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Rockets survive late scare to top Magic
Houston 96, Orlando 94
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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
ORLANDO -- Before the Magic faithful had a chance to comprehend the final call on Friday night, Rafer Alston was already exiting the arena and racing for the showers.
He didn't want to give the game's officials any chance to change their minds on a last-second call.
"When they said it was no good, we were just trying to hurry up and take a shower before they would tell us to come back onto the court," Alston said.
Luckily, Alston and Co. didn't need to implement that strategy.
Before a stunned capacity crowd at Amway Arena, the Rockets finally caught a much-needed break Friday night when officials ruled that a last-second tip-in by Orlando's Adonal Foyle came after the buzzer. The debateable ruling sent the Rockets into a frenzy and gave them a thrilling 96-94 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Foyle, who reached the basket unscathed for an offensive rebound after Rashard Lewis missed a potential game-typing layup, nearly sent the game into overtime with his putback at the buzzer. But after referees reviewed the play on a monitor at the scorer's table, the shot was waved off. No record of an official call was made before the review and the officiating crew declined comment after the game.
In any case, the Rockets will take the win.
"I really thought Chuck (Hayes) did a great shop on Lewis forcing him to take a tough shot," Adelman said. "We told the other guys to just box out. But we left Foyle at the basket and it almost cost us. But I couldn't tell. It was really close. Everyone on our side kept saying it was still in his hands when (the buzzer) went off so thank goodness."
The call helped the Rockets avoid what would have been another frustrating ending.
Despite taking an 11-point advantage into the final five minutes, Houston almost allowed the Magic to steal this one from them. The Rockets made only two of their final six shots and had a couple of critical turnovers down the stretch. With Houston's offense in a sudden funk at the worst possible moment, the Magic used a 14-3 spurt to knot the game at 94-94 with 19.9 seconds remaining.
Fortunately, the Rockets had Alston to bail them out. The Rockets point guard ended up saving the day by sinking a driving layup with 4.3 seconds left after keeping the ball on a pick-and-roll play with Yao Ming. The shot capped off an impressive night for Alston. He had little trouble attacking the Magic's defense throughout the game, finishing with 20 points and eight assists.
"It's a play that's been working for us," Alston said. "I was amazed that Foyle didn't try to stop me until I got to the rim. Once I felt him on the side of me, I knew I could get that ball up. I knew if I could get a good angle on that glass, it was going to drop in."
The Magic, of course, had one more chance.
With the game on the line, Hayes picked up Lewis and had little trouble forcing the Magic star into a tough driving layup. But with Yao out of the game and no one boxing out Foyle, the Orlando center got himself in position for the last-second tip. He just didn't get credit for it in the end.
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said after the game that he had already put in a complaint to the NBA since no call was made prior to the review.
"Exciting finish," Yao said coyly after the game. "I just know we won."
The wild finish overshadowed another impressive meeting between the game's two best centers -- Yao and Dwight Howard.
Despite being slowed by foul trouble, the two big men each had their share of moments in Friday's action. Howard threw down an impressive dunk on an alley-oop pass from Jameer Nelson in the second quarter. Yao, in the meantime, methodically swished hooks shots and fade-away jumpers over Howard.
By the time it was finished, Yao had the more impressive stat line. The Rockets center finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds and even held Howard, the NBA's leading rebounder at almost 16 per game, to eight boards. Howard had only 16 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Still, Yao left Orlando impressed with Howard's game.
"It's a tough matchup for both of us," Yao said. "He really, really works hard. I've never seen him workout, but I can feel it. He's improved so much from last year. I need to catch up now so that I can play longer against him."
The Rockets, though, didn't have any interest in playing against the Magic longer on Friday night. They're just hoping the break that they caught could help them build some momentum.
"We keep playing games where it looks like maybe we could build something," Adelman said. "That's what we'll have to find out. We're going home to play the Knicks and then we got two more on the road again. We can't get anything going. But maybe a night like tonight where we get a win like this will set us off. That's at least what we're hoping."
