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3.13.06
Houston Rockets vs. New Jersey Nets
Rockets 77 | Nets 90
Game Recap

Carmine Pirone-Rockets.com

The Houston Rockets led by as many as nine points in the first quarter Monday, but the New Jersey Nets were too much for Houston in the second half and easily defeated the Rockets 90-77 in front of over 16, 047 fans at Toyota Center. The Rockets fall to 29-35 on the season, while the Atlantic Division-leading Nets improve to 34-28 on the year.

Houston used its 18th different starting lineup Monday, a sign of how difficult this season has been. Yet another sign would be the fact that the Nets starting frontcourt of Jason Collins and Nenad Krstic combined for just seven points and 11 personal fouls Monday, yet the Nets cruised to a relatively easy win anyway.

Clifford Robinson came off the bench to score 15 points, many on open jump shots from the perimeter. Robinson stretched the floor and pulled Yao Ming out from the basket allowing the Nets to operate their offense more efficiently.

Yay may have been drawn from his comfort zone Monday, but the Rockets go-to-guy with Tracy McGrady shelved with a bad back still had a huge game. Yao poured in 36 points, pulled nine boards, while shooting an impressive 18-20 from the charity stripe.

Juwan Howard just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Rafer Alston was the only other player in double-figures with 14 points for a Rockets team that shot 34 percent from the floor on the night.

The difference Monday was New Jersey’s Vince Carter, who showed all in attendance that he is still more than capable of taking over a game. Carter scored a team-high 29 points, including 14 in a third quarter that saw him equal the output of the entire Rockets team over the same time period.

Carter also dished out seven assists and collected six rebounds in 41 minutes of action. Jason Kidd added a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, but the last assist came via an unnecessary three-point shot by Richard Jefferson at the buzzer.

Despite the somewhat lopsided outcome, things started out well on Monday.

Houston sprinted out to a 10-4 lead over the first four minutes of play as Yao and Howard got involved early in the offense. The Rockets began the game on fire, while the Nets struggled to find the basket starting the game 2-9 from the field and eventually falling behind 16-7 halfway through the first quarter.

A 7-0 New Jersey Run got the lead dwindled to two, but Houston was able to stretch the lead back to six points thanks to two makes from Howard at the foul line and a basket by Luther Head. The six-point advantage is where it would stay as Houston held a 26-20 lead after one quarter.

Yao dominated the first quarter, scoring 12 points, while going 3-3 from the field and 6-6 from the foul line. Howard hit his first three shots Monday on his way to eight first-quarter points. Houston held New Jersey to just 32 percent from the floor in the first quarter and it appeared that even with 40 percent of the starting lineup in street clothes (McGrady and David Wesley) the Rockets might have enough to win anyway. They didn’t.

New Jersey bolted out on an 11-2 run to start the second quarter and never trailed again after taking the lead at 31-28 with just under nine minutes to play in the first half.

New Jersey outscored Houston 27-15 in the second quarter, while shooting 60 percent from the floor. While the Nets found their shooting touch, the Rockets lost theirs, hitting on just seven of 20 attempts during the second quarter, which led to Houston trialing 47-41 as the two teams headed to the locker rooms.

After New Jersey began the third quarter on a 9-2 run, the game was essentially over as Houston managed only to cut the lead to nine once before the final three minutes of the game. Carter’s 14 points included three bombs from behind the arc as five of New Jersey’s six made shots in the third came from three-point land. Houston managed only 14 points as a team with Yao adding just two points to the scoring column in the third after totaling 19 before halftime.

Yao’s dominance returned in the fourth quarter, he scored 15 points in the final 12 minutes, but it took Houston until the final minute to get within as much as eight points as New Jersey was never threatened in the final period and easily claimed the 90-77 win.

The Rockets return to action Wednesday at Toyota Center against the Dallas Mavericks. Tip-off is 8:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on FSN Houston.