Rockets come from behind in Sacramento to win 2nd straight
December 8th, 2005by John
Yao shoots over Sacramento’s Brad Miller in a stunning game where the Rockets came back down from 14 points in the third quarter to ultimately win 102-95. Yao had 21 points and 9 rebounds to help the Rockets win their second game in a row. For more photos from the game, click here. by John
THURSDAY, 12/08/05 – When the game started between the Rockets and Sacramento Kings Thursday night, I was feeling pretty bad because of some type of bug I caught today. As I watched the Rockets fall behind by 14 points in the third quarter, I was feeling even worse. The Rockets were stinking it up.
But then something incredible happened. The Rockets revived themselves, made a huge comeback, and came away with a huge win. I felt a little better after their explosive 106-95 win, but since it was a late game on the West Coast, I am fading fast and have to file a short report.
I was down on a lot of the Rocket players until they made their huge comeback. Derek Anderson was making all kinds of mistakes offensively and defensively in the third quarter. I couldn’t believe Jeff Van Gundy was keeping him the game. Yao was turning the ball over way too much (he had six TOs overall).
The Rockets were awful during one stretch of the first half, missing 13-of-15 shots, while Sacramento was hitting everything, making 61% of their shots by halftime and leading 52-47 going into the locker room.
It got worse in the third quarter as Anderson imploded and was almost single-handedly responsible for all kinds of turnovers and missed shots as they fell behind by 14 points after Brad Miller hit a three-pointer with 3:53 remaining in the quarter.
But then Luther Head chipped away at the deficit by hitting a long two-pointer to cut the lead to 78-68. Then David Wesley made a layup, and T-Mac made a three-pointer with .1 seconds remaining in the quarter to make it 79-73.
Houston then went on a 19-4 run at the start of the fourth quarter, thanks to great defense and the Kings’ offense suddenly going south. Outside of the normal great stats and highlight reel plays by T-Mac (28 points on 11-of-24 shooting) and a nice game by Yao (21 points, 9 rebounds), the key to this game was Stromile Swift in the fourth quarter.
Swift scored in 3 straight plays as the Rockets were making their comeback and pulling ahead in the final quarter. He slammed down a sensational one-handed dunk off a rebound caught with one hand in mid-air to cut the deficit to 83-82. Then he made a nice jump hook in the lane to make it 84-83. Then he dished off a nice pass in mid-air to Yao underneath the basket for a two-handed slam, and Yao was fouled! Yao made the free throw to make it 87-83 with about 6 minutes remaining. The Rockets went on to complete a 17-0 run to give them enough breathing room to hold on for their second straight victory.
I’m sorry I don’t have much more analysis than this to give. I’m really fading fast with my aches and pains coming on pretty hard. I feel a little like Yao’s face right now. After needing 8 stitches next to his right eye after Sunday’s win against Boston, he got slapped in the face tonight and was cut up really bad along his left cheek and the side of his nose. I’ve got to bail out for now. Not counting the look of Yao’s face, the Rockets gave me a little pleasure tonight as I hit the hay.
To see the boxscore from the game, click here.
To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.