Houston Roundball Review Archive: March 2007 Nets No Match for Rockets Friday Night

Friday, March 9, 2007

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- Friday night, the Houston Rockets routed the New Jersey Nets 112 to 91 before an announced sellout crowd of 18,144 fans.

Houston started the game aggressively; slacked off slightly in the second period; regained their intensity in the third quarter and cruised to the victory in the fourth.

Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy after the game: "...how hard we've competed..."

Houston (38-24) jumped on the Nets (28-34) in the first quarter by scoring the first six points of the ball game.

Yao Ming scored the first four points of the game and the Rockets never looked back.

Tracy McGrady scored 13 points in the period while Yao added eight points on perfect shooting (3 for 3 from the field and 2 for 2 from the foul line).

The Rockets led the Nets 31 to 18 at the end of the first quarter.

Houston limited the Nets to 30.4% shooting in the period.

Vince Carter scored eight points in the opening period; but, he missed eight of his 12 shot attempts.

Former Rockets player, Bostjan Nachbar scored seven points in the opening quarter.

Nachbar added 10 more points in the second quarter as the Nets bench scored 18 of New Jersey's 24 points in the quarter.

The Nets pulled within seven points (49 to 42) with 13.1 seconds left in the quarter; however, McGrady penetrated the Nets' defense and dished to a wide open Rafer Alston in the corner.

Alston drained a three-point shot to increase the lead to 10 points (52 to 42) as the teams headed to the locker rooms.

Carter made a three-point shot to start the third quarter scoring; however, McGrady scored seven points during a 14 to 4 Rockets run to boost Houston's lead to 14 points (66 to 49) with 8:08 left in the third quarter.

Houston's active defense bothered the Nets the rest of the quarter; and, the Rockets continued to push the lead higher and higher. Houston led 85 to 64 after three quarters.

The Rockets put the Nets away early in the fourth quarter with 21 to 8 blitz for a 34 point margin (106 to 72) with 5:30 left in the ball game.

Tracy McGrady recorded a game-high 34 points tonight, including a 15-point third quarter.

McGrady now has 18 30-point performances in 2006-07, as the Rockets improved to 15-3 in those games.

Yao Ming finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds tonight, marking his first 20-point game since returning from his injury.

Yao, who now has 13 double-doubles on the season, also connected on 12-of-13 shots from the free throw line.

Chuck Hayes, who matched his career high of 14 points at Boston (3/7/07), had 11 points and seven rebounds tonight.

It marked just the second time in his career to post consecutive double-digit scoring performances (other: 11 on 1/25/06 vs. Charlotte and 12 on 1/27/06 vs. Minnesota ).

Hayes also equaled his career high in free throw attempts (3-7 FT) tonight (other: 2-7 FT on 12/29/06 vs. Atlanta ).

Nachbar led the Nets with a career-high 29 points (4-7 3FG) tonight, surpassing his previous high of 26 set this past month at Toronto (2/14/07).

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