KFDM COOP Posted January 23, 2008 Report Posted January 23, 2008 Rockets rally in 4th quarter to top Sonics SEATTLE — The Rockets have overcome most of a Seattle Supersonics lead that had reached 13. They had come back from their shaky defense, and all kinds of mistakes. They had their offense rolling when they lacked one thing. "One stop!" Rockets forward Luis Scola shouted. "One stop. Just one stop." He was wrong. They needed two. But after searching for defense all night, they finally found it, with Chuck Hayes blocking a Kevin Durant drive with 1.6 seconds left before Durant missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to let the Rockets escape with a 109-107 win Wednesday at Key Arena. The Rockets had gone in front after Shane Battier, Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston hit late 3-pointers, with McGrady scoring on a driving jumper. Alston's trey put the Rockets in front, 109-105 with 19.3 seconds left, so that after Durant scored, giving him 25 points, he had to foul McGrady. McGrady had scored 28 points, but had made just 1 of 4 free throws when he went to the line with 12.9 seconds left and missed two more. That put the game in Durant's hands, only for Hayes and the rim to send it careening back. The Rockets had much earlier pushed their hopes to start the second half to its last chances. The Rockets had reduced the Sonics' 12-point lead to five going into the fourth quarter. But when Adelman went to his bench to start the fourth quarter, the Sonics outscored the Rockets, 12-4, to build their largest lead of the night, 95-82. The Rockets offense brought them back into the game, and with a 7-0 run late in the quarter, the Rockets closed to within 101-98. Sonics forward Nick Collison made 1 of 2 free throws before the Sonics fell back into a zone and Shane Battier hit a 3 to draw the Rockets to within one. But after Durant missed, the zone choked off the Rockets, with Durant stuffing a McGrady jumper and Carl Landry fouling Kurt Thomas when chasing Rafer Alston's heave to beat the shot clock. Thomas made one free throw to push the lead to 103-101. With that, the Rockets finally went in front, with McGrady pump-faking Durant off his feet then nailing a 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded, putting the Rockets in front 104-103 with 1:27 left. Thomas, who made 6 of 7 shots and scored 16 points, quickly sank a foul-line jumper. But McGrady got the lead back again, with a running jumper with 51 seconds remaining. The Sonics got a good look, but Luke Ridnour missed his runner from five feet, setting up the frantic final minutes. From the start, however, the Sonics gave the Rockets fits. They had Durant go around picks set by the Seattle centers, allowing him to shoot jumpers before Yao could come out. Duran made 7 of 10 shots in the first half, scoring 15 points. On Monday, he made just 4 of 13 shots, scoring 12 points. The Sonics even had backup center Johan Petro shooting on the perimeter, with Petro making three uncontested jumpers while Yao dropped back in the lane. Yao got off to a fast start on the other end, scoring 10 points in first quarter and getting Kurt Thomas, Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison in foul trouble. But the Sonics played far more zone in the first half than they had in Houston, keeping the foul trouble from getting any worse, and keeping the ball from Yao's hands. Yao had just three points in the second quarter, taking just two shots. But the Rockets had enough offense. They were far more creative in finding ways to hurt themselves. They committed needless fouls when over the limit, with rookies Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry especially generous. They shot 54.5 percent from the line in the first half. They were caught in a no-win matchup of 6-7 Wally Szczerbiak defended by 6-3 Luther Head. When the Rockets were outscored 9-0 to start the second quarter, the Sonics had a 14-0 run from the Rockets' 24-20 first-quarter lead to take a 10-point lead. Even when the Rockets began to roll offensively, with McGrady lighting up the third quarter, they could not stop the Sonics often enough to make much of a move. They did reduce a 12-point lead to 83-78. But with McGrady scoring 11 third-quarter points, Seattle coach Rick Adelman pulled out another wrinkle, going with a box-and-one defense on McGrady. Luis Scola misfired a jumper and McGrady missed on a drive. But the Rockets were within five, with the game likely to be determined by whether they could play any defense.
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