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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Matt Bullard was the surprise factor Saturday
night as the Houston Rockets came from 20 points down to beat the
San Antonio Spurs.
|  | | The Spurs' Malik Rose gets called for a technical in the first quarter while defending Rockets guard Cuttino Mobley, who had 26 points. |
Steve Francis scored 30 points and Cuttino Mobley had 26 for the
Rockets in their 103-99 victory. Bullard, who had been out 15 games
with a stress fracture in his back, scored 18 points on 6-of-7
3-point shooting to help lift the Rockets to their first win over
the Spurs in 12 tries.
"Bullard was great," Francis said. "This was his first game
back and I think Matt was the difference in the game."
Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said Bullard opened things up for the
rest of the team.
"We weren't playing very well and we started making some
adjustments," Tomjanovich said. "Then Bullard started making
those shots and they had to cover us on the perimeter. It opened
some seams up for us inside."
Bullard hit four straight 3s after the half, including two
straight at the end of the third quarter to give Houston its first
lead, 70-69 with 40 seconds to play in the third. He hit his fourth
straight 3-pointer early in the fourth to tie it again at 73.
Maurice Taylor scored 15 as the Rockets won their third straight
and sixth of their last seven.
Houston came back after being down by 20 points in the second
quarter and 12 in the third to snap the Spurs' nine-game winning
streak.
"My jumper has been working really good in workouts lately,"
Bullard said. "I told the guys, my jumper's not broken, just my
back.
"It was one of those night. I've had several of them, including
my career-high (28 in 1995) against the Spurs. It was the kind of
night when I didn't have to square up or look at the rim and it
still went in."
Tim Duncan had 25 points and 16 rebounds and David Robinson
added 22 points for the Spurs, who were in awe of Bullard's
shooting.
"I think they got hot," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "You
have to give Bullard a lot of credit. He made those six 3s and we
just didn't plan on him doing that. Francis and Mobley, you can see
them doing those kinds of things. But (Bullard) really caught us
off guard."
Duncan, who was trying to guard Bullard part of the time,
agreed.
"It was on me," Duncan said. "It was on my rotation a few
times. They kind of surprised us the first time and we didn't make
the mental adjustment. They played incredible. I have to give it to
them. They shot incredibly and Bullard was hitting them from all
over the court.
"Combine that with us not making some shots and it really shows
how you can blow a lead like that."
Avery Johnson scored 14, Derek Anderson 13 and Terry Porter 10.
A 3-pointer by Francis with 3:35 to play gave Houston its
biggest lead, 99-89. But an 8-0 run by San Antonio made it 99-97
with 1:03 to play.
Mobley hit a jumper with 43 seconds left for a 101-97 lead, and
Porter hit two free throws with 33 seconds to go.
Francis hit two free throws with nine seconds left to finish the
scoring.
San Antonio managed to pull ahead 21-13 with the help of seven
points from Robinson and six from Duncan late in the first quarter.
The Spurs settled for a 24-19 lead at the end of the period.
Houston went cold from the field early in the second quarter,
missing 13 of its first 15 shots. Midway through the quarter, the
Spurs used an 11-0 spurt to open a 44-25 lead.
The Spurs led by as many as 20 as Robinson led the way with 11
points before they took a 48-35 lead into intermission.
San Antonio missed five of its first six shots in the third
quarter. That allowed the Rockets to creep back to 50-44 with a
steal and layup by Francis with 8:35 left in the quarter.
The Spurs opened the lead back to as many as 12 before Houston
went on an 11-0 run late in the third, including eight straight by
Francis, to pull to 65-64 with 1:47 to play in the period.
Robinson's short jumper gave the Spurs a 71-70 lead at the end
of the third.
The Rockets then went on a 14-4 run to open an 87-79 lead with
7:15 to play.
Game notes
Walt Williams sat out the game with a bruised right hand
... Rockets are now 2-14 vs. the top five teams in the Western
Conference -- the Spurs, Lakers, Utah, Sacramento and Portland.
They ended a 14-game losing streak against the fivesome that dated
back to beating the Lakers Nov. 7. ... Sean Elliott missed his
fifth straight game with a sore left leg ... The Rockets took a
71-70 lead in the all-time series vs. San Antonio.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
San Antonio Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Detroit 106
Atlanta 90
Charlotte 95
Washington 93
Miami 95
Vancouver 81
New York 101
Chicago 80
Dallas 109
Phoenix 99
Houston 103
San Antonio 99
Milwaukee 87
Philadelphia 78
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Samaki Walker puts back an offensive rebound for a score.
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