HOUSTON -- During the waning moments of the fourth quarter, Dikembe Mutombo lifted his long arms and flashed a couple of peace signs to the crowd.That's 22. And counting.
Before the largest crowd in Toyota Center history with 18,402 fans packed in the arena, the Rockets extended their historic run to 22 consecutive wins and claimed sole possession of first place in the Western Conference with a thrilling 104-92 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Rafer Alston carried the Rockets with a career-high 31 points and eight three-pointers as Houston knocked off Kobe Bryant and Co.
in a showdown between the West's top two teams.Nearly two months ago, the Rockets were 10th in the West and searching for answers from a disappointing start.
Now, they're all alone on top of the standings."This was really all about how good the Rockets are," Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said. "This is what this game was about -- the Lakers coming in here at the top of the Western Conference.
This game determined where we are. We answered those questions, we took on that challenge and we're standing alone."McGrady's supporting cast proved to be the difference. With McGrady struggling for three-plus quarters to locate his shot, the Rockets proved that they're more than just a one-man team. Luis Scola collected a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Shane Battier chased Bryant from start to finish, limiting the NBA's frontrunner for the MVP award to 24 points on 11-of-33 shooting. And Bobby Jackson came off the bench to drain 19 points.But on an afternoon filled with gutsy performances, no one came up bigger than Alston. The once-maligned Rockets point guard shouldered the scoring burden with McGrady struggling, netting 16 points in the first quarter alone.
Though McGrady didn't get a point in the first half, the Rockets went into the break with a 15-point advantage."Rafer was great," Rockets guard Luther Head said. "I think he became Tracy. He had a little bit of T-Mac blood in him.
When our best players need help like that, it's good that our other players can step up like they did."The Lakers were bent on making someone other than McGrady beat them.From the start, the Lakers were trapping McGrady on the perimeter and forcing the guard to give up the ball. When the Rockets star did get free, he couldn't finish. McGrady missed nine of his first 10 shots, getting his first bucket on a runner with less than three minutes left in the third quarter. He finished with 11 points and six assists.
With the Lakers surrounding McGrady, the Rockets relied on their long-range shooting. Houston made 12 three-pointers -- eight from Alston. The point guard's biggest shot came with 2.3 seconds left in the third quarter.Behind a third-quarter burst, the Lakers were only trailing 68-66 when Alston stepped up to hit a clutch three-pointer.
The shot lifted Houston to a five-point advantage heading into the final period.The point guard knew he had to make shots if the Rockets were going to have a chance to keep their winning streak going."Well, I thought the attention was going to be on Tracy," Alston said. "I thought they would really load up on him. I thought if I could get going early, maybe that would shift the attention away from him and they wouldn't leave me open on the three-point line.
But they stayed glue to him. We tried to run plays for him. When they went on that big run in the third quarter, I knew if anyone was going to turn this thing around, it was going to be me." The Lakers didn't go away.Bryant nailed a pull-up jumper with 4:16 left that inched Los Angeles within 91-86. But Houston responded. McGrady hit a fade-away jumper and Jackson followed with a three-pointer in front of the Lakers' bench. Just like that, the lead was back to double digits.Houston had seized control with a game-determining 12-2 run.
"This is the NBA so we know that teams are going to make a run,"
Jackson said. "We started that third quarter without a basket for six minutes and that is not typical of us, but you're going to go through some droughts.
We didn't get down, we stayed composed and we continued to stay within our game. We toughed it out and made things happen at the end."
The Western Conference's leaders still have a tough stretch in front of them if they want to hang on to the top spot.On Tuesday, Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics visit Toyota Center.
After that, Houston goes on a three-game road trip with stops in New Orleans, Golden State and Phoenix. The road swing begins a stretch where Houston will play eight of its next 10 games away from home.
For now, the Rockets can take some satisfaction in their current standing in the West. "I'm sure you'd like to have (the conference lead) 16 games from now (when the regular season ends), but I think having it now, I'd rather be there than 10th and I think we've earned our way there," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said.
"But, we know it's just so tenuous that everyone's going to change as you go.
We had a challenge today -- we had to beat the Lakers here to get that spot and we did it. Now, we have the best team in the East coming in here in Tuesday and that will be our next challenge."
My Feedbacks
"Rockets are Invincible this year, i hope they can guarantee success this year, i feel great seing rick adelman's system again since he left the kings.
give this guy a better shot blocker, oh boy, your team will rock on baby, rick adelman is an all time coach for me 2nd is larry brown, they can make the difference this year"
roll the rocket pods!!!
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