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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: The Houston Rockets shot down the top team
in the National Basketball Association Western Conference on Friday,
posting a 100-80 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.
Tracy McGrady scored 34 points and Yao Ming
added 28 for Houston, who notched their 11th straight victory.
Houston’s dominant duo combined to deliver the
Rockets’ longest winning streak since they opened the 1993-94
season with 15 straight victories en route to an NBA title.
McGrady was 14-of-26 from the floor and Yao shot
12-of-21 with 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who did not have another
player in double figures.
Rafer Alston finished with nine points and 11
assists for Houston.
The Rockets’ stingy defense held the
Hornets—who boasted the Western Conference’s best record
entering Friday’s game—to just 38 percent (24-of-63) from the
floor.
Chris Paul had 14 points with 11 assists for New
Orleans, who saw their five-game winning streak end.
Meanwhile, Charlotte forward Gerald Wallace
suffered a concussion in the third quarter on Friday as the Bobcats
fell in overtime to the Sacramento Kings in North Carolina.
Wallace left the game after taking an elbow to
the face when Sacramento’s Mikki Moore tried to make a spin move
underneath the basket with less than 10 minutes left in the period.
Wallace lay motionless on the floor for several
minutes before he was stretchered off and taken to hospital.
-- AFP
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