Reply With Quote
Rockets let one slip away
Pacers rally from 10 down in final six minutes
By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Nov. 26, 2008, 11:39PM
James Nielsen Chronicle
Rockets guard Brent Barry (right) drives past Indiana's Brandon Rush during the first quarter.
The Rockets needed just one more field goal. Any one would have been enough.
They missed in every way possible, from tough drives to open jumpers, beat-the-clock heaves to a win-the-game layup. For six minutes, begun with a 10-point lead, the Rockets did just enough to need only one basket more.
They never got it.
After Pacers forward Danny Granger tipped in his own miss with 13.7 seconds left, the Rockets tacked their last two misses of the night - with Yao Ming coming up empty on a layup and Ron Artest missing a rushed jumper - as the Pacers stole a 91-90 win Wednesday to complete the Rockets second stunning collapse in two weeks.
"This is a worrisome thing," Yao said. "With a game like this, it makes my stomach hurt."
Yao was sickened not just by the loss, but by the similarity to the loss in San Antonio when the Rockets coughed up a 14-point lead with 7 ½ minutes left and a 10-point lead with 4 ½ remaining. After leading by 10 on Wednesday with 6 ½ minutes remaining, the Rockets missed their last eight shots, adding three turnovers as the Pacers slowly climbed back into the game and then in front.
"With six minutes to go we were ahead like 10 points," Yao said. "I think we stopped pushing. We knew, 'OK, that's 10 points, that's enough for the rest, for six minutes. We may have five, six points in six minutes and that's the game.' But if you have that in your mind, you never get success. You never get that win. Six minutes is a lot of minutes."
The breakdown wasted what had been a strong second half. Though Tracy McGrady sat out to rest his sore left knee, Shane Battier played for the first time since off-season surgery to his left ankle. On one sequence, he blocked a Granger drive, spraining his other ankle and then drew a charge on the next play while hopping on one foot, helping the Rockets build their 13-point, third-quarter lead. He returned to the game in the fourth quarter.
"My first thought was, 'Get the retirement papers ready, this could be my last game," Battier said of spraining one ankle in the first game after spending nearly seven months rehabilitating the other. "I came down on Granger's foot a little bit and turned it. Hopefully, get the injuries out of my system in November."
The Rockets followed a horrible offensive first half in which they made just 33.3 percent of their shots, with their top scoring third-quarter of the season, outscoring Indiana, 30-17.
Luis Scola and Carl Landry controlled the boards, combining for 28 rebounds, including a career-high 18 for Scola. Landry's follow slam gave the Rockets a seemingly safe 84-74 lead.
"We were superior the whole game," Scola said. "When you want to look at the clock and there is two minutes to go and the game is tied, it's a surprise. Shocking.
"It could happen once. We make mistakes. When it happens twice, then you have to reflect about it."
The Rockets kept the lead at 10 for another minute, then began replaying the San Antonio debacle. Instead of leaving Matt Bonner open for a pair of 3s, they left Troy Murphy alone for consecutive 3-pointers, with the Pacers going to a small lineup and Yao unable to close out all the way to the arc.
With that, Rockets coach Rick Adelman switched to a zone and that slowed the Pacers for a few possessions. But the Rockets remained unable to put the ball in the basket.
The Rockets had been remarkably efficient closing out wins on the three-game road trip, with Artest helping to key their late runs. On Wednesday, however, he was 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter, as the Rockets shot just 27.8 percent in the final 12 minutes.
"That game was definitely all on me," Artest, who made 6 of 21 attempts, said. "I didn't step up like I was supposed to. I missed about 10 layups today so I definitely will take the blame for this one."
The final chances slipped away when Artest slid a pass inside to Yao, but Yao shoved up a shot that did not catch the rim. Artest came away with the rebound, but his rushed turnaround jumper missed before the buzzer.
"Last seconds, a lot of hitting in there, but I understand, that's the fourth quarter, that's the last seconds," Yao said. "If you don't get clearly grabbed or fouled, they're not going to call a foul. We can do a lot better before that shot to win this game. You cannot depend on the last shot."
But on Wednesday, that one shot would have been enough.
Are you a ing re ?
I'm so glad the Pacers finally pulled a win out. It's been painful watching this team get close so many times and then falling short.
