RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
MIAMI (AP) -- Bad starts have been unfamiliar to Pat Riley. Until
now.
"I said it all pretty much the other night -- we definitely hit
a wall early in the season," said Riley, who with Miami's 91-80
loss to Houston on Saturday night is assured his first sub-.500
November in a 19-year coaching career.
|  | | Houston's Cuttino Mobley drives past Miami's Anthony Mason Saturday night. |
"We're not at all a good team. We need to get it back."
The Heat cut a 20-point third-quarter deficit to three points
midway through the fourth quarter, but the Rockets then scored nine
consecutive points to put the game away.
"We get down by 20 and I have to go to a gimmick to get back in
the game -- pressing, that isn't our game," Riley said. "Our game
is defense. And our defense in the first half was deplorable."
With Alonzo Mourning out for the season and starters Eddie Jones
and Tim Hardaway having missed time because of injury, the Heat
(5-8) fell three games below .500 for the first time since March
1996. Miami finishes its November schedule against Milwaukee on
Tuesday and New York on Wednesday.
Cuttino Mobley scored 21 points, Steve Francis scored 15 points
and Kenny Thomas added 13 for the Rockets, who have won five of
their last six games.
"This team had so many moral victories last year, now it's time
to grow up," said Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, whose team is
2-1 on a four-game road trip. "I told them that these (road) games
are what playoff games are like. Let's start taking a playoff
approach today."
Leading 72-69, the Rockets scored nine consecutive points to
take an 81-69 lead with 4:47 to go. Thomas' 3-pointer keyed the
spurt, and Miami never got closer than seven points the rest of the
way.
Houston, which led by as many as 20 points twice in the third
quarter, held a 68-62 edge entering the fourth. Eddie Jones scored
eight points -- six from the foul line -- in a 21-6 Miami run during
the final 5:12 of the third period.
Mobley scored 13 points to help the Rockets build a 47-32
halftime lead. He had four points in an 11-2 run during the first
3:12 of the second quarter to help give Houston a 32-18 lead.
"I have personal goals ... I want to be an All-Star, and you
might have a better chance if you start," Mobley said. "But I
want people to say, 'Hey, he's consistent.' I want Steve (Francis)
and me to be All-Stars, and making the playoffs gives us a better
chance of doing that."
Jones scored 18 points, Anthony Mason 16, and Hardaway and Brian
Grant 15 apiece for the Heat. Mason was 12-of-12 from the
free-throw line.
Trailing 40-23 just 2:15 before intermission, the Heat scored
seven points to avert tying the team record for fewest points in a
first half. Miami scored just 23 points in the first half at
Orlando on April 22, 1999.
But Miami couldn't prevent the end of Riley's longtime November
success.
"That's a helluva record," Tomjanovich said. "Pat's had
struggling teams before, and still finds a way to win. Their big
guy is out. He loses Eddie Jones for a while. They're depending on
role players and yet they fight back. That's a tremendous
record."
Game
notes
Heat center Duane Causwell was a late scratch from the
starting lineup. Forward Bruce Bowen replaced Causwell, with Grant
moving to center. Causwell entered the game in the second quarter.
... Miami had won eight of the previous nine meetings between the
teams. ... Hakeem Olajuwon scored six points in 26 minutes. He
needs 44 points to become fifth NBA player to reach 26,000 career
points and 13,000 career rebounds.
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NBA Scoreboard
Houston Clubhouse
Miami Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 79
New York 75
Charlotte 109
Cleveland 98
Houston 91
Miami 80
Orlando 114
Atlanta 92
Dallas 108
Denver 84
Washington 107
Milwaukee 100
San Antonio 96
Philadelphia 76
Portland 86
New Jersey 84
Golden State 114
Minnesota 93
Phoenix 95
LA Clippers 89
Sacramento 125
Seattle 101
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