Houston @ Washington -- 2/2/05

<div align="center">@
<font color="red">The Sacramento Kings (33-24)</font> @ <font color="navy">The Washington Wizards (31-24)</font>
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern
Place: MCI Center
TV: Local</div>


<div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="red">Rockets' Head Coach</font></font>

<font color="red">Jeff Van Gundy</font></div>


<div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="red">Rockets' Projected Starting Lineup</font></div></font>
<div align="center">
<font color="red">
Mike James: 11.5 ppg, 3.9 apg, 2.6 rpg
David Wesley: 12.3 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.1 rpg
Tracy McGrady: 25.3 ppg, 6.0 apg, 6.1 rpg
Juwan Howard: 9.4 ppg, 1.4 apg, 5.5 rpg
Yao Ming: 18.6 ppg, .9 apg, 9.3 rpg </font></div>

<div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy">Wizards' Head Coach</font></font>

<font color="navy">Eddie Jordan</font></div>

<div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy">Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup</font></font>

<font color="navy">
Gilbert Arenas: 25.5 ppg, 5.3 apg, 4.4 rpg
Larry Hughes: 21.2 ppg, 5.3 apg, 6.1 rpg
Antawn Jamison: 20.7 ppg, 2.2 apg, 8.1 rpg
Kwame Brown: 5.3 ppg, 1.1 apg, 3.6 rpg
Brendan Haywood: 9.2 rpg, .9 apg, 6.7 rpg
</font>
</div>

<div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="red">Bench</font><font color="navy"> Factors</font></font>

(<font color="red">Jon Barry</font>,<font color="navy">Steve Blake</font>)
</div>

<div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="red">Key</font><font color="navy"> Players</font></font>

(<font color="red">Tracy McGrady</font>, <font color="navy">Gilbert Arenas</font>)
Projected Stats
<font color="red">Tracy McGrady: 27 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds</font>
<font color="navy">Gilbert Arenas: 27 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds</font></div>

<font size="5"><font color="red">Keys</font> <font color="navy">to</font> <font color="red">the</font><font color="navy"> Game</font></font>
<font color="red">Houston:</font>
<ul>
[*]<font color="red">Come Out Strong</font>- They are coming off a game against Chicago last night, their legs are going to be tired and against a running team like Washington, they must get out to a fast start.
[*]<font color="red">Take it to Hughes</font>- This is his first game back in about 4 weeks. He is going to a little rusty out there, take it to him on offense, force him to work on D.
[*]<font color="red">Offensive Boards</font>- With Kwame Brown in there still shaking the rust off, Juwan Howard has the perfect opportunity to grab some offensive boards.
[/list]

<font color="navy">Washington:</font>
<ul>
[*]<font color="navy">Run</font>- The Rockets have to have sore legs, run the ball up and down the court. Run them out of the building, out of DC.
[*]<font color="navy">How will Hughes Play</font>- Is he going to let the game come to him or force stuff? Is he going to be hesitant on D because he doesn't want to re-injure his thumb? He will dictate the game for the Wizards outside of Arenas.
[*]<font color="navy">Finally</font>- We finally get to see the lineup Wiz fan's have been waiting for: Arenas, Hughes, Jamison, Kwame, and Haywood. Get it to Kwame and Haywood down low in the first 4 minutes of each quarter, then take it to the perimeter.
[/list]

<font size="5"><font color="red">Random </font><font color="navy">Movie </font><font color="red">Quote</font>*</font>
Bob Porter: Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I wouldn't exactly say I've been "missing" it, Bob.
*Idea taken from Supersonic

<font size="5"> <font color="navy">Prediction</font></font>
I am stoked to see this lineup finally and I think we will see a little urge in the Wizards tonight. They haven't played since Sunday, while the Rockets played last night against the Bulls. Wiz win in a very close one...101-100.

 

Damn, my prediction was so close...

What a game, finally...Kwame struggled shooting but was grabbing up boards. He will get his shot back once he gets used to this offense. Not worrying yet as long as he is grabbing boards.

Arenas w/33, Hughes with 31. Arenas had his 4th 30+ point game in a row. This is great, he is turning into a superstar so quick. Great to have Hughes back too. I liked Jamison tonight because he didn't shoot much...5-10, 13 points. I could take that every night.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The presence of Larry Hughes proved to be a big difference for the Washington Wizards.

In the lineup for the first time since mid-January, Hughes scored 31 points as the Wizards squandered a 17-point lead before rallying for a 101-98 triumph over the Houston Rockets.

Sidelined for 20 games with a broken thumb, Hughes returned in this one and made his presence felt in the second half, scoring seven of his 13 third-quarter points during a 12-2 period-opening run that gave Washington its largest lead at 59-42 with 9:03 to go. </div>
<div align="center">
<font size="1">(Larry Hughes looked spectacular in his first game back after breaking his thumb)</font>

Full Recap
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