven points and five assists.
Keith Van Horn had 21, Johnny Newman 19, Aaron Williams 13 and
Lucious Harris 10 for the Nets, who lost their third in a row. New
Jersey has lost seven of its last nine.
Van Horn scored eight points to help the Nets to a 13-6 lead in
the first six minutes. But an 8-0 run helped the Rockets to a 22-19
lead by the end of the first quarter.
Houston used a 12-0 run to take a 41-29 lead with 6:42 left in
the first half. Mobley scored 12 points in the period as the
Rockets built a 56-45 lead by intermission.
The Nets outscored Houston 15-3 in the first three minutes of
the third, moving out to a 60-59 lead. Houston countered with a
13-1 run and took an eight-point lead, 80-72.
Mobley had eight points in the third as the Rockets moved out to
an 85-78 advantage by the end of the period.
Newman hit three consecutive 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter
and Marbury added a jumper as the Nets took a 91-90 lead with 8:48
remaining. New Jersey outscored Houston 7-0 in a two-minute span
and extended its lead to 100-94 with 5:30 left.
Norris' 21-footer from the left corner made it 107-104 with 37
seconds left and he hit one of two free throws with 5.8 remaining
to make it 108-106.
Game notes
Walt Williams sat out the game with a bruised right hand
... The Rockets are 23-4 against the Eastern Conference. ... The
Nets are 7-12 in games decided by five points or less.
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NBA Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
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RECAPS
LA Lakers 125
Detroit 119
New York 88
Toronto 72
Seattle 108
Milwaukee 102
Dallas 103
Minnesota 83
Houston 108
New Jersey 106
Boston 105
Phoenix 101
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