Artest, Yao play big to down depleted Jazz
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 29, 2008 00:00
HOUSTON - Coming close to blowing a 16-point lead, but big performances by Ron Artest and Yao Ming help the Houston Rockets beat the shorthanded Utah Jazz in double overtime. Meanwhile, Joe Johnson scores 41 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks to victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Chinese giant Yao Ming and Ron Artest starred in the Houston Rockets’ 120-115 double overtime win over an injury-depleted Utah Jazz in Saturday’s National Basketball Association contest.
Artest scored 10 of his 28 points in the second overtime while Yao added 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, helping make up for their own injury absence - of All-Star swingman Tracy McGrady, who was sidelined with a sore left knee that has been troubling him all season.
Artest helped the Rockets halt a two-game skid, despite playing with a sore right ankle. After not playing on Friday against New Orleans, Artest played 40 minutes off the bench and hit a perfect 11-of-11 free throws while adding eight rebounds.
"I thought it would be smart if I took this game off, but Mac didn't play,'' Artest was quoted as saying on the NBA’s official Web site. "You think about the team, you think about winning and how you can help. That's what leads to, 'I'm playing.'''
Artest had eight of those in the second overtime.
"I should have been attacking all night instead of waiting for double overtime,'' Artest said. "Better late than never.''
Houston launched the second overtime on a 15-6 scoring run. It seized a 116-107 lead with 52 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Artest.
In the first overtime, Rafer Alston's 3-pointer gave Houston a 101-98 lead with 57 seconds left, but Kyrylo Fesenko converted a dunk on the other end to cut the deficit to one.
After Yao missed on the other end, Ronnie Brewer grabbed a rebound off Andrei Kirilenko's miss and was fouled. He made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the score at 101-101 and send the game to a second overtime.
Utah, who trailed by as many as 16 in the third quarter, forced the first extra period by outscoring the Rockets 26-16 in the fourth.
Deron Williams' driving layup with 12 seconds to play tied the game at game at 96-96. Williams scored six points in the final 1:40 of regulation.
"We came back in the second half, but couldn't finish the game,'' said Andrei Kirilenko, who scored 20. "Our defense was good and forced Houston to shoot more jump shots in the second half.'' Artest had an opportunity to win the game in regulation but missed a 3-pointer.
The Jazz was without their leading scorers - injured forwards Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap as well as Turkish center Mehmet Okur - for the second straight game. In their absence, Ronnie Brewer led the Jazz in scoring with 23 points.
Battle of downers
Meanwhile, Joe Johnson scored a season-high 41 points to lift the high flying Atlanta Hawks to a 129-117 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Josh Smith posted a season-best 24 points, while Mike Bibby scored 17 points and Marvin Williams chipped in 16 and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who continued to show their dominance on their home floor.
The Hawks have won six of seven on their current eight-game home-stand to improve to 13-2 in Atlanta this season.
"Any game that you can play that is high scoring is fun," Johnson said. "But you always want to be on the winning side." Ben Gordon scored 33 points and rookie Derrick Rose added 27 for the Bulls, who have lost four of their last five games. Gordon also surpassed Scottie Pippen as Chicago's all-time leader in 3-pointers. He was 6-of-8 from 3-point range to take his total to 669, passing Pippen's mark of 664.
"It's a nice accomplishment," Gordon said. "But when you lose, it doesn't really mean anything."
Also on Saturday night, the Washington Wizards dominated in the fourth quarter Saturday to silence the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-95 in a clash of two struggling teams.
Until now there had never been an NBA game matching teams who had played at least 25 games and had the two worst records in the league, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
With Washington owning a record of 4-23 and Oklahoma City at 3-27 going into the contest, the game pitted the last-placed teams in the East and West conferences against each other.
With the Thunder leading 78-76 early in the final quarter, the Wizards responded with a 12-0 scoring run to take an 88-78 lead, which they never relinquished.
Antawn Jamison scored 29 points for the Wizards. Andray Blatche added 19 points and 15 rebounds and Juan Dixon added 13 points off the bench for Washington, who outscored the Thunder 28-19 in the final period.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 25 points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Green added 23 points.
Artest scored 10 of his 28 points in the second overtime while Yao added 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, helping make up for their own injury absence - of All-Star swingman Tracy McGrady, who was sidelined with a sore left knee that has been troubling him all season.
Artest helped the Rockets halt a two-game skid, despite playing with a sore right ankle. After not playing on Friday against New Orleans, Artest played 40 minutes off the bench and hit a perfect 11-of-11 free throws while adding eight rebounds.
"I thought it would be smart if I took this game off, but Mac didn't play,'' Artest was quoted as saying on the NBA’s official Web site. "You think about the team, you think about winning and how you can help. That's what leads to, 'I'm playing.'''
Artest had eight of those in the second overtime.
"I should have been attacking all night instead of waiting for double overtime,'' Artest said. "Better late than never.''
Houston launched the second overtime on a 15-6 scoring run. It seized a 116-107 lead with 52 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Artest.
In the first overtime, Rafer Alston's 3-pointer gave Houston a 101-98 lead with 57 seconds left, but Kyrylo Fesenko converted a dunk on the other end to cut the deficit to one.
After Yao missed on the other end, Ronnie Brewer grabbed a rebound off Andrei Kirilenko's miss and was fouled. He made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the score at 101-101 and send the game to a second overtime.
Utah, who trailed by as many as 16 in the third quarter, forced the first extra period by outscoring the Rockets 26-16 in the fourth.
Deron Williams' driving layup with 12 seconds to play tied the game at game at 96-96. Williams scored six points in the final 1:40 of regulation.
"We came back in the second half, but couldn't finish the game,'' said Andrei Kirilenko, who scored 20. "Our defense was good and forced Houston to shoot more jump shots in the second half.'' Artest had an opportunity to win the game in regulation but missed a 3-pointer.
The Jazz was without their leading scorers - injured forwards Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap as well as Turkish center Mehmet Okur - for the second straight game. In their absence, Ronnie Brewer led the Jazz in scoring with 23 points.
Battle of downers
Meanwhile, Joe Johnson scored a season-high 41 points to lift the high flying Atlanta Hawks to a 129-117 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Josh Smith posted a season-best 24 points, while Mike Bibby scored 17 points and Marvin Williams chipped in 16 and eight rebounds for the Hawks, who continued to show their dominance on their home floor.
The Hawks have won six of seven on their current eight-game home-stand to improve to 13-2 in Atlanta this season.
"Any game that you can play that is high scoring is fun," Johnson said. "But you always want to be on the winning side." Ben Gordon scored 33 points and rookie Derrick Rose added 27 for the Bulls, who have lost four of their last five games. Gordon also surpassed Scottie Pippen as Chicago's all-time leader in 3-pointers. He was 6-of-8 from 3-point range to take his total to 669, passing Pippen's mark of 664.
"It's a nice accomplishment," Gordon said. "But when you lose, it doesn't really mean anything."
Also on Saturday night, the Washington Wizards dominated in the fourth quarter Saturday to silence the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-95 in a clash of two struggling teams.
Until now there had never been an NBA game matching teams who had played at least 25 games and had the two worst records in the league, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
With Washington owning a record of 4-23 and Oklahoma City at 3-27 going into the contest, the game pitted the last-placed teams in the East and West conferences against each other.
With the Thunder leading 78-76 early in the final quarter, the Wizards responded with a 12-0 scoring run to take an 88-78 lead, which they never relinquished.
Antawn Jamison scored 29 points for the Wizards. Andray Blatche added 19 points and 15 rebounds and Juan Dixon added 13 points off the bench for Washington, who outscored the Thunder 28-19 in the final period.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 25 points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Green added 23 points.