Phoenix (3-4) at Houston (5-2) 7:30 pm CST Phoenix The Suns are coming into this game as the 7th place team in the Pacific division. They have a combined record of 3-4. They snapped their three game winning streak Wednesday night with a loss to the Atlanta Hawks 99-94. Houston Houston is coming into the game as the 1st place team in the Midwest Division with a record of 5-2. Houston who was previously on a hot streak lost in Dallas to the Mavericks by a score of 97-86. Game Outlook The Rockets were given a nice little wake up call when they played the Mavericks last night. Dallas played a zone which they were unfamiliar with and it cost them dearly not knowing how to play it. They got caught off-guard last night but look for them to come back strong tonight. Lately, alot of teams have been doubling Yao and forcing the Rockets permiter players to hit shots. Look for the Suns to do the same thing tonight. For the Rockets to win, they must hit jump shots that are created from double teams on Yao. The Suns are a fast break team and they have some tremendous athletic talent. Stoudamire shold create fits for the Rockets tonight. He is too quick for Cato to guard and too powerful for Jackson. I expect him to have a big night. The big match up tonight will be the PG one. Both of these point guards have tremendous one-on-one ability so it will be a very exciting match up. Tonight's winner will be the team that can play the best transition defense. Both teams like to run when they have numbers, so, it will be imparative that both teams get back on defense. Prediction Suns over the Rockets 95-92.
What a tremendous game to watch. The Rockets didnt play a great first half however they really stepped it up when it counted in the seconf. Van Gundy's defensive philosophy is really hitting home with the Rockets ball club. Yao Ming and Steve Francis led the Rockets scoring 21 and 26 respectively. Kelvin Cato had 10 boards while Yao chipped in 14. Marbury had a season high 33 points last night and Stoudamire chipped in 14 and 9. The Rockets held the Suns to 38% shooting and they forced 20 turnovers.
