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Fifth straight loss: Rockets fall to Warriors
Troy Murphy scored 20 points, and the Golden State Warriors sent the fading Houston Rockets to their fifth straight loss -- 97-90 Tuesday night.
Jim Jackson scored 19 points and Steve Francis 18 for the Rockets, who are clinging to seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race. Houston leads eighth-place Utah by just 1 1/2 games. Nine years removed from their last NBA championship, the Rockets couldn't muster the effort to beat a team that has missed the playoffs the past 10 years. The Warriors, playing in front of their sixth sellout crowd buoyed by a large Chinese contingent, played like a team with playoff hopes despite having been eliminated from playoff contention for over a week. Houston was 13 games over .500 after beating Memphis, 88-80, on March 13, but the Rockets have lost nine of their past 12. Yao Ming scored 15 points, but didn't take advantage as Warriors' starting center Erick Dampier missed his third straight game. The 7-foot-6 center was 6-of-14 from the field with eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:03 left. Robinson even blocked Yao's dunk attempt with 3:18 remaining. A 12-2 run early in the second quarter gave the Warriors a double-digit lead. Speedy Claxton, playing for the first time in 21 games, sparked the rally with four points and a pair of free throws. The Warriors have been without a true point guard because of injuries to Claxton and Nick Van Exel. Former Warrior Jim Jackson scored 12 of his points in the third quarter for Houston, but it didn't make much of a dent as Golden State took an 81-68 lead into the fourth quarter. The Rockets shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half while the Warriors shot 62 percent. Murphy was 6-of-8 from the field, scoring 14 of his points early. Notes: The Rockets waived F Charles Oakley, who made the trip to Oakland, before the game. ... American Idol contestant William Hung, dismissed early in the process, performed at halftime to a rousing ovation. ... Warriors G Avery Johnson missed his second straight game with a strained right hamstring. ... With 19,596 fans, the Warriors outdrew the A's, who were playing next door at the same time. The A's drew 13,217. ... The Rockets beat the Warriors 15 straight in the Bay Area before Golden State won on March 19. |
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