12.28.05 v. Houston Rockets

[Doug Loudenback]

12.28.05 v. Rockets

After an 0-2 road trip to North Country, the 11-15 Hornets return home on Wednesday to host the Houston Rockets, 7:00 p.m., on Cox.

At 10-15 as of Christmas Day, the Rockets are in 5th (last) place in our division, barely behind the 11-15 Hornets. Although presently having lost 2 in a row (Toronto, 81-94; @ Denver, 86-108), Houston has had a good December, 6-4, with wins against Boston, @ Sacramento, @ Portland, @ Golden State, @ Seattle, and @ Lakers, and losses against Memphis, @ Clippers, Toronto and @ Denver.

Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady have been their standout scorers.

Ming hails from China. Don’t worry if you can’t remember his #11 jersey - at 7' 5", you can’t miss him on the floor. In 2004-05, he ranked 3rd in the NBA with a .552 field goal percentage and is a 3 time NBA All Star (2003-2005). This year, he is averaging 19.9 points and 9 rebounds per game. McGrady, #1, 6' 8", is scoring better at 23.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game. He by-passed college and hails from Mount Zion Christian Academy High School, North Carolina. He ranked 6th in NBA scoring in 2004-05 at 25.7 points per game, and 1st in 2002-03 at 30 ppg, and is a 5 time NBA All Star (2001-2005). For more about either player, go to the NBA Rockets Schedule page and just click on T.McGrady and/or Y.Ming who live in the High Points column more often than not. The link is http://www.nba.com/rockets/schedule/

The Rockets have a Tuesday home game, Utah, before traveling to OKC. If they win that game, the Rockets and Hornets will have identical 11-15 records and be tied for 4th place in the division when they play at the Ford Center on Wednesday. That seems likely for the Rockets since they’ve had a good December and since the 11-16 Jazz are 6-8 on the road and have lost their last 3.

The Hornets have 2 victories over Houston this year, 1 each in pre-and-regular season. But, that was before the Rockets had their good December. After 11/26, the Rockets were 3-11 but, as said above, they are now 10-15.

When in Houston, the Rockets play in the Toyota Center with a capacity of 18,300. Fan support isn’t so hot at 16,072 per game average, 23rd in the NBA.

[Doug Loudenback]

I didn't pick up on this injury when I made the original post, above. BUT, as reported at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html , Yao will miss "several weeks" of play ...

HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston center Yao Ming is expected to miss several games after undergoing surgery Monday on his infected left big toe.

The 7-foot-6 Yao, who is averaging 19.9 points and nine rebounds, flew from Los Angeles to Houston on Sunday, missing the Rockets' game against the Lakers.

That's too bad for the big guy, but it's also too good for the Hornets!

[Karried]

Woo Hoo!! We Win!!!

Wow.

That was Too close but awesome!!

Yay, yay, yay!!!

[BDP]

I really wish I made that one. I had been offered some tickets, but had to work. I caught the 4th qtr on TV and it seemed like a fun one to be at.

[vxt]

I was there and it was a great game. It was a win-win situation for me because the rockets and hornets are my two favorite teams. I had excellent seat too section 107 row A seat 6. I really wish Yao had played though, but T-mac made up for Yao by scouring 38pts and being unstouchable.

[Patrick]

Thanks as always, Doug, for posting reports from the game. I usually miss the Oklahoman's stories on the games, so I appreciate your analysis. Please continue it.

BTW, we also had a more than capacity crowd at the Ford Center.



Hornets sock Rockets

By Darnell Mayberry
The Oklahoman

This is what Rasual Butler envisioned when he joined the Hornets in the offseason.

Final possession goes as planned
Carlson: Beating McGrady no easy feat
Tramel: A toast to Hornets fans
Notes
Box score

Significant minutes. Clutch shots. Game-winning performances.

Butler tasted it all for the first time Wednesday night, scoring 15-fourth quarter points to lead the Hornets to a 92-90 win over the Houston Rockets before a sellout crowd of 19,205 at the Ford Center.

“That was an unexpected spark,” point guard Chris Paul said. “We knew Rasual could come in and make shots, but he came in and was the difference in the game.”

David West stroked the game-winner, a 20-foot jumper from the top of the key with 1.4 seconds remaining. But it was Butler who got the Hornets there.

Butler came off the bench and went on a 12-minute shooting flurry to help the Hornets erase a six-point deficit early in the fourth quarter. He netted all but nine of his team’s fourth-quarter points, including three straight 3-pointers during one stretch to put the Hornets ahead by nine with 4:17 remaining.

“He just did a heck of a job in the fourth quarter,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said of Butler. “He’s the reason we won the game.”

Butler, a fourth-year player, was traded to the Hornets this offseason after three years with the Miami Heat. He viewed the trade as an opportunity to have increased minutes and a bigger role on a young Hornets roster.

Since his arrival, though, Butler has played behind small forwards Bostjan Nachbar and Desmond Mason, averaging just 5.3 points in 17.4 minutes.

Wednesday’s season-high tying point total was far and away his breakout game.

“It feels good,” Butler said. “It feels good to finally show Oklahoma what I was brought here to do. Playing in the NBA, an 82-game season, guys are going to have two or three slumps. It just so happens mine was early.

“I just continued to pray, continued to work hard, and it’s working out for me now.”

Butler has spent extra time during the last few practices working on his jump shot. On Monday, he stayed after for at least 30 minutes, shooting jumpers from all over the court.

“He’s always been a hard worker, but he’s putting more time in right now on his shot, because he knows he’s going to get some shots and he has to knock them down,” Scott said. “So this is basically a product of his hard work the last couple of weeks. Once he starts getting more minutes, like he’s been getting, he’s able to produce for us.”

And not just offensively.

Butler’s fourth-quarter defense on Rockets star guard Tracy McGrady might have gone unnoticed. Butler held McGrady to six points on 1-of-3 shooting in the final period.

Drastically different from McGrady’s 32 points in the first three quarters.

“He’s a workhorse,” Butler said of McGrady. “You just got to try to find a way to work back. I just tried to run the floor and get his legs tired a little bit. And in the second half, once he gave the ball up. I tried really not to let him get it back.”

McGrady and Stromile Swift (26 points, 13 rebounds) brought the Rockets back twice from double-digit deficits.

But led by Chris Paul (11 points, 15 assists), West (15 points, seven rebounds), Speedy Claxton (14 points, five assists, five rebounds) and Butler, the Hornets fought off a determined Rockets group in the fourth quarter. “We really showed our resilience and our confidence in one another,” Scott said. “I think some of our guys have learned something from some of our past losses as far as getting stops at critical times and making baskets at critical times. And we did that tonight.”