Sonics’ road skid reaches 14 games
HOUSTON – Tracy McGrady and Ray Allen seemed to be going shot for shot at times Wednesday night.
In the end, T-Mac made the bucket that mattered most.
McGrady and Allen both scored 36 points, but McGrady sank a 3-pointer with 51 seconds left to clinch the Houston Rockets’ 112-102 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics, who tied a franchise record with their 14th consecutive road loss.
When McGrady dribbled away from rookie Mickael Gelabale and swished his fourth 3-pointer, he glanced at the Sonics bench and wryly grinned as Seattle coach Bob Hill called a timeout.
McGrady has been plagued by back problems the past three seasons, but he’s healed now and enjoying basketball as much as he has in a while. It helps that the Rockets have won four in a row and eight of their last 11.
“I just think that me being healthy, I’m playing with a great deal of confidence,” he said, “and my team is doing the same.”
Allen isn’t getting much support. The Sonics have been ravaged by injuries this season, leaving him to carry the team almost every night.
It isn’t working, especially on the road, where the Sonics are winless since Nov. 22.
“We needed someone else to make an open jump shot,” Hill said. “We put so much pressure on him (Allen) and he is unbelievable the way he keeps hitting those shots.”
Rafer Alston had 15 points and nine assists and Dikembe Mutombo had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who’ve won 13 of 19 games since Yao Ming broke his right leg.
“We understand the task at hand,” McGrady said. “We know that we don’t have that big guy down in the post, who is giving us 25 (points) and 10 (rebounds) a night. That gives other guys opportunities to step up and take on that challenge and they’ve been doing a great job of it.”
Rockets 112, SuperSonics 102
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| SEATTLE | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Gelabale | 34:17 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| Wilcox | 31:22 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 0-6 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Collison | 45:41 | 12-19 | 1-2 | 4-17 | 1 | 2 | 25 |
| Allen | 45:25 | 15-28 | 2-2 | 1-5 | 6 | 1 | 36 |
| Watson | 28:42 | 4-9 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 8 | 1 | 10 |
| Ridnour | 22:23 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Wilkins | 13:34 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Petro | 18:36 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 45-87 | 5-8 | 7-41 | 32 | 19 | 102 |
Percentages: FG .517, FT .625. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Allen 4-8, Wilkins 2-3, Watson 1-4, Gelabale 0-3). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 14 (17 PTS). Blocked Shots: 1 (Collison). Turnovers: 12 (Allen 5, Watson 3, Ridnour 2, Wilkins, Gelabale). Steals: 4 (Watson 2, Allen, Wilcox). Technical Fouls: None.
| FG | FT | Reb | |||||
| HOUSTON | Min | M-A | M-A | O-T | A | PF | PTS |
| Battier | 37:10 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-5 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| Howard | 33:36 | 2-7 | 7-8 | 0-3 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Mutombo | 23:49 | 5-5 | 0-0 | 1-8 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| McGrady | 33:31 | 13-23 | 6-8 | 2-5 | 9 | 0 | 36 |
| Alston | 36:08 | 5-13 | 2-4 | 0-3 | 9 | 1 | 15 |
| Hayes | 24:11 | 6-7 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Head | 28:26 | 4-10 | 3-6 | 0-4 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Wells | 23:09 | 2-5 | 5-6 | 0-3 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| Totals | 240:00 | 39-74 | 23-32 | 5-34 | 30 | 11 | 112 |
Percentages: FG .527, FT .719. 3-Point Goals: 11-22, .500 (McGrady 4-7, Head 3-5, Alston 3-7, Battier 1-3). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 6 (13 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Hayes, Mutombo, Battier, Wells). Turnovers: 6 (McGrady 3, Wells 2, Mutombo). Steals: 6 (Battier 3, McGrady 2, Wells). Technical Fouls: Wells, 9:26 fourth.
| Seattle | 29 | 22 | 31 | 20—102 |
| Houston | 31 | 28 | 26 | 27—112 |
A—11,908 (17,982).