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Saturday January 24, 2009 2:24 AM

Rockets' Rally Falls Short


Pacers win 107-102, Yao listed as day-to-day after knee injury

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Indianapolis - Yao Ming sat on the bench following the first quarter, the pain in his knee manifesting itself through the constant grimace on his face as the Rockets training staff feverishly worked to bring him some comfort and get him back into the game.

Their efforts were successful – but only to a point. And with their All-Star center banged up, much the same could be said of the Rockets Friday night. Houston did, in fact, do its best to overcome a brutal second quarter and a 17-point deficit. But ultimately the Rockets’ comeback bid fell short in a 107-102 loss to Indiana, allowing the struggling Pacers (16-27) to complete a season sweep of Houston (27-17).

As for Yao, he returned for five minutes of action in the second quarter, before sitting out the second half with a bruised right knee sustained in the opening minute of the game. X-Rays taken at the arena proved negative and Yao is being listed as day-to-day.

“It was a knee to knee hit,” explained Yao, who – all things considered - was in relatively good spirits following the game. “It was not just by today because about the last ten games I got a couple hits on the same spot, and today after the first possession I felt a little bit funny. At halftime we took a look at it.

“The X-rays showed the bone was fine. No damage.”

So that’s the good news. The rest depends upon your point of view. Those who see the world half-full will point to the imminent return of Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest (T-Mac is expected to play Sunday, while Artest is questionable) and say they’re coming back just in time to help out Houston’s big man if he has to miss a game or two. The cynics, meanwhile, figure to see this latest bite from the injury bug as just one more sign that this club will simply never be able to stay healthy long enough to fully realize the enormous expectations placed upon them in the preseason.

Either way, the Rockets made no excuses for Friday night’s loss. The second quarter proved to be Houston’s undoing as the Rockets shot a meager 23% from the field en route to being outscored 29-16. That malaise crept into the third quarter as well, allowing Indiana to extend its lead to a whopping 17 points. But the Rockets eventually found their bearings and, by the end of the third quarter, had sliced their deficit down to just seven.

“We were disjointed,” said Shane Battier, in reference to the Rockets’ slow start after halftime. “That’s what Yao is for: Yao is our stabilizer. When the stabilizer is not out there it takes a few possessions to get oriented. But once we settled down and made a few shots, we settled in and in the third quarter we out scored them. But it took us a while to get in the flow.”

Having finally found their rhythm, the Rockets continued to cut away at the Pacers’ advantage. Luis Scola was especially instrumental in the comeback, scoring 15 points in the final frame. And when Von Wafer drained a trey at the 26-second mark to bring Houston within two, it looked like the Rockets might be able to add to Indiana’s season-long proclivity toward fourth quarter disasters. But the Pacers took care of business at the free throw line and Danny Granger rejected Wafer at the rim the next time down the floor, allowing Indiana to escape with the victory.

“It’s tough with three of our main guys out, but that’s the way it is,” said Scola, who finished with a game-high 25 points. “Everybody has injuries; it’s just part of the game.”

“We didn’t play well, but that happens. We play a lot of games and it will happen again. The good thing about today is that we came back and played hard the last part of the game and we were really close. We will have bad nights, we just have to play hard every game, and hopefully those bad nights won’t happen many times.”

QUOTES

Rick Adelman

(On Yao Ming not returning to the game) The guys knew. We talked about it before we went out [for the second half], we just had to pick our level of play up no matter who was there. I don’t think that should have been a factor. We were putting a team out there that was active and quick, and we didn’t start the third period the way we should’ve. But once we got into it, we played pretty good.

Our guys played hard in the second half, we just didn’t play well in the first half. They outworked us. For whatever reason we didn’t have anything going. In the second half we competed and gave ourselves a chance, we just couldn’t get over the hump.

(on not having Yao defensively): It makes us small when they get to the basket. They’re a tough team to play Deke against because they’re so active and they have bigs who are three-point shooters. So I thought we gave ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter, we just couldn’t get over the hump.

Luis Scola

“(On the second half comeback) We played pretty bad in the first half, but tried to play hard in the second half but it just wasn’t enough. I think they deserved to win.

(On playing with three starters out, including Yao) It’s tough with three of our main guys out, but that’s the way it is. Everybody has injuries; it’s just part of the game.”

(on defending the Pacers): They’re just a tough team to defend. They spread the court a lot and it’s a tough match-up for us.

(on not coming out strong to start the second half): We’re not happy about that. We didn’t play well, but that happens. We play a lot of games and it will happen again. The good thing about today is that we came back and played hard the last part of the game and we were really close. We will have bad nights, we just have to play hard every game, and hopefully those bad nights won’t happen many times.

Shane Battier

“(On the Rockets’ improvement in the second half) I think we competed hard in the second half. We really had one bad quarter. The second quarter we were pretty bad and that cost us the game. But we continued to fight. A few plays down the stretch and we could have pulled this one out.

What we didn’t do a good job of was defending without fouling. They shot 38 free throws and that’s way too many to give up and expect to win on the road. But our defense was sound. We had some breakdowns. They’re a little unconventional because they don’t have the traditional post player and they run a lot of screens on the perimeter.

Pacers Head Coach Jim O’Brien

“Great win, they’re all great. We had a chance in the third quarter to put them away and didn’t take advantage of it. The main thing is we won the game. Teams will get runs on you. T.J. Ford did a nice job attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line. We wanted to go small a lot. I thought we did the necessary things to win the game. It’s always a challenge when you play that many games in a short amount of time. However we are getting healthy at just the right time.”

T.J. Ford

“We made the game a little closer than it should have been. We were lucky to come out as a winner. In the end when we played poorly, it didn’t cost us as much as it could have. I think I can help this team on the whole whereever I play, off the bench or starting. I am getting a little closer to getting my back and my body back in shape. I just need to continue to work at it and continue improving my game along with our team.”

Troy Murphy

“(On his rebounding) I work hard in practice and try to carry it to the game. This is one area that my team expects me to do and I work to get the job done. (On his game) Something that I think I can also do is make big shots. This would have been a bad situation had we not been able to pull this out. This was a huge win and we need to continue. I am willing to do whatever is asked of me and to keep this team moving in the right direction. I know I can’t make all of my shots, but I am going to take them if I am open. With them missing Yao, Ron (Artest) and ( Tracy) McGrady, I think we kind of figured that we had to win this.”

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