Rockets vs. Spurs Preview - December 3, 2002

TALE OF THE TAPE
VS. 9-7 RECORD 11-7 L1 STREAK W1 5-5 LAST 10 6-4 89.1 PTS. SCORED 92.4 87.8 PTS. ALLOWED 85.9 43.2 REBOUNDS 45.1 17.6 ASSISTS 19.8 .439 FG% .441 .423 OPP. FG% .396

Rockets vs. Spurs
December 3, 2002
Compaq Center, 7:30 p.m.
TV: KNWS Channel 51
Radio: SportsRadio 610 (English); KYST 920 AM (Spanish)

by Trevor Mitchell, rockets.com

After returning home from a mediocre five-game road trip, the Rockets play host to the San Antonio Spurs tonight at Compaq Center. The Rockets managed to win just two of their five road contests and are still desperately trying to find chemistry and cohesiveness on the offensive end. The team has definitely missed Cuttino Mobley's offense and leadership as he remains on the injured list with a sprained ankle. While Mobley's absence has created more playing time and shot opportunities for others, no one has consistently shown the ability to score, leaving Steve Francis with the burden of carrying the Rockets' dismal offense.

San Antonio has dropped three of its last five contests as well. By losing road games to inferior Western Conference foes such as Denver and Phoenix, the Spurs will come in focused on getting a quality road win against the Rockets.

PROBABLE STARTERS
ROCKETS SPURS RICE 9.7 ppg F BOWEN 5.5 ppg TAYLOR 7.1 ppg F DUNCAN 20.4 ppg YAO 9.3 ppg C ROBINSON 8.3 ppg FRANCIS 24.3 ppg G PARKER 12.2 ppg HAWKINS 4.6 ppg G SMITH 11.0 ppg

As usual, Tim Duncan has been fundamentally sound this season. Third-year player Stephen Jackson has been playing great basketball and provided instant scoring off the Spurs bench. Veteran reserves Kevin Willis, Steve Kerr, Danny Ferry, and Malik Rose have all taken advantage of their minutes and are major factors in the Spurs attack.

The Spurs have an exciting young point guard in Tony Parker. Parker has been a great floor general for San Antonio doing whatever is needed at the time. He has the ability the see the floor and make big buckets. Most importantly, he knows when it is time to feed the Spurs franchise player Duncan. Parker against Steve Francis will be one of the best matchups on the floor tonight.

With a win against the Spurs, the Rockets can take over second place in the Midwest behind the Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets are in a good position considering they have not had a complete lineup all year. Glen Rice also missed the last game with a sore back. If Houston has any plans to win tonight, it must show that it can make shots. Many teams have thrown a zone at the Rockets and clogged up the middle. The Rockets have had no answer for the zone defense and center Yao Ming has only attempted 10 shots over the past two games. Yao is not comfortable enough in the offense to simply force the issue. Therefore, Houston has to knock down a few jumpers to open up the middle for the 7-6 rookie.

Both San Antonio and the Rockets are in the top five in team defense. Tonight’s contest will come down to fluidness in the offense. Whichever team can capitalize on turnovers and make a good second half run should have total control of this game.

Rockets - Moochie Norris has made 9 of his last 12 shots ..... Steve Francis is currently ranked 5th in scoring at 24.3 ppg ..... Kelvin Cato and Eddie Griffin rank 11th and 17th respectively in blocks ..... The Rockets have the 5th best defense in the NBA allowing only 87.8 ppg.
Spurs - Former Rocket Kevin Willis has scored double figures off the bench in the last three games ..... Tim Duncan has led the Spurs in scoring in 12 of their 18 games ..... San Antonio is ranked 3rd in team defense allowing 85.9 ppg and blocks at 6.9 bpg ..... The Spurs are also the second best three-point shooting team in the NBA.

Rockets - First quarter offense - Houston has not scored over 19 first-quarter points in the past five games ..... The Rockets have made only nine of their last 42 three-point attempts ..... The Rockets are 28th in assists ..... Houston currently ranks 26th in steals.
Spurs - The Spurs are currently ranked last (29th) in free throw percentage at .669 ..... David Robinson only attempted one field goal in his last outing against Utah.

MAURICE TAYLOR VS. TIM DUNCAN Tonight Rockets forward Maurice Taylor should see many minutes off the bench trying to contain Spurs star Tim Duncan. Duncan, last year's MVP, is off to another great start this season. Taylor's size and offensive punch will be key in making the Spurs forward work hard on both sides of the ball. If Taylor and the Rockets frontline can hold Duncan well below the 27 points and 13 rebounds he posted in a preseason meeting, the Spurs' fate will rest upon the consistency of their outside shooters.

Keep up to the minute on all the latest Rockets injury news by visiting our Injury Report page. We get daily reports directly from the basketball staff, giving you the inside scoop on who's playing and who's sitting every night.