Houston (3-4) at San Antonio (6-2) (TNT TONIGHT BABY)

[ducks]

Houston (3-4) at San Antonio (6-2)
Houston (3-4) at San Antonio (6-2)

Preview - Box Score - Recap

Game Info: 9:30 pm EST Thu Nov 17, 2005
TV: TNT Add to Calendar
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The San Antonio Spurs look for their 16th straight home win over the Houston Rockets when the teams meet for the first time this season.
San Antonio has won 24 of the last 28 in this series, including 15 straight on its home court since a 103-99 loss on March 11, 1997.

The Spurs are coming off a 103-79 win over the winless Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday behind the play of Tim Duncan. The All-Star forward made 11 of 14 field goals and finished with 23 points, three days after going 3-for-18 for 11 points in a 110-95 loss at Washington.

Manu Ginobili had 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Spurs, who trailed by 13 points at the end of the first quarter before outscoring Atlanta 85-48 the rest of the way.

"The first quarter was really bad for us tonight," Ginobili said. "We played better and more aggressively as the game went on."

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Tony Parker added 18 points as the Spurs improved to 17-6 following a loss since the start of last season.

"The team kept their composure well when we were down," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They didn't try to come back quickly 1-on-1. They did it as a team."

Tracy McGrady scored 25 points and made three consecutive clutch plays down the stretch to lead the Rockets to a 94-89 road victory over Minnesota on Tuesday.

McGrady, who went 13-for-13 at the free-throw line, grabbed eight rebounds and had 13 points in the fourth quarter. He hit a long jumper over Trenton Hassell with 2:35 remaining to put Houston up for good after trailing most of the game.

"It's up to a team's best player to make big plays down the stretch of games," McGrady said. "Either offensively or defensively, the best players have to make plays to win games."

McGrady returned from a bout with back spasms to score 30 of his 35 points in the second half of a win at New Jersey on Saturday before being held to 14 points the next night in a 20-point loss at Boston.

"He'll work his way into shape," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said.

McGrady averaged 27.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists in four games against San Antonio last season.

STANDINGS (through Nov. 16): Rockets - 4th place, 2 1/2 GB, Southwest Division. Spurs - 1st place, Southwest Division.

PROBABLE STARTERS: Rockets - F McGrady, F Juwan Howard, C Yao Ming, G Derek Anderson, G Rafer Alston. Spurs - F Bruce Bowen, F Duncan, C Rasho Nesterovic, G Parker, G Ginobili.

TEAM LEADERS: Rockets - McGrady, 24.3 ppg; Yao, 8.7 rpg; Alston, 4.3 apg. Spurs - Parker, 22.1 ppg and 6.1 apg; Duncan, 11.4 rpg.

2004-05 SEASON SERIES: 2-2.

LAST MEETING: March 27; Spurs, 83-70. At San Antonio, Brent Barry hit three 3-pointers during a decisive 21-2 fourth-quarter run and the Spurs held Houston to its lowest point total of the season.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Rockets - 2-2 on the road; Spurs - 3-0 at home.


Updated on Thursday, Nov 17, 2005 7:14 am EST

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Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Houston 3-4 4th Southwest / 10th West 87.9 89.4 Road 2-2 Won 1 3-4
San Antonio 6-2 1st Southwest / 2nd West 98.4 90.3 Home 3-0 Won 1 6-2

Houston Notes
Nov 16 F Stomile Swift had 10 points to led Houston reserve in scoring in 17 minutes of action. ... Houston had 40 rebounds overall, 30 defensive, 10 offensive. ... 38 of their 94 come from points in the paint. ... G Derek Anderson had 11 points, four rebounds, one assists in 27 minutes of playing time. ... G David Wesley had six points, four assists, five assist off the bench. ... Houston scored 19 points off fast break points. ... Coach Jeff Van Gundy received a technical at 9:15 in the first quarter.






San Antonio Notes
Nov 16 G Michael Finley missed his fourth straight game Monday because of a sore left groin. G Brent Barry has also missed the last four games after hurting his back against Chicago on November 7 after playing just two minutes. ... The Spurs dominated the low post against Atlanta, outscoring the Hawks, 52-38, in the paint. ... San Antonio dished out 22 assists while committing only nine turnovers. The Spurs also forced 18 turnovers.

[boutons]

"It's up to a team's best player to make big plays down the stretch of games," McGrady said. "Either offensively or defensively, the best players have to make plays to win games."

Is there some difference between the best players making the big plays against lottery teams in November and the best players making big plays against playoff teams in May? Maybe November greatness somehow perishes before May?

[lilmads]

Finally something on TV I can watch!:)

[coopdogg3]

Yeah, no kidding. I was suppose to get the Hawks-Spurs game through Fox Sports South. It was even listed on the TV Guide channel. Guess what I got? Poker. I was so bitter.

[sanman53]

Now, if I only had cable!

[DesiSpur_21]

This is just the first month of the season and I am already watching second Spurs' game here :spin (although tomorrow it's gonna be a delayed telecast because of local sports schedule but who cares).

Looks like we'll get a lot of Spurs and Rockets('cause of Yao) instead of typical Lakers/Knicks/Kings love shown by espn asia.

[Oh, Gee!!]

Now, if I only had cable!


steal your neighbor's

[lilmads]

This is just the first month of the season and I am already watching second Spurs' game here :spin (although tomorrow it's gonna be a delayed telecast because of local sports schedule but who cares).

Looks like we'll get a lot of Spurs and Rockets('cause of Yao) instead of typical Lakers/Knicks/Kings love shown by espn asia.

Haha, I'm sure most of the stuff you get there is pretty much cricket! :)

[Leetonidas]

Will Brent and Mike play tonight?

[ALVAREZ6]

This will be my 3rd Spurs game that I've watched this year.

[howard2]

ESPN.com
Nov 17, 2005
Link: ESPN.com (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=251117024)

Houston (3-4) at San Antonio (6-2), 9:30 pm EST

SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Tracy McGrady may need another miracle performance to get the Houston Rockets past the San Antonio Spurs when the teams meet Thursday.

The Rockets have lost 15 straight games here and 23 of the last 27 meetings overall. However, the Spurs always will have the memory of McGrady at his finest in their loss at Houston last December 9.

McGrady finished a 33-point effort with an improbable personal rally, scoring nine points in the final 35 seconds and hitting a game-winning shot to finish an 81-80 victory.

The five-time All-Star returned early from back spasms to help the Rockets win two of the last three games following a three-game losing streak.

He scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Tuesday's 94-89 victory over Minnesota. Four other Rockets scored in double figures, but their chances Thursday should hinge on McGrady's efforts.

Houston is 3-1 with McGrady in the lineup. He has averaged 27.7 points in the victories but managed just 14 points in the one loss.

San Antonio opened a three-game homestand with a 103-79 rout of Atlanta on Tuesday. Manu Ginobili scored 24 points and Tim Duncan added 23 for the Spurs, who had 22 assists against just nine turnovers and shot 52 percent (44-of-84).

[dnlasers]

Too bad I heard that finley and barry wont be playing tonight.

[howard2]

Houston Chronicle
By Jonathan Feigen
Nov. 17, 2005, 1:18AM
Link: Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3467027)

Rockets seek true identity
Team has two big answers, but lacks confidence

SAN ANTONIO — The Rockets, above all teams, surely must know who and what they are. The best teams do, and though the Rockets cannot claim to be a member of that exclusive club, few teams seem more obviously defined.

The Rockets are Tracy McGrady, the way his Tour de France team is Lance Armstrong. They are Yao Ming, as if anyone could not notice the 7-foot-6 combination of immense size and skills. And they are a team of players entirely selected to complement Yao and McGrady.

Yet, the Rockets are trying to figure it all out. On some level, they know these things the way a medical student can down caffeine and study around the clock until he memorizes the answers. But the real tests don't come until the heat of the ER or fourth quarter.

"This team," McGrady said, "is still searching as far as knowing our identity."

While they search, the Rockets will face two teams that know who and what they are best, and best demon-strate the value of never straying far from themselves.

The San Antonio Spurs, whom the Rockets face tonight, and Detroit Pistons, who will be waiting for them in Houston on Friday, went seven games in the NBA Finals before the Spurs emerged. Between them, they have won the past two NBA championships and no matter what changes have come to their roster, almost never stray from what has made them the league's superpowers.

"They are the best two teams in the league," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "A lot of it comes down to that they do a lot of what every team wants to do, but don't do it as much. They defend both longer and harder and are more efficient in their games offensively than the other teams in the league.

"There's no magic formula. Everyone knows what the formula is. It's just a matter of can you get players to do it longer."

The Spurs and Pistons will stick with their game plans and only occasionally break a play to explore something else. Everything doesn't work. Both can go through offensive droughts as much of the Finals demonstrated. But when they face late-game or defensive pressure, the Spurs and Pistons rarely stray from themselves.

The Rockets and most teams become more likely to crack.

"We don't know our identity yet," McGrady said. "We haven't been playing like that. Sometimes we play inside-out. Other times, we're not getting the ball in the paint at all. What are we going to be?

"Last year, we were much more of a team that had attitude and a team that really trusted in one another. Right now, this year we don't have that. We don't have the attitude. We're still searching."

Lacking the will
Some of the identity that Van Gundy is trying to develop is pretty basic stuff — defend, rebound, compete. But each of those fundamentals are, not coincidentally, on the top of the Spurs' and Pistons' checklists.

"We know what wins and what loses, and we don't have the willingness at this present moment to do what it takes to win every time," Van Gundy said. "What it takes to win is to defend, get defensive rebounds, handle the ball, get it inside to score in the paint, go inside-out and give up a good shot to get a great shot.

"It is true for every team. If you want to win, that's what your identity will be."

The Rockets especially believe in shutting down the lane defensively and getting the ball to the paint, but have done neither with any regularity. Van Gundy even tweaked many of the team's playing rotations to help close up the paint. But until playing Minnesota, generally a jump-shooting team, the Rockets' defense was still springing leaks.

"Coach has made some changes to make up for some of our weaknesses, different rotations," guard David Wesley said. "We've always been a close-the-paint-down team, but we're trying to close the paint down even more, to make them shoot more shots outside. But we're still giving up drive-bys. We're still giving up stuff. It's frustrating when we're specifically trying not to do that."

The biggest frustration, however, might be the Rockets' play late in games. That could be starting to come around. Though they were never in the Boston game, they closed out wins in New Jersey and Minneapolis by not reinventing themselves with every late-game possession.

Mental strength
But last week, after three consecutive fourth-quarter breakdowns, Van Gundy said, "I think our game stinks when it counts the most.

"It's random, undisciplined, helter-skelter, Rockets gone wild, just doing whatever we want. Because of that, we get bad results. To me, players and teams are separated by two things: Who can sustain their play longer, because everybody has some good plays in games, and who can play their best when their best is needed late.

"The league over time has gotten a little more fragile. And yet, you look at San Antonio, you look at Detroit, one of the reasons they're so great beyond their individual skills and great coaching, is they have unbelievable mental strength to handle the good, the bad, the ups, the downs, the grind. Winning in this league is as much about outlasting through mental strength as any X and O or great players."

That is their identity. The Rockets are a team that knows what it should be but still can't suppress its wanderings.


TONIGHT: ROCKETS AT SAN ANTONIO SPURS
• When/where: 8:30 p.m.; SBC Center.
• TV/Radio: TNT; 610 AM and in Spanish on 920 AM.

• Spurs update: The Spurs fell behind the Hawks by 15 points early on Tuesday, but did what they always seem to do, grinding away until they won by 24 to improve their record to 6-2. ... Michael Finley (left groin tightness) and Brent Barry (lower back sprain) have been out, but Manu Ginobili seems to be coming back to his usual form after battling a bruised right quadriceps.

• Rockets update: After a slow start, the Rockets played with greater effort and intensity in Minneapolis, something they will have to do against the Spurs in San Antonio where the Rockets have lost 15 consecutive games.

• Check out: The Rockets' defense on Tony Parker. Stopping dribble penetration has been perhaps the Rockets' greatest problem, and few are tougher to stop than Parker, making 57.4 percent of his shots this season.

Matter over mind
Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said he improved his shooting for Tuesday's game by concerning himself with everything but his shooting. In the previous four games, he had made seven of 32 shots. Alston made five of nine, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter.

"Coach stressed that he wanted me to do others things instead of keep thinking about the open jumpers," Alston said. "He felt if I continued to get in the gym and work the jumper would come back, but do other things — play defense, get us running, turn the corner on pick-and-rolls, find the open man and penetrate."

Round and round
Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy went back to the rotation he had planned for the start of the season, with David Wesley and Jon Barry coming off the bench in the backcourt, and Stromile Swift and Dikembe Mutombo in the frontcourt. That left Ryan Bowen and Luther Head not playing at all.

The rotation is likely still a work in progress. Especially with Head, unless he or other reserves play well enough to command all the backup playing time, minutes also could depend on matchups.

"Our guards can all make the case to me that they should start, and I can make the case to all the guards that they shouldn't be in the rotation," Van Gundy said before Tuesday's game.

The Rockets' guards had made just 26 of 94 attempts (27.7 percent) on the road trip prior to Tuesday's game. Rafer Alston, Derek Anderson, Wesley and Barry combined to make 12 of 26 shots.

[mavsfan1000]

should be a easy win for the spurs against the highly overrated rockets