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Thursday November 20, 2008 4:23 PM

Rockets Roll Past Thunder


But injuries detract from strong overall effort

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - It was a good news, bad news sort of night for the Houston Rockets. On one hand, the club won its second straight game on the strength of its best shooting night of the season. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit Houston once again, removing some of the luster off an otherwise enjoyable evening.

Luis Scola scored a season-high 23 points on a night in which Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and Ron Artest all limped off the court in pain, as the Rockets (7-4) dispatched woeful Oklahoma City 100-89.

“Hopefully none of the injuries are severe,” said Rafer Alston, who returned to action after missing the previous two games due to suspension. “We don’t need all of them hurt. You can usually get away with one guy hurt, but not all three. We need them to be healthy. We have a lot of depth and have guys that trust each other.”

That depth could be tested in the coming days while the Rockets assess the damage sustained during Monday night’s game. Of the three, Tracy McGrady’s injury appears to be the most troublesome. The seven-time All-Star tweaked his surgically-repaired left knee in the opening minute of the third quarter and will undergo an MRI Tuesday to examine the joint.

“My knee just gave out on me,” said McGrady after the game. “The coaches saw me limping and so they wouldn’t let me go back out there. It’s very frustrating. It felt like I never had surgery on it. I am going to get an MRI on it and hope that there won’t be any structural damage. It’s very frustrating. I want to play. To me personally, this is a bad start.”

The news seems far more encouraging for Yao and Artest. Yao (19 points, 12 rebounds) left the game late in the fourth quarter after draining his final shot. He grimaced on his way to the bench but Rockets officials say he is fine. As for Artest, he took a spill in the final minute and sprained his ankle in the process. But the rugged forward says expects to be good as new in a few days.

Injuries aside, Houston did well to build off the momentum gained by Saturday night’s big win over division rival New Orleans. The Rockets shot 51% from the field and showed off their trademark defense in the second half after uncharacteristically allowing a whopping 50 points to Oklahoma City in the first. But the moment the third quarter began, Houston dialed up its defensive intensity, forcing the Thunder into a series of bad shots and poor decisions. Soon, a six point Rockets’ lead had ballooned to 19 as Scola and his teammates continued their hot shooting on the other end.

“Luis was good all night,” said Rockets coach Rick Adelman. “He made some big shots for us. They were trying to protect Yao and Luis was the guy that was open. He made big plays for us all night long. Ron (Artest) made some plays as well and I thought Rafer Alston was solid.”

Quotes

Rick Adelman

On tonight’s win:

“It was a good win. We played hard, had a nice run when they got the lead down to 12 and our guys stayed with it. It was a win we really needed to get. We beat New Orleans and to go on the road and win is big. Anytime you can get a road win, you’re happy.”

On Tracy McGrady injury:

“With Tracy, he said his knee was sore and to put him back in when he’s limping and it’s bothering him, makes no sense to me. We were better with him out. He said he could go back in, but we had the lead so he was better off on the bench.

On Artest’s injury

“He said he hurt his ankle, I don’t know what he did. It seems like guys are getting hurt with no one around them. It’s strange, but hopefully he’s okay.”

ROCKETS GUARD RAFER ALSTON:

On playing tonight after sitting out the last two games:

“It felt like I haven’t missed a beat. I had some miscues and turnovers but it felt good to be out there.”

THUNDER HEAD COACH P.J. CARLESIMO:

On the game:

“We played a lot better then we’ve been playing and competed against a good team. I thought the guys went out there did a good job. We did a really good job in the second half. At halftime we asked them to get more offensive rebounds, get to the free throw line and take care of the ball. We didn’t do a good job taking care of the ball in the first half. We had nine turnovers in the first half and four in the second.”

On Kevin Durant’s Performance:

“I thought he had a solid game. We are asking a lot of him. We want him to rebound on the inside, get assists. He played good defense and it was a good performance. But Kevin would rather play bad and us win.”

THUNDER FORWARD ROBERT SWIFT:

On Yao Ming:

“He is a great player and one of the best centers in the league. I just tried to body him and run him and get him tired.”

THUNDER GUARD JEFF GREEN:

On the game:

“We just have to put two halves together. Tonight we played a great first half and not a very good second half. We need to put two halves together like the first half. They picked up the defensive intensity in the second half and we couldn’t make shots like we needed to. We have those five to six minutes in the game where we don’t make shots, and we have to work on that.”

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