Houston and Oklahoma City have mediocre records and came in with losing tendencies. The Hornets came in having lost 7 of their last 10, but at least they were healthy. By now the Rockets have been plagued by injuries. But even without an injured Yao Ming, this game was down to the closing seconds.
The Rockets on paper shouldn’t even have had a chance to win. Yao, Anderson, Barry, Alston and Sura all had one illness or another and gave Houston just 10 healthy players to work with. To stay on it, the Rockets put up two massive performances that kept them in the game. Tracy McGrady scored a season-high 38 points and made up for Yao’s absence. Stromile Swift had a career game off the bench with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Houston was carried between the two and led the Rockets to a 6-point lead in the third quarter.
The Hornets led for most of the game. They had 6 different players in double figures with leading scorer JR Smith not even playing in the fourth. Several players got ahead in different parts of the game. Desmond Mason got most of his 13 points in the first, Claxton got most of his 13 in the second and JR Smith scored most of his 16 in the third.
In the 4th, the Hornets finally settled on McGrady, double-teaming him and forcing him to pass him. It was with that strategy that Oklahoma City took control of the room. Hornets SF Rasual Butler made three straight 3-pointers scoring 15 in the fourth after being non-existent in the earlier parts of the game.
The resilient Rockets fought back and tied the game 92-92. In the closing seconds, David West was left wide open at the top of the key and drilled a 20-foot shot to give Oklahoma City a tight victory. Both the Hornets and Rockets had numerous game-winning opportunities before David West’s jump shot: Oklahoma City missed 12 free throws and Juwan Howard made two shots off the bench at point-blank range with about a minute left in the fourth.
Houston would rather not play Lonny Baxter and Moochie Norris, but they had to do it on the bench as thin as it is. The Rockets will need McGrady to score 30-plus for every game Yao is out (which is until mid-January) and will no doubt have a new season scoring high when Ming returns.
The Hornets’ strength is definitely in numbers. Of the 6 players in double figures against Houston, PJ Brown and Chris Anderson were not among them due to foul trouble and double-figure scorer Bostjan Nochbar was injured. They’re also consistent contributors who give the Hornets a pretty deep bench when it’s available.
Chris Paul chimed in with 12 points and 8 assists. Dikembe Mutumbo only scored 1 point, but grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds.