Sonic subs drubbed by scrubs
HOUSTON – Houston easily picked up its seventh straight win to end the regular season. Now the Rockets have to worry about whether Tracy McGrady will be healthy enough to play when they open the playoffs against Dallas on Saturday.
With the Houston star watching from the sideline, Mike James scored 24 points to lead the Rockets to a 106-78 win over the undermanned Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday night.
McGrady missed the game because of back spasms, while Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis sat out for the SuperSonics. Allen was sidelined by a sprained right ankle, and Lewis has tendinitis in his left knee.
“Right now that is a big concern,” Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said of McGrady’s health. “This wasn’t one of those fake sit out the last game things. I can’t tell you what will happen.”
McGrady is listed as day-to-day.
Even without McGrady, the Sonics, who trailed by as many as 39, had no answer for the Rockets’ offense. Six Rockets scored in double digits and Houston was 11 of 16 from 3-point range for a season-high 68.8 percent.
Yao Ming had 13 points in 23 minutes, Bob Sura scored 18 points and Jon Barry had 14.
“I think the best thing that we got out of this game is to see how we can play without Tracy on the floor,” Rockets forward Scott Padgett said. “There are going to be times in the playoffs when he’s not out there and we are going to have to find other ways to score. I think tonight’s (Wednesday) game helped us do that.”
Although several Rockets expressed concern about McGrady’s health, they all expect him to play Saturday.
Houston led 28-24 after the first quarter and scored 13 straight points to start the second. The Sonics never threatened again.
The game got completely out of hand midway through the third quarter when Houston went on a 12-3 run, fueled by 3s from David Wesley and Padgett, to stretch its lead to 33 points.
“We were missing 40 to 50 points out of our lineup,” Sonics coach Nate McMillan said. “But we still played 100 percent.”
While the outcome was never in question in the second half, Seattle’s Jerome James was good for adding a bit of drama to the night. He was called for two technicals and ejected by official Steve Javie after jawing with him over a foul with 7:13 left in the third. James had two points and two rebounds in 13 minutes.
Ronald Murray led Seattle with 22 points and Vitaly Potapenko added 13. Seattle made a season-low two 3-pointers and shot 43 percent from the field. The Sonics have lost eight of their last 10 games entering their playoff opener against Sacramento.
Although the win keeps the Rockets momentum going into the playoffs, Sura downplayed its significance.
“This was a meaningless game,” Sura said. “We were just out to get through it with nobody getting hurt. We were just trying to get it over with.”
Notes
The Rockets’ winning streak is their second longest of the season. Houston won eight in a row from Jan. 31-Feb. 15. … Houston used its 15th different starting lineup of the season. … The Rockets have won three straight games by 25 or more points.