Sacramento’s Mike Bibby runs into the Great Wall of Yao on Sunday in Sac-town. The Rockets continue to stun the West, beating the Kings 111-96 in their own gym. Yao scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and hit 7-of-8 clutch free throws. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

SUNDAY, 3/13/05 – Not having won a game at Arco Arena this century, the Rockets came into Sacramento having beaten three of the top four teams in the West: the Mavericks, Sonics and Suns.

Surely the Rockets were due for a loss. That’s what Houston teams are typically known for doing: when they play well and win several in a row, they get complacent and lose games they should win, right? Especially in an arena like Sacramento’s where they have folded multiple times, and with a national television audience watching to boot, right?

Not this Houston team. They are something special to behold in Rocket-lore.

Houston got off to a decent start, starting with Yao showing persistence on the boards. After missing a close chip shot, he showed grit by fighting hard for the rebound and dunking it home for Houston’s first basket.

Yao continued his intensity on one of the most rare events you’ll ever see from him. After being called for a defensive foul with a little over 8 minutes remaining in the first quarter, Yao wasn’t happy about it. Showing that he’s not always going to accept what the refs call, he put his hand on the ref’s waist from behind to get his attention in a friendly kind of way, and the idiot called a technical on him! What!? If you’re calling a ‘T’ on Yao on something as ticky-tack as that, you’ve got to get a life.

I didn’t care, though. I loved the fact that Yao contested the call and got demonstrative. Maybe he’ll get more respect from all the refs around the league if they know he’s not going to just stand there and take anything they dish his way.

Back to the game, though. The Rockets maintained a 2 to 4 point margin most of the first quarter, until Mike James hit a trey with 7 seconds remaining in the quarter to put the Rockets up 30-24. Shooting the ball with confidence, Yao had 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting, and David Wesley had 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Overall, the team shot 11-of-21 in the quarter.

The Rockets shooting continued to sizzle in the second quarter, hitting 14-of-23 and opening up an incredible 18-point lead (65-47). James continued his unbelievable shooting with that quirky jump shot of his, hitting 4-of-5 for 11 points. T-Mac also got it going with 10 points. If it wasn’t for Sacramento’s Peja Stojakovic and his 16 points (6-of-9 with three treys), the game would have been a rout.

By halftime, Houston was shooting an incredible 57% from the field, including 5-of-10 from three-point land and 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Houston led 66-52, the third straight game where they have scored at least 60 points in the first half. They also were winning the battle of the boards, holdinig a 26-18 advantage

As great as Houston’s shooting was, Sacramento’s fans – famous for how loud they get – helped keep the Kings in the game in the second half. Former Rocket Cuttino Mobley, who struggled in the first half hitting on 2-of-11, started haunting his team by hitting 4-of-6 from the field in the third quarter, including 3-of-4 treys to fuel the Arco crowd frenzy. After Mobley hit a three-pointer from the corner to cut their deficit to 74-69 to complete a 17-8 run, it was time to see if the Rockets would respond in an arena where they haven’t done so.

They did.

Right away, Juwan Howard hit a jumper, Wesley hit a three-pointer, and T-Mac drove down the lane for a sweet layup to cap a 7-0 run to put the Rockets ahead 81-69. The Rockets maintained that 12-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, leading 89-77.

Sacramento made a couple of more “last pushes.” With 8 minutes remaining, the Kings’ Kenny Thomas scored on a little 5-foot jumper in the lane, and was fouled. Having the chance to whittle the deficit to 10 points if he could hit his penalty free throw, Thomas missed and Houston’s Jon Barry grabbed the rebound underneath the rim, but he accidentally stepped on the baseline and turned the ball over. That was a crucial mistake since the Kings’ Eddie House made the Rockets pay, hitting a three-pointer from the corner to cut Houston’s lead to 96-88, and just as important, put Arco in a romping and thunderous mood.

But Barry atoned for his mistake the next trip down the floor and hit an awkward jumper to extend Houston’s lead back to 10 points. The Kings could have cut it to 8 points when Peja had the ball in his hands and tried to drive into the lane, but Yao slid over to draw a charging call to make Arco boo as loud as you have ever heard. The replay showed Yao was probably moving, but I think it was a good make-up call since Yao was mugged the previous possession, getting hit in the face underneath his own rim and having no foul was called.

The Kings cut it to six points with 3:45 when Peja hit another three-pointer. But Yao was fouled on the ensuing possession, and he calmly hit two free throws to give them a 103-95 lead. But when Mike James hit a dagger of a three-pointer to put the Rockets ahead 108-96, that sent the Arco crowd home, seeing Houston win their first game in Arco in six years.

The stars of this game were Houston’s guards. Sure, T-Mac had his normal great game (22 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists). But James continued his Bobby Jackson impersonation, sparking Houston’s offense when they needed someone to step up, scoring 20 points on an incredible 7-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. He also had 6 assists. Not bad for 28 minutes of play.

David Wesley was also impressive, scoring 21 on 9-of-12 shooting and also hitting 3 treys. And Barry chipped in with 12 on 4-of-5. That’s 20-of-26 shooting from James, Wesley, and Barry. Wow!

Yao showed considerable poise, hitting 5-of-9 shots when they needed his steady presence down low to keep the Kings’ defense honest, giving Houston’s guards some much welcomed breathing room to drain the long bombs (8-of-18). Yao also was clutch on defense, not getting into too much trouble, and blocking and intimidating shots to really give Sacramento problems in the paint.

The shots aren’t always going to fall for Houston like they did on Sunday (53%), but with Houston continuing to play great defense by holding teams like Sacramento to 40% shooting (Cuttino was 8-for-24!), the Rockets are tough to beat. Especially considering Houston’s 17-6 lead in fast break points and 30-16 advantage in turnover points.

Miscellaneous: In a gesture of class, the Sacramento crowd gave former King and fan favorite Jon Barry a rousing (and surprising) ovation when he entered the game in the first quarter….Philadelphia and former San Francisco 49er receiver Terrell Owens was a guest on the sidelines, and during a timeout he autographed a football and threw a perfect long spiral into the crowd.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To read the Houston Chronicle’s post-game analysis, click here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 13th, 2005 at 11:11 pm and is filed under vs. Sacramento. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.