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Rockets defeat Nets, 94-85, in overtime
Bob Sura scored a career-high 35 points, including a game-clinching 3-pointer
with 1:02 left in overtime, to lead the surging Houston Rockets to a 94-85
victory over the New Jersey Nets on Thursday night.
Juwan Howard scored eight of his 12 points in the extra period, and a hobbled Tracy McGrady added 18 points for the Rockets, who matched a season-best three-game winning streak and moved two games above .500 (19-17) for the first time this season. Jason Kidd narrowly missed a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Vince Carter had 17 points for the Nets, who dropped their third straight and fifth in the past six games. Playing on a balky right knee that had been drained of fluid Tuesday, Sura nonetheless seized control of the Rockets' offense with McGrady struggling through a rare off night and Yao Ming rendered ineffective. Sura helped Houston rally from an early first-quarter deficit, played solid defense on Kidd and hit nearly every clutch basket down the stretch. With Houston trailing 77-76 following Carter's reverse layup, Sura found himself standing unguarded outside the arc. He nailed a 3, sending the crowd into a frenzy and letting his right arm linger in the air a little longer than usual — a sort of personal salute to his gutty performance. Yao, however, nearly wasted Sura's effort by bungling a chance to seal the victory with Houston holding an 81-79 lead. Yao missed two free throws, Carter rebounded and quickly brought the ball down the floor. He found Nenad Krstic cutting underneath the basket for a two-handed slam, tying the game at 81-all with 24.7 seconds left. Houston's David Wesley missed a jumper as the shot clock expired, and the Rockets stole New Jersey's inbounds pass with 0.7 seconds to go to send the game into overtime. From there, Howard and Sura took over. The unheralded duo scored all of the Rockets' 13 points in the extra period, and even came up with smaller clutch plays to keep Houston ahead. Sura snuck into the lane to grab an offensive rebound and fed the ball to Howard for the go-ahead basket, and Howard then returned the favor by finding Sura for the 3-pointer that gave Houston a 90-85 lead with 1:06 left. McGrady, who came into the game with an injured left thumb and bruised left big toe, exited briefly in the fourth quarter with a strained left quadriceps but returned quickly. Yao was held to a season-low six points. He got into early foul trouble, took only two shots and went scoreless in the first half. He finished nine rebounds, two blocks and five turnovers. McGrady and Carter, who are distant cousins and were teammates in Toronto from 1997-2000, faced each other for the first time in the NBA without one of them playing for the Raptors. Carter was traded away from Toronto on Dec. 17. ... McGrady had his lowest point total since scoring 20 at Milwaukee on Dec. 28. ... The Rockets scored a season-low 12 points in the first quarter.
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