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Sunday, Apr. 9 3:00pm ET
Francis powers Rockets to third straight | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Walt Williams had no idea that Utah had dominated Houston. So the Rockets' 99-90 victory over the Jazz on Sunday was less of a surprise to him than to some others. Utah had won the last 12 regular-season games over Houston dating back to Nov. 9, 1996 and eight straight overall. But that was news to Williams, who is in his first season with the Rockets.
"I didn't know that until just now," said Williams, who had 21 points. "That makes this even better. "It's just a good feeling right now. We obviously are disappointed with the season. But to beat a good team like this helps a lot." The Rockets led by as many as 17, but saw that dwindle to five in the third quarter. That's when Houston, frustrated with Utah's style of play, began fouling and drawing technicals. In the second half, the Jazz hit 21 of 23 free throws, including 3-of-3 technicals by John Stockton. Rocket forward Kenny Thomas was ejected from the game after his second technical with 6:33 to play in the game. "We kept saying, just fight through it," Williams said. "This is how (the Jazz) play. They get a team frustrated and then you don't execute. But today, we overcame it." Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich thought it was a big step for his team. "Games like this really help your confidence," he said. "The big thing is that you take it (confidence) into the off-season and you know you are getting there. "I'm very proud of Walt. He struggled early in the year and he has bounced back and been one of the most consistent players for us in the second half of the year." The Rockets have won three staight and six of their last eight. "I think the last week or so they have been playing like they should have played all year," Malone said. "Of course, they get ready to play us. "At 12-1, you're not going to go undefeated against a team. If you look at the way they played, you'd say, what if they had played like that all year? "Not to take anything away from their win, but it was probably one of the poorest games we've played all around." Coach Jerry Sloan agreed. "We were spectators today," Sloan said. "They just outplayed us. They shot the ball better. We never did shoot the ball very well, and never did execute. "We never got easy shots because we just hung out and took the outside shots." Cuttino Mobley added 16 and former Jazz sixth man Shandon Anderson added 13. Stockton led Utah with 23 points. Malone had 20 and Bryon Russell 16 as the Jazz ended a three-game win streak. Williams scored 14 of the Rockets' 23 first-quarter points and helped fuel an 8-0 run that netted a 20-14 lead with 3:17 to go in the period. Houston settled for a 23-18 lead at the end of the quarter. The Rockets stretched their lead to 13 in the second quarter when three straight 3-pointers gave them a 45-32 advantage with 1:38 to play before the half. Stockton's 3 shortly before the buzzer closed Houston's lead to 45-35 at the half. Malone had 10 points as the Jazz crept back to within five in the third quarter. But Francis poured in 13 points in the period to help the Rockets push the lead back to 13. They ended the quarter with a 76-67 lead. In the fourth, Mobley and Moochie Norris each had five quick points as the Rockets' lead crested at 17 with 10:12 to play. Game notesEven with Sunday's victory, the Rockets still have lost 20 of their last 23 games televised on NBC ... Mobley leads the NBA with 21 20-point games off the bench ... Utah had won 11 of its previous 13 games on the road before Sunday ... Malone needs 10 assists to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Charles Barkley and Wilt Chamberlain as the only NBA players to have 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Utah Clubhouse Houston Clubhouse RECAPS Orlando 92 Philadelphia 80
Houston 99
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