Recap: Miami vs. Houston
Sports Network | November 24, 2008
Miami, FL (Sports Network) - Yao Ming scored 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Rockets to their third straight victory, 107-98, over the Miami Heat.
Houston won despite a rough offensive night for Tracy McGrady, who was limited to six points on 2-of-7 shooting in 31 minutes of court time.
Ron Artest added 20 points, while Luis Scola contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds for Houston, which moved to 7-3 on the road and beat the Heat for the fourth time in the last five matchups. It was the perfect finish of a three- game road trip for the Rockets, who also beat Washington and Orlando during the swing.
"On this trip we learned something. We could which way we are going to play basketball," said Yao. "We are going to use the advantage we have on the team. For the first 10 games we played without team discipline. We passed the ball to the weak side very well on this trip. We need to keep doing that the rest of the season."
Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers each scored 23 for the Heat, who have alternated losses and wins in their last 10 games. Shawn Marion scored 17 to go with seven rebounds, but Wade struggled by going 7-of-23 from the field.
"We bit ourselves in the foot too early," said Marion. "I think when we scramble like that, we are not in position to get some of those loose rebounds and that's what killed us tonight, and our inactivity in the first half."
A three-pointer by Chalmers had the Heat within 95-90 with nearly 4 1/2 minutes remaining, but Carl Landry responded with a three-point play and Miami never got closer than seven the remainder of the game.
Rafer Alston's three-ball expanded Houston to a 25-14 lead with three minutes remaining in the opening quarter, and it was 30-21 going to the second.
It was 56-48 at the half, but the Heat rallied to close the deficit to 58-56 on a Michael Beasley layup with nearly eight minutes remaining in the third. Houston came back with the ensuing 11 points, capped by a Yao three-point play. Yao had 10 consecutive Houston points at one juncture in the quarter, finishing that spurt with a rare three-point jumper, expanding the lead to 71-59.
Miami closed the gap to 80-75 going into the fourth, but the Rockets got quick baskets from Landry and Aaron Brooks to start the last quarter.
The Rockets are 5-0 when breaking the century mark this season, while the Heat are 1-7 when allowing at least 100 points...Erik Spoelstra had his first technical foul as Heat head coach...Miami is 5-3 at home...Haslem has at least five rebounds in 71 straight games...Marion is expected to miss Miami's next game, Wednesday at Portland, to attend a family funeral...The Rockets host Indiana on Wednesday.
