NBA Game Summary - New Jersey at Houston

Houston, TX (Basketball News) - Bob Sura poured in a career-high 35 points, Tracy McGrady added 18 and Houston held off New Jersey in overtime, 94-85, at the Toyota Center.

Sura ended 11-of-16 from the floor, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc for Houston, which has won three straight. Juwan Howard added 12 points, while Yao Ming struggled on the night, finishing with six points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Vince Carter paced the Nets with 17 points. Nenad Krstic collected 15 points with 10 rebounds for New Jersey, which has dropped three straight. Jason Kidd added 16 points, 10 boards and nine assists, while Rodney Buford netted 14 off the bench in the loss.

"I feel horrible for our guys," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "They gave a tremendous effort. I was only disappointed with the result."

Howard’s jumper gave the Rockets the lead for good at 85-83 inside the 3:00 mark of overtime. Moments later, Sura drained a three from the top of the key to push the lead to 90-85 with around a minute to go. New Jersey, which scored just four points in the extra frame, never recovered.

"He was the wild card," Kidd said of Sura. "Sura picked it up for Yao and Tracy and made some really big shots."

The Rockets took the lead in the third quarter courtesy of a 14-3 run. Sura’s layup capped the spurt as the Rockets turned a five-point deficit into a six- point edge with around two minutes remaining in the quarter.

Houston then headed into the fourth with a 63-62 lead.

The Rockets attempted to gain some breathing room when Maurice Taylor’s basket staked them to a 72-64 lead with under seven minutes left in the contest.

New Jersey, though, fought back and used a 13-4 run to take the lead as Carter’s jumper made it 77-76 lead with under three minutes remaining in regulation.

The rest of the game was tightly-contested with the Rockets having one last shot at the win. With the score 81-81, David Wesley was unable to beat the shot clock with a potential game-winning three-pointer from the corner.

The Nets were then given the ball at mid court, but were unable to get a shot off with less a second to go, forcing the extra quarter.

The Nets led 19-12 after 12 minutes of play, but Houston opened the second with a 13-6 spurt to even up the contest. Jon Barry’s three-pointer ended the run and tied the game at 25 with just over seven minutes left in the first half.

The Nets would carry a 43-41 lead into the locker room. Krstic led the Nets with 10 first half points, while Sura paced the Rockets with 12 points.