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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston's guard tandem of Steve Francis and
Cuttino Mobley is commanding attention.
Francis had 19 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists and Mobley
had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as the Rockets beat the
Boston Celtics 101-84 Tuesday night.
"They are a terrific team and their backcourt of Francis and
Mobley is dynamite," Boston coach Jim O'Brien said. "There's no
better young backcourt in the league. They both had double-doubles
and they almost had triple-doubles. They had a lot of weapons and
we didn't have answers for their weapons."
Boston's Paul Pierce, who had a game-high 31 points, agreed.
"They're tough," Pierce said of Francis and Mobley. "They're
one of the better backcourts in this league. Francis is a tough
matchup for anybody and he was very effective tonight."
Mobley and Francis are aware of the impact they're making.
"We just try and go out every night and compete," Mobley said.
"But with us, the sky is the limit. I'm 25 and he's 23 and we're
getting better and better.
"It's nice to hear people say things like that, but we've just
got to try and get better each day like what Michael Jordan and
Larry Bird used to do."
Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich was especially impressed with
Francis, who nearly had his third career triple-double.
"I can't think of when we had two guards with double-figure
rebounding," Tomjanovich said. "Steve's just a tremendous
athlete. He competes on every possession. He's a great jumper and
hustles on every play."
Francis pinpointed the turning point for the Rockets.
"It seems like we've had that intensity kind of in spurts this
year," he said. "I think we're maturing as a team on the court
ever since the emergence of (Hakeem) Olajuwon."
Olajuwon added 13 points as the Rockets won their second
straight and sixth in their last seven.
Antoine Walker added 19 as the Celtics lost their fourth
straight in Houston.
The Celtics got off to a ragged shooting start, missing 14 of
their first 18 shots. They finished the first quarter with 31.8
percent shooting (7-of-22).
The Rockets scored 12 straight points and took a 24-11 with 1:46
left in the first quarter. Houston ended the quarter with a 29-19
lead as Mobley had eight points and Taylor and Olajuwon each had
six.
Houston committed three consecutive turnovers early in the
second quarter. Pierce converted the three turnovers into six
points as the Celtics closed within 33-27.
The Rockets answered with a 9-0 run and the Celtics never got
within six again. Houston led by as many as 16 and settled for a
53-41 halftime lead.
Pierce had 18 points in the second quarter, including the
Celtics' last 12, and finished the half with 21 points.
Taylor scored 13 in the third quarter as the Rockets led by as
many as 19 points.
The lead crested at 98-73 in the fourth quarter.
Game notes
Matt Bullard missed his third straight game with back
spasms. He's day-to-day. ... Rockets are 17-4 against Eastern
Conference teams. ... Boston's last win in Houston came Jan. 18,
1996.
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NBA Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 113
Golden State 102
Vancouver 116
Washington 104
Phoenix 110
Orlando 104
New York 76
Miami 74
Milwaukee 101
Chicago 92
LA Lakers 119
Dallas 109
Houston 101
Boston 84
Portland 104
Denver 94
Sacramento 94
Atlanta 80
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