# Regular Season Game 21: Houston Rockets @ Toronto Raptors



## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

​*(11-9)/(10-10)*

When/Where:
*Sunday, December 9, 11:30 a.m. CST*
*Air Canada Centre* 














































*Alston / McGrady / Battier / Hayes / Yao*














































*Ford / Parker / Moon / Graham / Nesterovic*


*Preview

Bonzi Wells has missed only one game this season.

Still, even with that relatively good record of health, the Rockets had apparently been trying to locate the versatile swingman for weeks.

They didn't find him until Wednesday when the key reserve surfaced with a season-high 24 points against Memphis.

"Tracy told me they found me off the back of a milk carton," Wells chuckled after the game. "It's been a rough season around the basket. It's so easy to make layups, but I've been missing them. Hopefully, that's behind me and I can be a consistent contributor."

He's hardly the only reserve that the Rockets are seeking more consistency from these days.

Despite boasting an improved bench heading into the season, the Rockets have so far gotten inconsistent play from their reserves heading into Sunday's game against the Toronto Raptors.

The Rockets' bench was averaging a healthy 30.4 points per game prior to Friday night's action. But that scoring has come in spurts and the unit has at times struggled to maintain leads when Houston's starters are pulled from the lineup.

Just take a look at their most recent results. Before Luis Scola and Wells supplied 40 of Houston's 42 points off the bench against the Grizzlies, the Rockets' reserves had failed to contribute at least 20 points in two of the team's previous four games.

The Rockets are seeking more than that from a bench stacked with veterans.

Wells and Co. are aware of it. They know that they have to offer more consistent production to relieve some of the pressure off of Houston's starters, especially Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

"We've talked among ourselves that we have to help (Yao and McGrady)," Wells said. "Those guys have really had to pull a lot of weight and we haven't been consistent like we need to be. We understand they're still our big two, but we got to help them out anyway we can."

Rockets coach Rick Adelman has been trying to find the right combination to get that consistent production.

Over the past few games, Adelman has used a nine-man rotation with Steve Francis, Mike James, Scola and Wells coming off the bench.

Francis, of course, is the latest addition to that rotation after not seeing any action in Houston's first 10 games. He came up big in a win over Phoenix with a couple of crucial defensive plays, but is still working himself back into shape. Scola, meanwhile, has recently shown progress with a trio of 20-point games. The other two key components -- Wells and James -- have struggled with their shot in recent games

Adelman is optimistic that group can provide productive minutes.

"It really helps when we get that from our bench," Adelman said. "It gives you a boost and a rhythm through the whole game when your bench produces."

Wells certainly played a big role in delivering that production against Memphis.

After seeing his teammates open Wednesday's game by missing 11 of 14 shots, Wells came off the bench to provide an immediate spark. He hit a pair of shots in the opening quarter, pacing himself towards a 16-point first half.

That's the sort of lift the Rockets are hoping to get from their bench every night.

"When you get that kind of production off the bench, you should win," Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said.


Raptors Update: T.J. Ford is back in the lineup after missing time with an arm stinger, but the Raptors are still ailing. Chris Bosh, Jorge Garbajosa and Andrea Bargnani have all missed significant time and could still be out when the Rockets visit Toronto. Unsurprisingly, the Raptors have been up and down because of the injuries.*


_*Next Games*_
vs.








vs.








vs.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Without Bosh and Bargnani, we should be able to win this.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

LOL the bigs shouldnt be too big a threat.
Yao needs to dominate.

I would be tempted to start with Scola aswell because Chuck's advatage is he is such a good defender. But the Raps big shouldnt hurt us too much on the offensive end.


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

WOW that team looks bad without their two stars. The rockets should be able to play their worst game of the year and beat this team. Let's be clear, I don't want them to play their worst game, I want them to play their best game and crush Toronto.


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Francis gets the start!~


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

11-2 Run to start


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

Bosh is playing i guess, but wow steve looks good


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

10-1 run by toronto dang


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Yao turnaround is $$


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Rick deep in the bench early, lead still double figs


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Yao back in - ez 2pts on the hook


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

45-34 @ the Half - Rock D is nice on this trip so far

Tmac leads the scoring w/ 14


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

well our lead is blow once again


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

WTF is this? What's the point of having a dominant center if you don't give him the ball? We deserve to lose this game. Pathetic.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

I have con to the conclusion that we are not a threat this year. 

43-16 run by toronto


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

bronx43 said:


> WTF is this? What's the point of having a dominant center if you don't give him the ball? We deserve to lose this game. Pathetic.


story of the season


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of my League Pass. Why pay to watch these pathetic scrubs who are coached by a complete *******?


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

U.g.l.y.


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## chn353 (Mar 12, 2006)

haha we might not even make it into the playoffs if we play like this


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

OneBadLT123 said:


> I have con to the conclusion that we are not a threat this year.
> 
> 43-16 run by toronto


i still think we match up with the spurs better than any other team in the league. of course that is meaningless if we never play them in the playoffs.


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## seifer0406 (Jun 8, 2003)

rocketeer said:


> i still think we match up with the spurs better than any other team in the league. of course that is meaningless if we never play them in the playoffs.


I don't know about that. The way Tony Parker and Ginobili are playing this season, the Rockets will need answers for both.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

seifer0406 said:


> I don't know about that. The way Tony Parker and Ginobili are playing this season, the Rockets will need answers for both.


when both teams played at full strength this season the rockets won. yao is hard for the spurs to handle and can get fouls on duncan. tmac is too big for bowen. and bonzi wells kills the spurs. and it only plays to the rockets strengths when the spurs go small at the end of games with duncan at center and 4 perimeter guys because it allows the rockets to get another shooter on the floor to get yao more room inside.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Wow. No excuse of losing today.


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

OneBadLT123 said:


> story of the season


i've been saying it all along, if rafer's not on the floor, yao's never getting the ball


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

SO how did everyone go on an individual basis?

The game started at 4:30am here so I couldnt watch it.

What was with Rafer?

Also I get so frustrated when TMAC takes 21 shots & makes 7.
While Yao only gets 10 shots.

When TMAC isnt making his shots he should only be taking 10-15. And Yao should take 20.


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

"Rafer is a big loss for us," McGrady said. "He provides a guy that controls the tempo. He's a great floor general, very smart basketball player and we kind of miss that." :eek8::sigh:


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

jdiggidy said:


> The rockets should be able to play their worst game of the year and beat this team. Let's be clear, I don't want them to play their worst game, I want them to play their best game and crush Toronto.


Well, this probably was the worst game of the season. It's all jdiggidy's fault. :biggrin:



> “I feel this is the worst game I ever had in my career,” Yao said. “When we played on the court, no intensity, no patience, no (adherence to the) game plan, don’t know our game, don’t know their game, no trust (of) each other, no defense.
> 
> “I hate this game. I hated it. It’s all on us. Us. I’m one of us.”


Or we use this game as motivation to turn this season around or we stay as a mediocre team.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

cool no RAFER!!


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

I didn't watch it. How did we do so well in the first half?


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## edyzbasketball (Nov 16, 2005)

Yeah no Rafer, but no Yao-feed either. Let's face it, McGrady is leaving his prime.


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

edyzbasketball said:


> Yeah no Rafer, but no Yao-feed either. Let's face it, McGrady is leaving his prime.



Those pull-up 3's get on my nerves


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

Thank God the Texans were playing well yesterday and the games were on at the same time.

I kept flipping back and forth and the Rockets were pissing me off every time I tuned in so I just stopped watching the game.

The only thing good that came out of this game was Yao getting frustrated. Hopefully this means he will go on a tear and average over 30pts pgm, 10 plus rebounds, and 3 plus blocks.

If he does that and his teammates follow his lead we might make a run. Not going to watch another game until we win at least 4 in a row.


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## edyzbasketball (Nov 16, 2005)

AllEyezonTX said:


> Those pull-up 3's get on my nerves


Ironically, even in NBA 2008 he sucks so badly at 3 pointers...
We need a 3 point shooter NOW. Or play Head for God's sake.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> I didn't watch it. How did we do so well in the first half?


Shots were going in, and Toronto's were not. In the 2nd half it was pretty much the reverse, but we played no defense and only went into Yao a few times.

Story of the season...


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