HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets roared to their 12th
consecutive victory when they beat the Chicago Bulls 110-97 on Sunday.
Tracy McGrady scored 24 points and had eight assists to lead
seven Rockets who reached double figures.
Houston used an 11-3 third-quarter run to take control of
the game. Then newly-acquired Bobby Jackson scored five consecutive Houston
points in the fourth quarter to build another 10-point lead after Chicago had
come within seven.
"Terrific second half for us," Rockets coach Rick Adelman
told reporters. "We took it up a notch, responded and took control of the
game."
Adelman was especially happy with the play of Jackson.
"He really got after it defensively, so I was really pleased
with the way he fit in," he said.
Luis Scola added 17 points, Jackson had 14, Rafer Alston 13
and Yao Ming 12 for the Rockets.
"I felt like I wasn’t active today," Yao told reporters.
"Maybe it was my ankle bothering me. I wasn’t very active on the offensive
side. On the defensive side I think I was okay."
Tyrus Thomas topped the Bulls with 18 points.
LAKERS 111, SONICS 91
Kobe Bryant’s third-quarter ejection did not slow the Los
Angeles Lakers, who won their eighth consecutive game with a road victory over
the Seattle SuperSonics. Bryant was ejected after receiving two technical fouls
for arguing with officials. Newly acquired Pau Gasol paced the Lakers with 22
points and Bryant had 21 points and 10 assists.
PISTONS 116, SUNS 86
The Detroit Pistons crushed Phoenix, handing the Suns their
most one-sided loss of the season. Rasheed Wallace scored 22 points and five
other Pistons were in double figures. Amare Stoudemire had 31 for Phoenix with
Shaquille O’Neal getting 11 rebounds and seven points.
CELTICS 112, BLAZERS 102
The Boston Celtics came back from a three-game skid to beat
the Portland Trail Blazers behind Paul Pierce’s 30 points.
CAVS 109, GRIZZLIES 89
LeBron James had 25 points to go with 11 assists and seven
rebounds and the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers routed the Memphis Grizzlies. Ben
Wallace, acquired in last week’s multi-player trade, added 12 points and 10
rebounds.
MAVS 99, T’WOLVES 83
Jason Kidd provided 12 points, 17 assists and seven rebounds
to guide the Dallas Mavericks to a road win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 29 points.
MAGIC 112, KINGS 93
Dwight Howard had 26 points and 10 rebounds in the Orlando
Magic’s home win over the Sacramento Kings.
RAPTORS 115, KNICKS 92
Andrea Bargnani’s 25 points led the Toronto Raptors to a home win over the
New York Knicks.
