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Saturday January 10, 2009 2:51 AM

Rockets Escape Oklahoma City With Win


Tracy McGrady scores 26 points as Houston ends road trip on high note

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Oklahoma City - It was by no means a pretty win, but the Rockets are through grousing about style points. The only thing that matters to them now is a road trip which began in the worst possible way has ended, in the words of Yao Ming, “Not too bad.”

That’s about the best way to describe Houston’s 98-96 win over Oklahoma City, especially since it very nearly concluded in horror show fashion. But the Rockets (23-15) hung on despite blowing a 15-point second half lead and now head home with a modest two-game winning streak, just days after finding themselves in their worst slump of the season.

“Obviously I’m disappointed we didn’t play better than we did, but we needed to get this win at the end of this trip,” said Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “It’s been a long trip, but I thought the first half we really looked sluggish. We did enough to win the game and sometimes you’re grateful just to do that.”

As Adelman mentioned, it took quite awhile for the Rockets to actually get going Friday night. Houston needed more than 7 minutes to knock down its first field goal of the game and, as a result, the Rockets fell behind by 9 early. However, the deficit would have been far worse if not for the Rockets’ ability to put points on the board via the charity stripe. Houston shot a whopping 16 free throws in the opening frame, half of which were taken by Tracy McGrady who carried his club offensively with 13 points.

The second quarter was a completely different story, however. Not only did the Rockets’ offense come to life, but the Thunder were busy throwing the ball away at every opportunity. Oklahoma City racked up 15 turnovers in the first half, and Houston took full advantage, outscoring the Thunder 29-16 in the second quarter to take a 13-point led into halftime.

Again, T-Mac (19 points in the first half) served as the offensive catalyst, as he punctuated the frame with a midrange jumper right before the buzzer – just as he’d done at the tail end of the opening quarter as well.

“I have been having great first quarters,” said McGrady. “My health has been good. I felt really good in the first half. My leg felt really good in the first half. In the third quarter, it felt like I was moving slow and sometimes like I wasn’t moving at all.”

Unfortunately, McGrady’s second half self-description applied to most of his teammates as well. Outside of Luis Scola, who was a revelation with 12 third quarter points, Houston really labored on both ends of the floor. Meanwhile, the Thunder finally stopped giving the ball away and, not surprisingly, their offense benefited as a result. All told, Oklahoma City churned out 32 points in the period, with their second-year star Kevin Durant leading the way.

By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Thunder were within five and smelling upset. As had been the case far too often this year, The Rockets’ inability to locate their killer instinct was haunting them.

“We had a 13-point cushion, we let down and look what happened in the second half,” said Yao, who had on off-night offensively, going 3-of-10 from the field with 6 turnovers. “It wasn’t pretty. I think that’s been bothering us through the season. I think we still haven’t fixed it.”

The final frame turned into a nip and tuck affair as the Thunder eventually tied things up but were never quite able to surge ahead. On four separate occasions, Oklahoma City had the ball with a chance to take the lead, and each time came up empty.

The Rockets, meanwhile, were experiencing their own offensive issues. At one point, Houston went more than four minutes without scoring as the Oklahoma City crowd grew louder with each missed shot and turnover.

The game finally turned in the Rockets favor once and for all thanks to some solid defense from an unexpected source - and a little luck. After two Yao Ming free throws gave Houston a 95-93 lead at the 1:36 mark, Von Wafer resumed his unenviable task of defending the ridiculously-gifted Durant. Never known for his defense, Wafer nonetheless admirably rose to the challenge, forcing Durant into a turnover and bringing the Rockets’ bench to its feet in jubilation.

However, Houston couldn’t add to its lead and Oklahoma City was given yet another opportunity to win or tie when it got the ball back off a McGrady miss with 15.3 seconds to go. Again, the Thunder went to Durant, only this time he found himself wide open. The University of Texas product rose up and released from 22 feet away, but his seemingly perfect shot bounced off the back of the rim, allowing T-Mac to corral the rebound and seal the victory with two final free throws.

Disaster averted. And, suddenly, a 2-3 road trip which concluded with a close shave against a 5-win team never looked so good.

“The good thing is we got the win,” said Rafer Alston. “The bad thing is you have to go back and look at all the mistakes we made out there. There were plenty on the defensive side so there are a lot of things that need to be corrected, but we’re satisfied with the outcome.”

If corrections are to be made, they’ll have to take place in a hurry. Mike D’Antoni and his run-and-gun Knicks are well-rested and ready to push the pace at Toyota Center Saturday night.

“I told the team: As tough as it was to finish this game off, it’s going to be even tougher tomorrow,” said Adelman. “We go home, but it’s almost like another road game; you’re tired after a long trip, but between now and then we’ve got to find some energy, get into our building and see if we can get a win.”

QUOTES

Rick Adelman

(4th quarter dry-spell: execution or shots not falling?): I think a lot of it was execution. We turned the ball over on two out of bounds plays. I thought some of it might have been fatigue at one point. We were tired. But that’s when you’ve got to bear down and do your job.

(Von’s defense): I think he competed and that’s what he had to do. Durant had it the last two possessions, and Von did a good job there. You’ve got to experience all the stuff first. He made a couple mental mistakes. He let him cross him over on the pick-and-roll, and he went for fakes, but (Durant) is a tough cover, and in the fourth quarter Von really competed. He relied on his teammates. We did not want (Durant) to just be able to stand there and take shots. We wanted to make him put it on the floor and that’s what he did.

( Yao’s night): I think he’s just got to play with a little more composure. I mean, you’ve got Joe Smith on you – Joe Smith is going to flop and he’s not strong enough, so you’ve just got to take your time and make sure you get a good attempt. I did think, in the fourth quarter, when they ran their little pick and pops for their big guys who could shoot it, Yao got through the picks and got to the guy and at least bothered him. But sometimes you’re going to have nights like that and, fortunately, he was able to get through it.

Tracy McGrady

I told coach after the game, because he said he was thinking about giving me a blow, and I was like, ‘Good thing you didn’t because, had I come out, that probably would have been the end of me tonight.’ So it’s good that I just stayed in and played 41 minutes. I felt pretty good for the most part for three quarters, but the fourth quarter I was really struggling.

(his last shot): Tonight was just one of those night where you feel pretty good and you just want to put the team on your back and carry them. I had my run tonight, Yao was struggling a little bit offensively, so I just wanted to take that last shot and see what I could do.

(does it ease your mind a bit to have a first half like you did tonight?): No. Not at all. I see the improvement each game. I had a great first quarter when I played in Philly, but my health started to deteriorate throughout the course of the game. I felt pretty good tonight; felt like I was moving pretty well. I also felt that way in a couple of games and coach said I wasn’t moving at all (laughs), so I don’t know.

Von Wafer

(on defending Durant): He’s one of the toughest guys. I made a lot of mistakes, but I’m getting better, though. I feel more comfortable. I’m getting used to it.

I expected to make it tough for Durant to score. He’s an extremely gifted player, but I just wanted to make him work and drive to the goal.

(on his great play on the road trip): I’m just getting more comfortable. I made a few mistakes at the end, but I feel like I’m just getting better with more playing time. I’m getting more experience and it’s been great for me.

Rafer Alston

(4 th quarter offense): We need more movement. We have some practice days coming so we’re going to address that issue. I think teams understand who’s on the floor for us down the stretch and they know we’re going to play through those guys, but we can always move around and give the ball back to those guys and that’s something I know Rick wants to do.

Yao Ming

Up and down. Some part of the time, I felt really good – like when we were making a run. We had defensive energy, offensive energy, we got fast break points – it looked like everything was going a good way.

(on how this win compares to the win over Milwaukee on New year’s Eve): I think people understand why we were unhappy about the Bucks win. Even though we won, we see a lot of problems and knew that would happen again in the future – like the games we had in Toronto and Philadelphia – that’s why we were unhappy. We didn’t see a good future.

I think the [ Boston] game changed our minds. Today, it’s like, it’s hard to say. There are still a lot of problems, but we’re happy to go home now. This road trip started very, very low and finished with not too bad. But, overall, we’re not in the best shape right now.

(on what he was thinking down the stretch):You don’t want to lose here. We just beat the Celtics. You don’t want to lose here. That’s what was in my mind. That’s how it is.

THUNDER HEAD COACH SCOTT BROOKS: 

On the game: “I thought it was another great effort in our building. We love to play here. We just couldn’t overcome the 15 turnovers in the first half. We had a chance to tie it late. Durant had a good shot but it just didn’t go in. Turnovers snuck up on us again tonight. We have to work hard to overcome that. I thought we did that in the second half tonight” 

On 4 th quarter: “We have to get stops in the 4 th quarter. We have to learn to get good shots in the 4 th quarter and not make turnovers in the 4th quarter. We still have to learn to close things out in the 4 th quarter.   

On the bigs game tonight: “I thought our bigs (Joe, Robert, and Nenad) did a great job on Yao tonight. They played well on defense and made him challenge shots on the perimeter. That is something Yao is not very good at doing.”  
 THUNDER GUARD NENAD KRSTIC: 

On his performance: “I feel much better than my first game. I didn’t hit a couple of shots but I was open and most of the time I make those shots. I’m not worrying. It happens. Maybe it’s just the first game on my home court. Hopefully next time it’ll be much better” 
 THUNDER GUARD KEVIN DURANT: 

On the team’s performance: “We were down 13 at half and we came out and played hard. We have to continue to play like that. As for myself, I just have to make those three’s late in the game. Next time that opportunity comes around, I’ll be prepared for it.” 

On the Thunder’s next opponent (Bulls):“Those guys are young just like us. They’re playing well. Everybody knows about Derrick Rose, how well he’s played, Ben Gordon as well. It’s going to be a tough game but we just have to come out and play well.” 

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