Texas Three-Step Flattens Spurs Olajuwon, Drexler And Horry Pave Way For Rockets’ 2-0 Lead
NBA playoffs
Three heads are better than two. Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler played their usual games above the rim on Wednesday night, but one other Houston Rocket hung out behind the 3-point arc with steam flowing from his hand.
Robert Horry was part of a Rockets triumvirate that roughed up the San Antonio Spurs, 106-96, and, with all lanes on Interstate 10 pointing toward Houston, this Western Conference final may soon be a memory.
The Rockets, in front of an exhausted 35,888 at the Alamodome, were gamblers at the game’s taut moments. When all else failed there was Olajuwon.
The league’s most valuable player is only the second best center in this series. Olajuwon humbled David Robinson again.
Olajuwon rang up 19 third-quarter points - 41 for the game - and had several sidekicks.
Horry (21 points) drained five 3-pointers - including two when the Spurs closed within breathing distance - and Sam Cassell pitched in a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 23 seconds left that turned a 96-92 game into a 99-92 afterthought.
Dennis Rodman was on the bench all the while, still attending all the team huddles, but was a solitary figure on the floor after the clock ran out. He sat, staring into space, and clearly all was not harmony in the Spurs’ fragile world. They trail this best-of-seven series 2-0, and have few tricks left up their sleeves.
On Wednesday night, San Antonio coach Bob Hill tried a brand new backcourt late - Doc Rivers and Willie Anderson instead of Avery Johnson and Vinny Del Negro - but they failed to roadblock Drexler (23 points) and then their gas tanks bottomed out. The jump shots of Rivers (16 points) grew flatter, and Horry’s grew prettier.
The Rockets trailed, 82-80, after a Chuck Person 3-pointer, but Horry scored eight consecutive points a minute later, and the Spurs’ collars were stiffer. Robinson’s 32 points were not near enough.
On a day they should have been finding ways to stop the Houston Rockets, the Spurs spent the morning answering questions about Rodman’s sexuality. At this point, the term distraction is relative, but Rodman - in the last two weeks - has tuned out his coach, been suspended a day, removed his shoes during games, put a headlock on a fan, posed for a magazine cover in hot pants and averaged 18 rebounds a game.
And on Wednesday night, just when they thought they had seen it all, Rodman came out and launched two 3-point shots. He dented the rim each time, and the other Spurs, for some reason, followed his lead.
San Antonio trailed by five points after the first quarter, having shot 27.3 percent from the field, and Robinson was again careless with the ball. He had four early turnovers, missed his first four shots and was glad the most valuable player balloting was not up for a re-vote.
By intermission, Hill had tried half the team on Houston’s Drexler, but each defender ended up chasing Drexler. The quick guard paced the Rockets to a 49-41 halftime lead with 14 points, and the Rockets fans who had driven 180 miles here from Houston hysterically waved their brooms.
For a team that had won 63 regular-season games, the Spurs looked generic, unfocused and perhaps could finally blame their forward with the pumpkin-colored hair.
“Actually, I was thinking about cutting it all off and putting on a tatoo,” Rodman said of his head.
Rodman offered to pose nude for Sports Illustrated, but instead wore those black hot pants. This naturally caused a stir in the Spurs’ locker room on Wednesday - hours before the game of the season. Rivers, after a glimpse of the magazine cover, said: “He’s pretty. I never thought I’d say a basketball player was pretty.”
And, from another corner of the room, center David Robinson shouted out, “I win the MVP award and I’m upstaged by a guy in hot pants!”
How many of these revelations can one team take?
The Rockets, meanwhile, were making their shots, and forward Horry dropped in three 3-point bombs in the first half. This was Houston’s 11th game in 22 days, but they were not breathing heavy. The Rockets had won three straight on the road coming in, and they were the more serene team through the first 24 minutes.
Rockets 106, Spurs 96
HOUSTON (106)
Horry 8-15 0-0 21, Chilcutt 0-0 0-0 0, Olajuwon 18-31 5-6 41, Drexler 9-16 4-5 23, Smith 2-4 0-0 5, Elie 2-4 2-4 7, Cassell 2-8 2-4 7, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 42-80 13-19 106.
SAN ANTONIO (96)
Rodman 2-6 0-0 4, Elliott 4-12 3-3 12, Robinson 10-18 12-14 32, Johnson 3-6 0-0 6, Del Negro 2-5 0-0 4, Rivers 7-17 0-0 16, Person 3-7 0-0 7, Reid 3-8 2-2 8, Anderson 3-7 0-0 6, Cummings 0-0 1-2 1.Totals 37-86 18-21 96.
Houston 21 28 25 32 - 106 San Antonio 16 25 27 28 - 96
3-Point goals-Houston 9-19 (Horry 5-9, Smith 1-2, Elie 1-2, Drexler 1-3, Cassell 1-3), San Antonio 4-18 (Rivers 2-8, Person 1-3, Elliott 1-4, Rodman 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Houston 52 (Olajuwon 16), San Antonio 44 (Robinson 12). Assists-Houston 31 (Elie, Cassell 7), San Antonio 21 (Elliott, Anderson 5). Total fouls-Houston 21, San Antonio 20. Technicals-Houston illegal defense, San Antonio illegal defense. A-35,888 (34,215).