Yao and company come up with big plays for dramatic win
Thursday, March 15th, 2007
by John
Yao Ming prepares to make a strong move against the Clippers’ Elton Brand Wednesday night. Yao scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting and grabbed 6 boards…nothing special statistically. But his presence down low continued to open up opportunities for other Rocket players, and he had a key steal late in the game to help pull out a clutch win, 109-105. Click here for more photos from the game.
The Rockets blew a big lead again, this time Wednesday night against the Clippers. We’ve become accustomed to that this season. The difference this time around was that the Rockets maintained their composure and pulled out a victory in a game I thought they were going to lose. And they did it with a bevy of big plays down the stretch as the Rockets recovered from a 3-point deficit with 1:23 remaining.
First, after popping a wicked crossover that got him some daylight, T-Mac shot a jumper at the top of the key, which I thought was an ill-advised shot since I think he could have gotten a higher percentage one. But he drained it to make it 103-102, Clippers leading by one.
Then on the very next Clipper possession, Rafer Alston had the biggest steal I have ever seen him get in his career. He stripped Daniel Ewing of the ball, drove it to the hoop and scored a layup at a somewhat difficult angle with 1:12 remaining in the game. That gave the Rockets the lead at 104-103, and Toyota Center erupted!
That kind of thing just doesn’t happen to the Rockets, and doesn’t happen much in an NBA game for that matter. A steal to take the lead late in a game like that? I have bashed Rafer in the past, but I have to give him lot of credit on that steal.
Yao Ming prepares to make a strong move against the Clippers’ Elton Brand Wednesday night. Yao scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting and grabbed 6 boards…nothing special statistically. But his presence down low continued to open up opportunities for other Rocket players, and he had a key steal late in the game to help pull out a clutch win, 109-105. Click here for more photos from the game.The Rockets blew a big lead again, this time Wednesday night against the Clippers. We’ve become accustomed to that this season. The difference this time around was that the Rockets maintained their composure and pulled out a victory in a game I thought they were going to lose. And they did it with a bevy of big plays down the stretch as the Rockets recovered from a 3-point deficit with 1:23 remaining.
First, after popping a wicked crossover that got him some daylight, T-Mac shot a jumper at the top of the key, which I thought was an ill-advised shot since I think he could have gotten a higher percentage one. But he drained it to make it 103-102, Clippers leading by one.
Then on the very next Clipper possession, Rafer Alston had the biggest steal I have ever seen him get in his career. He stripped Daniel Ewing of the ball, drove it to the hoop and scored a layup at a somewhat difficult angle with 1:12 remaining in the game. That gave the Rockets the lead at 104-103, and Toyota Center erupted!
That kind of thing just doesn’t happen to the Rockets, and doesn’t happen much in an NBA game for that matter. A steal to take the lead late in a game like that? I have bashed Rafer in the past, but I have to give him lot of credit on that steal.
