The Rockets look capitalize on their Road Trip, by winning 3 .. While the Kings look to make it 4 in a row. Rockets @ Kings Sunday, March 13th, 2005 Arco Arena, Sacramento, California. 2:30 CT, ABC <u>Inside the Numbers</u> <font color="red">Rockets</font> Leading Scorer: Tracy McGrady (25.9 PPG) Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming (8.4 RPG) Assist Man: Tracy McGrady (6 APG) The 'X Factor': Bob Sura (10.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 5.3 APG) <font color="purple">Kings</font> Leading Scorer: Mike Bibby (19.8 PPG) Leading Rebounder: Brad Miller (9.3 RPG) Assist Man: Mike Bibby (6.5 APG) The 'X Factor': Peja Stojakovic (19.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.9 APG) Probable Line-ups <div align="center"><font color="red">Rockets <font size="1">Bob Sura, David Wesley, Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Yao Ming</font></font> <font color="purple">Kings <font size="1">Mike Bibby, Cuttino Mobley, Peja Stojakovic, Kenny Thomas, Greg Ostertag</div></font></font> <font size="1">Brad Miller will be unavailable for the Kings. </font> <div align="center">Position-By-Position:</div> Point Guard: Bob Sura/Mike Bibby - Bibby has been on a tear as of late, with Webber gone, Peja not at 100%. Sura is recovering from an injury.. Advantage: Kings Shooting Guard: David Wesley/Cuttino Mobley - The former Rocket takes on his old team, and he'll be looking to score. But David Wesley is coming off a big game, and his ability to move off of doubles and get open for jumpers will even things out. Though Cuttino might be quicker, Wes can hold his own. Advantage: Even Small Forward: Tracy McGrady/Peja Stojakovic - Last year, this contest would be a little more even. But an uninspired, banged up Peja will have trouble guarding McGrady. Tracy is coming off a huge game.. T-Mac wins this. Advantage: Rockets Power Forward: Juwan Howard/Kenny Thomas - Thomas is a better rebounder and scorer, but IMO, Juwan can take on Thomas, and win if he really strived for it. I expect Thomas to be doubling Yao, so Juwan should have a nice game offensively. Advantage: Even Center: Yao Ming/Greg Ostertag/Brian Skinner (who might get the start) - Ostertag has never had fun dancing with Rockets Centers. During the Dream Era, he was the one to play Hakeem, now he is assigned to Yao Ming. Yao is coming off a MONSTA game, but he might be winded and tired. I do not expect Yao to have a great game, but a 17-8 statline is reasonable. But hey, Yao, prove me wrong . Advantage: Rockets <div align="center">KEYS TO THE GAME</div> <font color="red">Rockets</font> <ul>Get Yao involved. When the Big Fella got his in Phoenix, the results were unreal. Against Amare, he posted a career night, and probably the Game of His Career so far. He needs to continue that tear, both through his team, and with confidence. He should not shy away from anyone now.[/list] <ul>Role Players, Please stand up. Against the Suns, Wesley, Barry, and Mutumbo had fantastic games, as did Ryan Bowen, who played stellar defense when called upon. They must continue that, or the Kings can take advantage of us. Williamson, and Eddie House, are two players who might've been forgotten, but Williamson just dumped 22 on the Clippers.[/list] <ul>Back Court Presence. Bibby/Mobley/Peja are one of the best 1,2,3 combos in the League. The Rockets, Sura (James..)/Wesley/T-Mac, aren't that bad either, but with Sura coming off injury, the Kings might exploit that using Bibby. Wes, James, and Tracy, all have to pick up the scoring, as well as rebounding and defense, against Bibby, the Kings most potent threat.[/list] <font color="purple">Kings</font> <ul>Undo Yao. Keep Yao out of this game, constant doubles should frustrate the Big Guy, and keep him in Foul Trouble. Ostertag and Skinner are both experienced players, they should look in their 'Ol-Bag-O-Tricks.[/list] <ul>Peja+Cuttino > Tracy+Wes. Peja and Cat combined for 27 points in their last game (against LA). 21 of them were from Cuttino, and the other 6 from Peja .. who played 38 minutes. T-Mac and Wes combined for 58 points, 38 from McGrady, and 20 from Wesley. Bibby will outscore Sura and likely James, but Wesley and McGrady are what seperate the Kings and a W.[/list] <ul>Role Players MUST STEP UP. This is Key for both teams. The Kings, who had, probably the best bench in Basketball a few years back, are lacking serious depth with both BJax and Miller out. Songaila, Skinner (Ostertag, whoever doesn't start), and Williamson have to come up big in this game. The better the bench does, the harder the momentum swings.[/list] Prediction: With the Rockets coming off a Big Win, and Sura, having some time to readjust himself, the Rockets should come out gunning. Yao can have a good game, it all depends on him. The Kings just grinded out two wins on game-winning jumpers, and with Brad Miller out, their injury woes continue. The Rockets should be able to grab this one sometime in the Fourth, or even before that. Rockets: 97 Kings: 88
Great preview man. The Kings have been a topsy turvy team since the trade but they're still getting the W so this would be a good game. After our recent blockbuster win, I 'd say that we'd take the game to them. I hope Yao has his game face on. Rockets to win by 8. 108 to 100.
Nice preview. I've always been a fan of Cat Mobley... he's a lefty (like me), an excellent shooter, and he's also an ex-rocket hehehe. This will be a good game I fear. T-Mac will be T-Mac, so expect a 25+ point night from him. As usual, The game hangs in the balance of Yao. Of course, the Rockets have won games when Yao has played poorly, but his contribution is what makes the difference, and the Rockets ALMOST ALWAYS win whenever he scores 25+. Good Luck Rockets!
This should definitely be a good game though I think its in Sacramento favor since its in the Arco Arena, famous for the loudest crowd. Plus, they have a bunch of scorers on the team where everyones a threat while we still might be a bit tired from the great performance in Phoenix. With the addition of Thomas, Williamson, and Skinner, Kings of a new found depth in my opinion and a lot of defense to go along with it as well so hopefully, Yao doesn't have a hard time against those three. If Yao can have a good game perhaps a 20/10 statline, Houston has a better chance of coming out of this with a win. Plus, I'm looking to see if Sura can explode back to his former self. Prediction- 104-100 Houston win.
I could foresee Brian Skinner and Ostertag giving Yao problems down low with their physical play, but Stojakovic will not stop McGrady. I expect T-Mac to go for 40 tonight. Kenny Thomas's play could greatly influence the outcome of the game. His rebounding and mid range jumper might be hard for Howard to contend with. If we keep the Kings off the boards and run with them, we might be looking at a win. Barry and James need to be big factors off the bench, and it would be good if Mutombo could give us 4 blocks and 8 rebounds.
This game should be a rockets win, maybe 102-94. dont let bibby go crazy and last time we met cat, he also had a big game
Great Preview! This is a really important game for us if we want that 5th seed, if we win this then we'll go on a 3 game winstreak against teams many people doubted we could beat. The important factor in this game is Yao Ming, he normally plays quite well against the Kings so if he can score 20+ points and 10 rebounds we should be fine, T-Mac should have his average game. We should be fine.
its wierd that through this little winning streak all the teams have been missing a key peice to their team, one of thier all-stars, but o well better for us.
The Kings are not attacking the basket at all in the first quarter right now, and they've missed a bunch of threes. Rockets up 11-8 with 7 minutes to go in the quarter. Yao has a technical foul...
u can tell Sura is still not himself, lack luster drives and the inability to get those long rebounds...
Mike James is on fire he's 5/5 from the field including 2 three pointers, and T-Mac is shooting the ball well again, also David Wesley started very well and has 9 points as I type this, Yao Ming has currently has 9 points and it's just about halftime. Like T-Clutch-Mac said though Bob Sura isn't playing like he was before the injury, its understandable though.
i personally love seeing 6 players in double figure rather than Yao and Tracy doing it all, but i would take either as long as we win. I think i have a man crush on Mike James now.
Rockets win, Rockets win, Rockets win. We made history today, becoming only the fourth team in NBA history to win four straight against teams above .600. The fact that we won three of these on the road too says a lot about how good we've become. Yao didn't have a great night, but he played less than 30 minutes. Wesley, James and Barry were the key guys who contributed to this blowout win.
Mike Bibby's struggles really helped the rockets get the win. Tmac played great D and Yao was aggresive. Mike James was great today. Good win for the Rockets, hopefully they can move up to the standings and fight for homecourt.
Wow, that record didnt seem like that great of a feat. This win streak has been awsome, but other than the sonics, each team missed a key component so it took some of the fun out of it. Skinner matches up with yao better. This is happening a lot and i just hope it happens in the playoffs too. Rockets are cursing teams. Yao was great though he could do better on stopping thosse offensive rebounds, he really defended great. Looks like he was resting so he can play the warriors. We really are sealing a playoff spot and can aim for a bigger picture, like home court.
As optimistic as I might be, I don't think home court is within our reach. The rest of March is still very tough and features a lot of road games, and I just don't see Dallas dropping enough games for us to overtake them. The Kings are also adjusting pretty well to Webber's trade, but I think it possible for Houston to take the 5th spot from them and face Dallas. We won't get home court advantage though.
Great game for Houston. I can't stress how great Wesley, Barry, and James are for this team. The guys were knocking down open shots and crushed Sacramento throughout the game. Yao didn't play that much minutes even though he wasn't in foul trouble but still managed a nice statline. Plus, he got a technical which I can't really say is good or bad. McGrady once again had a good game but sort of got bruised up from a fastbreak layup. Hopefully its nothing too bad. And why does it always seem like every elite team we play some key guy is injured? Anyways Houston seems to be inching closer and closer to Sacramento which is the fifth spot. Next game, Golden State Warriors.
After the Warriors, we come back home to face Portland and Boston, go to Minnesota to play the Wolves, then host the Heat and Cavs. I can see us maybe going undefeated in this stretch and getting a nine game winning streak. The Celtics and Heat are the only teams we might have problems with.
