Yao goes up against Sacramento’s Brad Miller Sunday night. Yao scored 19 points and grabbed 12 boards, but Miller scored 30 and grabbed 11 to help put away the Rockets 86-77.

by John

SUNDAY, 4/9/06 – If there was ever a game that showed how far away the Rockets are from being playoff contenders, this was it. The Sacramento Kings are fighting hard to keep the 7th and final seed of the playoffs, and they toyed with the Rockets like a cat with a ball of string, putting the Rockets away easily in the fourth quarter to win 86-77.

Like many games this year, the Rockets looked like they were on a yo-yo diet in this one. They went long stretches without any food, then went on an eating binge to finally score bunches of points, then went anorexic again.

The Rockets fell behind at the start of the game 16-2, but started playing defense and came back to trail within one point to trail 23-22 with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter after Stromile Swift hit a bank shot and a jump hook from the left baseline. But then Sacramento turned on the jets and went on a 26-9 run to take an 18-point lead, 49-31, with 57 seconds remaining before halftime.

But Houston would rally again and close within 67-65 after a sweet spin move by Yao on the baseline for a dunk, bringing the Rockets bench to their feet with hopes of an upset. Howeer, Sacramento then slapped the Rockets back into their non-playoff place by easily getting offensive rebounds when they needed it, and hitting big shots to hold the Rockets at bay. Mike Bibby was the main assassin, hitting two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that were daggers.

The Rockets also had too many turnovers, especially in the fourth quarter, which kept their scoring production way too low to overcome a good offensive team like the Kings.

On top of that, the Rockets had to contend with some very poor officiating by the refs. Yao was called for lots of questionable calls, creating so much frustration that he was called for a technical foul after a bogus call for a flopping Bonzi Wells caused Yao to slap the ball down hard on the court.

And of course, the refs were not calling fouls for the Rockets. Yao, an inside player, only went to the line 3 times with the Rockets totaling 11 for the game. On the other hand, the Kings went to the line 30 times! And Brad Miller, mainly a perimeter player, went 10 times to the line by his lonesome!

All around, Miller’s stats were better than Yao’s. Yao got off to a slow start, only hitting 2-of-6 from the field in the first half for 7 points. But he did hit all six of his shots in the second half – including a rare face-to-the-basket 18-footer — to finish with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed 12 rebounds, but turned the ball over six times.

On the other hand, Miller finished with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including two three-pointers, grabbed 11 rebounds and only had two turnovers. I can’t remember the last time an opposing center outplayed Yao statistically.

Okay, here are the Rocket players who failed to deliver in this game: Keith Bogans made 4-of-9 from the field, but he missed all four of his free throw attempts, including an air ball! And that’s not the first time Bogans has missed lots of free throws recently.

David Wesley was 1-for-4, and his only turnover was a big one with 4:31 remaining that the Kings converted on the other end for a dunk that basically put the game away, 76-67. But since Wesley is still gutting it out with a hurt, painful rib with the Rockets out of the playoff hunt, you’ve got to give the 35-year old some credit.

Okay, here’s the one that hurts. Rafer Alston was 0-for-11. Yes, that’s right. Zero, nada, zilch. Well, he actually scored one point on a free throw, but he missed the other free throw attempt. Sure, he had 9 assists, but he also had six turnovers! With inconsistency like that, the Rockets are going to have to think long and hard if Alston is the long-term answer at point guard. Mike Bibby outclassed him with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting (5-of-10 treys), 6 assists and only two turnovers.

Meanwhile, the player the Rockets gave up for Alston, Mike James, continued on Sunday to show how badly the Rockets messed up last October by trading him. James scored 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting, hit 5-of-8 three-pointers, had 10 assists, and four turnovers. Ouch! Hmmm….31 extra points from your point guard or shooting guard, and I think the Rockets win this game.

On the bright side, Juwan Howard did fairly well scoring 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting and grabbing 8 boards. And Luther Head was solid again, hitting 5-of-10 shots, including 3 treys, and dishing four assists with no turnovers.

The Rockets play the second half of a back-to-back against Utah Monday night. You can guess how that game is going to turn out in Utah. And since Monday night is my wedding anniversary, I probably won’t be able to watch or report on it, a rarity considering I think I’ve covered over 98% of the Rockets’ games the past four years. Probably not a big loss considering how the Rockets really have nothing to play for except pride and a higher lottery pick.

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 Sunday, April 9th, 2006 at 11:59 pm and is filed under vs. Sacramento. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.