Rockets win 5th straight after tight 4th quarter in Seattle
December 15th, 2005by John

by John
THURSDAY, 12/15/05 – For the second night in a row, a late game on the West Coast was worth staying up to watch for Rocket fans. Houston came through in a nerve-wracking fourth quarter against Seattle to astonishingly win their 5th straight game (104-98), fourth in a row on their longest road trip of the year, and they now have a rapidly respectable 9-12 record.
It’s strange to say it after having a 4-12 record only a couple of weeks ago, but I think the Rockets are now playing with the same confidence they were last year when they were making their incredible run to the playoffs, and they are doing it without a starting point guard (Rafer Alston) and sharpshooting veteran (Jon Barry). Just a couple of weeks ago they were playing their worst basketball in years. What a difference a McGrady makes!
Like Wednesday night’s game against Golden State, there is too much to report on this game. Since T-Mac (34 points, 8 assists) and Yao’s performance (26 points, 10 rebounds) were so clutch in the fourth quarter, I am going to do something I haven’t done since early last season: a Detailed Analysis!
I’ll pick it up in the fourth quarter. After struggling with his shot a bit in the first 3 quarters (7-of-18), T-Mac started getting hot. He hit a long jumper and was fouled to make it 78-76, Houston. Then Moochie Norris took it to the hole and was fouled to make it 81-76. On the next play, Moochie scored again down low after a great pass from Stromile Swift, making it 83-76 with 8:14 remaining. I can’t say enough about Mooch, who ran the offense well in 12 minutes of play, partly because Derek Anderson was out. He also had a couple of big defensive plays.
It looked like the Rockets had the game in hand at that point. But then Seattle’s Ray Allen started getting hot, scoring 8 consecutive points (including two three-pointers) to give Seattle an 84-83 lead. After Houston called timeout to collect themselves, things started getting really interesting.
6:39 – T-Mac was fouled on a jump shot. He made the first free throw to tie the game at 84-84, but missed the second. However, Swift came up with a big rebound after the missed free throw. T-Mac then drove to the hole from the right side of the lane and whipped a pass to Yao, who was running down the middle of the lane and scored on a layup. However, the refs blew it by making a questionable call, calling Yao for traveling!
6:10 – Luke Ridnour hit a wide-open three-pointer to make it 87-84, Seattle.
5:55 – Danny Fortson obviously flopped guarding Yao while Yao was posting up. Yao DID use his elbow to create some separation, but Fortson really sold it to draw the foul. That call made Yao really mad and forced him do something I’ve never seen him do: bounce the ball hard off the court, which was good to see quite frankly! Yao finally wasn’t going to take any crap from the refs! After Ridnour hit the technical, Seattle was up 88-84.
5:39 – Seattle missed two consecutive shots, and Stromile grabbed a huge rebound.
5:25 – T-Mac brought the ball up the court and pulled up for a cold blooded 3-pointer that hit nothing but net! That made it 88-87, Sonics.
4:54 – Ray Allen missed a fadeaway jumper, but he grabbed his missed shot and laid it in! What a big defensive mistake by the Rockets! That made it 90-88, Seattle.
4:40 – Dave Wesley threw a bad ally-oop pass to Swift that was too hard and caromed off the backboard.
4:14 – Ridnour missed a jumper, and Luther Head rebounded.
4:04 – T-Mac hits another big three-pointer from the top of the key that swishes through the net, this time behind a pick set by Yao! Wow! That ties the score at 90-90!
3:47 – Luther Head dives to the floor after a poor pass from Vladimir Radmonovic to Ridnour, struggles for the ball and shoves the ball to Stromile for the steal! Big play by the hustling rookie!
3:25 – T-Mac rises up for another long jumper, but he is fouled by Danny Fortson! That gives McGrady two free throws, but he misses the first! He makes the second, though, to give Houston a 91-90 lead.
3:08 – Rashard Lewis misses a jump hook in the lane, but Luther tips the rebound and Lewis knocks the ball out of bounds.
2:47 – At this point, T-Mac is the point guard, bringing the ball up the floor almost every possession. He draws a double-team at the top of the key, leaving Yao open as he starts moving toward the basket. T-Mac whips a pass over his defenders to Yao, who takes one big step and scores on a layup! No traveling called this time! That gives Houston a 93-90 lead.
2:20 – Ray Allen misses two consecutive jumpers, but Fortson grabs the rebound and is fouled by Yao. Fortson makes both free throws to cut Houston’s lead to 93-92.
2:04 – T-Mac drives to the hole, is hammered as he puts up a shot (no foul called), and misses. BUT YAO GRABS THE REBOUND AND IS FOULED ON THE PUT-BACK! Yao makes both free throws to make it 95-92, Rockets.
1:47 – Ray Allen is fouled and makes both free throws. The score is now 95-94.
1:43 – T-Mac rises up for another jumper, but is blocked by Rashard Lewis, leading to a fast break the other way. However, T-Mac doesn’t give up and as Ridnour goes up for a layup, T-Mac jumps to contest his shot at the rim. That makes Ridnour decide to pass off to a trailing Lewis, BUT DAVID WESLEY IS THERE TO INTERCEPT THE BALL FOR THE STEAL! HUGE DEFENSIVE PLAYS BY T-MAC AND WESLEY! What’s great is that Wesley really hustled hard from the far corner of the court to get back after Lewis’s block of T-Mac.
1:13 – With the shot clock winding down, T-Mac rises up for another three-pointer at the top of the key, AND IT RATTLES IN FOR THE BUCKET! WHAT A CLUTCH SHOT! That puts Houston up 98-94. That’s why they pay T-Mac the big bucks!
0:57 – Ray Allen scores on a soft floater in the lane. Houston still leads 98-96.
0:34.7 – T-Mac drives to the hole and puts up a shot, but it misses. However, on the rebound Yao is fouled from behind! That puts Yao on the line, AND YAO IS CLUTCH BY SWISHING BOTH OF THEM to give them a 100-96 lead.
0:26.7 – Ray Allen drives to the hole, BUT YAO COMES OVER TO CONTEST THE SHOT, MAKING ALLEN MISS. YAO THEN GRABS THE REBOUND AND IS FOULED! What a big defensive possession by Yao! Then he steps to the line and SWISHES BOTH FREE THROWS AGAIN! Houston now leads 102-96!
0:18.4 – Ray Allen misses a three-pointer, and Yao is fouled on the rebound! Once again, Yao steps to the line AND SWISHES BOTH FREE THROWS, HIS 7TH AND 8TH FREE THROWS THIS QUARTER! The Rockets now lead 104-96.
0:12.6 – T-Mac is called for goaltending, cutting the Houston lead to 104-98. However, the Rockets fail to inbound the ball within 5 seconds, giving Seattle possession.
0:10.0 – On the Seattle inbounds pass, DAVID WESLEY HUSTLES TO STEAL THE PASS, AND THE ROCKETS DRIBBLE OUT THE CLOCK TO WIN IT!
After the game clock expires, Stromile puts his hands out to Jeff Van Gundy to pound fists, and VAN GUNDY RESPONDS BY POUNDING FISTS WITH STROMILE! That’s a strange — but welcome — sight to see!
There were lots of stars to this game. Obviously, T-Mac’s 14 points and 3-of-3 shooting from three-point land in the fourth quarter was huge. And Yao’s overall hustle and hitting all 8 of his free throws down the stretch was HUGE! That didn’t happen very often last year. Obviously, Yao has much more stamina this season after working out so much – but not playing for the Chinese National Team as much — during this past off-season.
There were other players who played well. Juwan Howard bounced back from a poor game at Golden State (zero points), scoring 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting – including a couple of beautiful teardrop shot in the lane in the first quarter.
Stromile continues to play very well, scoring 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and hitting 4-of-4 from the line, grabbing 4 rebounds, and dishing two assists.
In addition to scoring 104 points, the Rockets finished with 52% shooting compared to 42% for Seattle.
Although this was the second game of a back-to-back, and the Rockets play two games in the next three days (both in LA), it’s probably not going to be too difficult to get up physically for these games. I have a feeling that five wins in a row have a way of making the Rockets not feel not so tired.
To see the boxscore from the game, click here.
To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.