Home Wreckers Rockets Continue Visitors’ Domination

The weirdness continues in the West.

The Western Conference finals are a home-court horror show, where the cheers of a packed arena spell certain doom for the home team.

Game 5 of this topsy-turvy, Alice In Wonderland series, where being at home is bad and playing on the road is good, followed the path of the previous four. The winners, in a runaway, were the Houston Rockets.

Houston won its fifth in a row on the road to lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, and the home team has yet to win a game.

The same Rockets who were blown out in the Summit by San Antonio on Sunday downed the Spurs 111-90 Tuesday night in the Alamodome to move the defending champions within one victory of a return trip to the NBA Finals.

“This is the strangest playoff series I’ve ever been involved in,” Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “How can you figure it out? I don’t know.”

Hakeem Olajuwon had 42 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, his third 40-plus scoring performance in four games.

“I think his performance in some regards broke our spirit,” San Antonio coach Bob Hill said. “It seemed like he made every shot he took.”

But it wasn’t just Olajuwon. Sam Cassell and Robert Horry had major contributions.

“After two disappointing losses, we had to regroup ourselves,” Olajuwon said. “We were very lucky the series was tied 2-2. We came back here and played with confidence and played team basketball.”

Cassell, who started the game shooting 1 for 7, made seven of his next nine shots and scored 30, one short of his career playoff high. He scored 22 in the second half, 14 in the fourth quarter, and grabbed an offensive rebound that set up two free throws that ended any faint hope of a Spurs’ rally. He also had 12 assists.

Horry had 14 points and 13 rebounds. He even wrestled the ball away from Dennis Rodman under the San Antonio basket during a 7-0 Houston run at the end of the third quarter that spelled the beginning of the end for the Spurs, who have lost four in a row at home.

After being outrebounded 64-39 in Sunday’s 103-81 loss, the Rockets fought the Spurs to a 38-38 standstill on the boards Tuesday night. They also turned 22 San Antonio turnovers into 29 points.

Clyde Drexler added 19 points for Houston. David Robinson had 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven turnovers for San Antonio. Avery Johnson added 20 points.

Houston, 7-3 on the road in the playoffs, can advance to the finals with a breakthrough win at home Thursday night. If this bizarre trend of visiting victories persists, Game 7 would be Saturday in San Antonio.

San Antonio had a 24-10 advantage on the offensive boards Sunday. Houston had a 14-10 edge Tuesday night. But it was much worse than that for the Spurs. Seven minutes into the third quarter, it was 12-1 for the Rockets.

Rodman was in the doghouse again. He was held out of the Spurs’ starting lineup by Hill for showing up 35 minutes late for practice on Monday. He entered the game with 4:49 left in the first quarter.

Rodman finished with 12 rebounds and five points, but was scoreless with just four rebounds in the second half.

San Antonio never led. The Spurs fell behind by 16 in the first quarter, cut it to three in the second and dropped behind by 11 early in the third. But San Antonio finally caught the Rockets, tying it 71-71 on Vinny Del Negro’s 10-footer with 2:33 left in the third quarter.

The Alamodome, packed to its 35,888 capacity, was rocking. Fans felt they were on their way to their first trip to the finals. Then everything fell apart.

Robinson was called for goaltending on Cassell’s drive, then Rodman fouled Casell, who made two free throws.

Olajuwon, who was hot from the outside all night and finished 19 for 30 from the field, made a 15-footer. Horry made a three-point play, Casell drove for a layup and the Rockets led 82-73 at the end of the third quarter.

The run reached 11-0 when Cassell sank a 3-pointer that made it 87-73. The Spurs never recovered.

Rockets 111, Spurs 90

HOUSTON (111)

Elie 1-4 1-2 3, Horry 4-8 4-6 14, Olajuwon 19-30 4-7 42, Drexler 7-15 4-6 19, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Cassell 8-17 12-12 30, Brown 0-4 0-2 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Chilcutt 1-1 0-0 3, Tabak 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 40-81 25-35 111.

SAN ANTONIO (90)

Reid 0-0 0-0 0, Elliott 5-10 4-4 14, Robinson 7-15 8-10 22, Johnson 10-15 0-0 20, Del Negro 4-9 0-0 8, Rodman 1-2 3-4 5, Person 0-2 0-0 0, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Rivers 3-9 0-1 8, Cummings 4-5 4-4 12, Nwosu 0-0 0-0, Haley 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 34-70 20-25 90.

Houston 32 18 32 29 - 111 San Antonio 18 27 28 17 - 90

3-Point goals-Houston 6-17 (Horry 2-5, Cassell 2-5, Chilcutt 1-1, Drexler 1-4, Elie 0-2), San Antonio 2-7 (Rivers 2-4, Elliott 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Person 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Houston 48 (Horry 13), San Antonio 44 (Rodman, Robinson 12). Assists-Houston 31 (Cassell 12), San Antonio 17 (Johnson 7). Total fouls-Houston 26, San Antonio 29. A-35,888 (34,215).