NBA Game Summary - Houston at New Orleans

03.25.2005

New Orleans, LA (Basketball News) - Bob Sura scored 12 of his 19 points after intermission and Houston put together a big second half to earn an 81-68 victory over New Orleans at New Orleans Arena.

Sura added 11 assists and David Wesley netted 15 points as the Rockets registered their third straight win despite losing All-Star Tracy McGrady early in the first quarter. Scott Padgett contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds for Houston, which pulled to one-half game behind Sacramento for fifth place in the Western Conference playoff race.

McGrady, who ranked sixth in the league at 25.5 points-per-game coming in, strained his right hip while guarding the Hornets’ Lee Nailon at the 8:41 mark of the opening period. He had to be assisted into the locker room and did not return.

Nailon paced New Orleans, which dropped its fourth straight, with 17 points. J.R. Smith finished with 11 in the loss.

The Rockets trailed 47-46 with under seven minutes left in the third quarter before making three consecutive baskets to forge ahead. Sura’s runner with 6:37 to go in the stanza gave Houston a one-point edge and Clarence Weatherspoon and Wesley followed with field goals for a 52-47 lead.

The margin reached eight points when Dikembe Mutombo’s dunk to close out the quarter put the Rockets ahead 64-56.

David West’s layup to begin the fourth quarter brought the Hornets within six, but New Orleans would go scoreless over the next five minutes and Houston strung together nine straight points to put the game away. After Padgett converted a three-point play and followed with a layup for a 71-58 advantage, Jon Barry capped the run with a basket off Sura’s feed to extend the lead to 15 with seven minutes to go.

The Rockets didn’t seem to miss McGrady at first, as Houston built an 18-10 lead eight minutes in following back-to-back three-pointers by Weatherspoon and Wesley. New Orleans cut the deficit to five points by the end of the first quarter, but a 7-2 Houston run to start the second put the visitors on top 29-19 with nine minutes remaining before intermission.

Houston would then miss seven of its next eight shots and the Hornets embarked on a 13-3 spurt to draw even. Two made free throws by Nailon knotted the score at 32-32 heading into the second quarter’s final three minutes.

New Orleans took a 38-37 lead on P.J. Brown’s jumper with 31 seconds left in the half but Wesley hit one of two foul shots on the ensuing possession for a tie game at halftime.

New Orleans activated forward Chris Andersen from the injured list prior to the game. Andersen, who missed six straight games because of an infected right elbow, had nine points and nine rebounds in 21 minutes. Maciej Lampe was placed on the IL with back spasms to make room on the roster...New Orleans fell to 0-14 against Southwest Division foes and is in danger of becoming the first team in NBA history to go winless in its division...The Hornets are 2-12 when guard Dan Dickau fails to score in double-figures. He finished with just five points...New Orleans guard Speedy Claxton missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle...The Rockets downed the Hornets for the sixth consecutive time.

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