Yao scores two of his 22 points on a nice dunk Thursday night in Oklahoma City. The Rockets finally snapped their 6-game losing streak, and 0-for-13 record against Southwest division foes, beating the Hornets 93-92. Click here for more photos from the game.

by John

THURSDAY, 3/23/06 – I’m writing this while I’m in the middle of pulling an all-nighter on some work stuff. As busy as I am, I wanted to jot a few notes about the Rockets-Hornets game Thursday night. I was able to watch the fourth quarter and was pleasantly surprised at how well the Rockets played down the stretch to pull out a 93-92 win in a very hostile Oklahoma City arena.

The win snapped a 6-game losing streak, and they finally beat a team in their own division this season after losing their previous 13 games against them.

Yao was money, of course. He hit 3-of-4 shots and scored six points in the fourth quarter to complete a 22-point, 8-rebound , two-block game.

So was Rafer Alston, who hit clutch jumpers late in the game to be the difference. He equalled Yao’s 22 points, and actually shot above .500 for once (9-of-16). Good for you, Rafer.

The difference in this victory was not only the big shots at the end of the game, but also the 26-10 third quarter advantage the Rockets enjoyed after trailing 54-45 at halftime.

Amazingly, the Rockets were out-rebounded on the offensive boards 21-3. Normally that would have meant another loss. But for once their shooting was excellent, hitting 49% of their shots, and 95% (20-of-21) from the free throw line! Where has that kind of shooting been all season? Meanwhile, the Hornets only shot 36% from the field.

You’ve also got to give props to Juwan Howard, who had another solid game with 16 points (5-of-7 from the field, 6-of-6 from the line) and 12 boards.

Even more incredible games…

As exciting as the Rockets victory was in the fourth quarter, I can’t help but write about two extremely exciting “Sweet 16” college basketball games that were being played simultaneously while the Rockets were playing. Yes, I was switching channels among all three games, and my fingers got tired.

I’m sure many of you hoops fans saw the college games I’m talking about, or at least saw the highlights. My undergraduate alma mater, The University of Texas, pulled out a dramatic victory with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat West Virginia. That final three-pointer made me jump out of my chair!

But less than 30 minutes later, I was in store for even more unbelievable excitement. My post-graduate university, UCLA, pulled out the most astounding comeback I have seen since T-Mac scored all those points (13?) in 35 seconds against San Antonio last year.

Down 17 points in the third quarter to Gonzaga, and trailing 9 points with less than three minutes remaining, UCLA was dead in the water. But they kept battling, and came up with a steal in the final few seconds remaining in the game, and scored on a layup to win one of the most incredible college basketball games in recent history! Man ,oh man!

I really felt bad for Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison, though. He was devastated, and his emotions after losing were as raw as you have ever see an athlete display. It was painful to watch it, and I feel bad for him. But I am excited about two of my favorite college basketball teams being in the “Elite 8.” In some way, it makes up a little bit for this lousy Rockets season we’re all going through.

john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To see the boxscore from the game, click here.

To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 23rd, 2006 at 11:59 pm and is filed under vs. New Orleans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.