# Regular Season Game 11: Houston Rockets vs. Phoenix Suns



## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

​*(6-4)/(7-2)*

When/Where:
*Saturday, November 17, 7:30 p.m. CST*
*Toyota Center*​













































*Alston / James / Battier / Hayes / Yao*














































*Nash / Barbosa / Hill / Marion / Stoudemire*


*Preview

Houston nearly won without its leading scorer on Friday, but keeping up with the Phoenix Suns without Tracy McGrady might be a little harder.

The Rockets could be without their star guard again when they host the high-powered Suns on Saturday.

McGrady sprained his right elbow in Wednesday's 93-90 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday and wasn't able to play in Friday's 90-84 defeat in San Antonio. McGrady leads the Rockets (6-4), who have dropped three in a row, with 26.8 points per game and is considered day-to-day.

Without him, the Rockets recorded a season low in points, but were still tied with the Spurs with 3:48 left to play. However, 84 points likely won't be enough against a Phoenix team that is averaging 106.1 per contest.

"It looked pretty good at times. We shot a good percentage," said Houston forward Shane Battier, who scored 16 points. "I thought people were in rhythm. ... Throw (McGrady) in there and that's the next step for our team."

Yao Ming chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds and Luis Scola, whose rights were traded from the Spurs to the Rockets over the summer, had 20 points after entering with an average of 3.9.

"I just try to play hard every game and sometimes I play good, sometimes I play bad. Today I hit those shots," Scola said. "It has nothing to do with ... the Spurs."

If McGrady can't play, the Rockets could use another big game from Scola against the Suns (7-2), who have won four straight, including Thursday's 112-102 win over Chicago. Phoenix is 7-2 for the sixth time in franchise history and the second time in four seasons. Only the 1980-81 team, which started 8-1, had a better record through nine games.

Leandro Barbosa scored 25 points off the bench Thursday and leads the team with 19.8 points per game. Point guard Steve Nash, who had 10 points and 15 assists, is averaging 19.4 points and 9.9 assists.

Phoenix improved to 7-0 this season when scoring 100 points or more with Thursday's win.

"It was a dogfight out there," Shawn Marion, who scored 21 points, told the Suns' official team Web site. "We were scrambling, and they were scrambling. Everybody was trying to stop each other, and for us to get that many points up shows how hard we were working."

Grant Hill, who signed as a free agent in the offseason, chipped in 24 points and played a team-high 39 minutes. The 35-year-old, who was coming off a 21-point performance in Tuesday's win over New York, is fitting in nicely so far with Phoenix's up-tempo offense, averaging 14.1 points and 5.2 rebounds.

Hill has played in 30 or fewer games in four of his last six seasons, but is averaging 35 minutes per game with the Suns.

"I'm starting to get my legs, starting to turn the corner there, and just find a rhythm," he said. "It's a process, but I feel good now and just want to keep looking to get better."

Raja Bell returned to the lineup after missing two games because of a sprained right ankle and had eight points in 34 minutes.

Phoenix has won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the teams, but lost 120-117 in Houston in the last matchup on April 16.*


_*Next Games*_
vs.








vs.








vs.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Come on don't drop 4 straight


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Hopefully T-Mac will be back for the DAL game.

Out of all seriousness, I REALLY would like either HOU or SAS to completely whoop DAL soon.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

If history has shown us anything, its that were going to get whooped by the suns.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

> Tracy McGrady's oversized bench chair is in place. We'll soon know whether he will be in it.
> 
> McGrady is on his way to Toyota Center and will try to do a brief workout and a longer plea to convince team doctors he and his sprained right elbow can go.


Link

I don't want him to rush things. Besides, we would probably lose even with him in the lineup.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

> Tracy McGrady gave it a shot. And if it were up to him, he would likely be playing. He won't be.
> 
> McGrady and team physician Tom Clanton went to the practice court to let McGrady do some shooting and make his case to be cleared to play. The decision was made, however, to hold him out to at least Wednesday in Dallas.
> 
> *There is, however, a change in the starting lineup.* Fran will have that and more on that and the decision on McGrady in the live blog in a couple minutes.


...


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

^ Stevie?


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

Mike James???


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Please dont start with Mike James & Rafer

Please or please......


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

hroz said:


> Please dont start with Mike James & Rafer
> 
> Please or please......


they are starting but MJ has made his shots so far...he must be reading the things we wrote about him


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Yeah he has had a hot hand so far.

Been impressive.

But I still think only Rafer or James should be on at one time.


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

our offense is find but damn you can't stop them


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

STEVE Is Playing WOOO


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Francis sighting.

Ps whats up with Yao and FTs now??????????


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........................

My sopcast is ****ing up...........


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Scola owns


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Onebadlt123 to be fair your siggie isnt true in this game Mike James has been doing his thing.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)




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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Fixed.

Woops sorry saw the Yao pic and just presumed...................


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

hey hroz try this out 

http://broadband.nba.com/cc/playa.p...0_nba-league_pass_houston_051201.asx&gid=137#


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

I will name my first child lingi1206

Thank you


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Francis is rusty


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

OneBadLT123 said:


> Francis is rusty


yeah i mean stop with those jumpers lets see those dunks and driving into the lane


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

hroz said:


> I will name my first child lingi1206
> 
> Thank you



hahaha:biggrin:


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Grant Hill always kills us. Every time.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

I swear the NBA has the worst officials out of any sport.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

How bad is the rebounding.
Against the Suns the key to beating them seems to be getting mroe rebounds than them. I mean they have such a short front court especially against Yao.

But Yao only has 4 rebounds & we are trailing 19 to 21 in rebounds.

Also seriously Yao just the 1 point?
When was the last time Yao was on 1 point going into the second half????????????


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

OneBadLT123 said:


> I swear the NBA has the worst officials out of any sport.


While it is bad generally, it mostly comes down to the officiating of certain players, IMO.
e.g. Duncan gets away with a lot defensively and under the boards, Yao and Eddy Curry don't get calls on offense and get called for bogus offensive fouls, Ginobili is able to routinely deceive the officials, Wade is helped out a lot on offense...


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

hroz said:


> Also seriously Yao just the 1 point?
> When was the last time Yao was on 1 point going into the second half????????????


I don't understand why he occasionally gets shut down by nobodies like Brian Skinner and Rasho Nesterovic and Mark Blount, while consistently playing well against top tier defenders like Duncan and Jermaine O'Neal.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Just woke up. Suns are torching us. o_o


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> I don't understand why he occasionally gets shut down by nobodies like Brian Skinner and Rasho Nesterovic and Mark Blount, while consistently playing well against top tier defenders like Duncan and Jermaine O'Neal.


I think double teams tend to come faster when yao is facing bad defenders and that really throws yao off.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> While it is bad generally, it mostly comes down to the officiating of certain players, IMO.
> e.g. Duncan gets away with a lot defensively and under the boards, Yao and Eddy Curry don't get calls on offense and get called for bogus offensive fouls, Ginobili is able to routinely deceive the officials, Wade is helped out a lot on offense...


some of those should get better with the new refs actually enforcing the "principle of verticality." yao should get less fouls with his arms straight up and wade should get less bogus calls where he jumps into a defender to draw contact


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Pimped Out said:


> I think double teams tend to come faster when yao is facing bad defenders and that really throws yao off.


Often true, but they really haven't been doubling him aggressively this game. Marion rushed over a couple of times, but on about three occasions it was just single coverage and he put up ordinary shots. And Rasho completely owned Yao a couple of seasons ago playing him one on one. He seems more rushed against the mediocre defenders. Like he's forcing things.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Woo game's back on.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

While I am surprised and frustrated by Yao's game so far.
I do think if he got half the calls Wade gets he would be leading MVP voting.

But seriously I point 1 assist 4 rebounds & 2 TOs is terrible.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Sweet 4 fouls on STAT.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Pimped Out said:


> some of those should get better with the new refs actually enforcing the "principle of verticality."


What is that, exactly? Is it something definite that Stern has enforced, or is it just a subtle, unofficial change that people have noticed this season?


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

That's Battier for 3!


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

What the hell was that.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Make that 2 3s from Battier.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

yeah Yao gets his first field goal


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Man this is why Battier needs to be in the All-Star game.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Damn that pass by James was stupid


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Go Yao Ming!


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Francis needs to get in the game.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

LOL they made a good point

five games in 7 nights.

And we are now playing the Suns.

I think i understand why Yao is tired and not playing his best.


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

well...the suns are who we thought they were


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

If Mike James continues to refuse to feed Yao, he should be benched. That's pretty much the worst thing a role player on this team can do.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

What the **** is wrong with Yao? He just has not been playing well this season.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Pretty move but airball.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> What is that, exactly? Is it something definite that Stern has enforced, or is it just a subtle, unofficial change that people have noticed this season?


The rule is that if the defender is going straight up, he shouldnt get called for the foul. Its always been a rule and its one of the first things they teach you when you are playing defense, but it was never enforced properly in the nba. Stern made it "a point of emphasis" this year.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Get Francis in the game!


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

where is stevie? miss couple shots and now benched for the rest of the game? i give up watching this game maybe i would watch the end of the 4th quarter and see how bad we are doing


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Amare has become a pretty decent interior defender.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

giordun said:


> Pretty move but airball.


Looked like he was fouled on that. I could almost here the slap on his forearm from here.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Are they giving up? Francis Head Snyder? :S


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Aw Crap


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

I cant even explain how frustrating seeing Marion make that hook was............


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

hell i'm losing confidence..stick a fork in it, it's done. 6-5..

6-6, we're not too far away..just one more game.


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

7-0 run, okay..but why can't we do this for the WhOle game


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Dang I thought we had a chance but it has changed around alittle.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

It's over :S


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

man...another lost...lets hope something positive comes out of this like stevie starts playing and we start rolling all is not lost but its just tough to see us keep losing


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Hate Nash.


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

Aaron Brooks and Steve figure they start playing on a lost game


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

I want Brooks Battier Head James & Scola/Yao on the court.

Launch from downtown for the rest of the game.

We might get lucky.


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

i can't wait till we play dallas, i have a feeling we would go wild on them..if t-mac plays


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

hroz said:


> I want Brooks Battier Head James & Scola/Yao on the court.
> 
> Launch from downtown for the rest of the game.
> 
> We might get lucky.


damn right lets let those 3's fly Brooks Battier Head James and whoever else just shoot threes


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## CbobbyB (Feb 16, 2006)

6-5...4 straight L's.

I hope "those 3 guards" continue to shoot 37%. I wanna see more of Aaron Brooks.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Oh well...............

We have a few players who cant hit threes in this side, whos strangths on offense is driving to the hoop.

Alston Wells Snyder Francis etc etc etc.

But I gotta say I am still not overtly concerned.

We have TMAC returning in the next week.
We have Scola playing some great ball.(I know its only been 2 games but im impressed)
We have had a Francis sighting.
We have had a Brooks sighting.

We are not in desperate need just yet.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

PS we are out of the 8 in the WEST now.


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## Khm3r (Feb 10, 2005)

It's still early, we will get this offense down. Only the 11th game of the season, with no McGrady. But Yao, I have been disappointed by his game lately. I wish he can be more consistent this season. And his Free Throws?! Whats up with that!? :azdaja:


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Ehh...lost another game. That's OK. I was expecting it. I didn't see the game but I'm glad Francis had a chance to play. I'm kind of surprise Brooks had the chance to play too. Don't worry. This losing streak will end soon.


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## VeN (May 10, 2005)

lingi1206 said:


> i can't wait till we play dallas, i have a feeling we would go wild on them..if t-mac plays


lmao


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Nice to see Stevie and Brooks play.


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

VeN said:


> lmao


laugh all you want man but we are going to get that game!


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

I don't know what was Yao doing but he needs to put himself together. 

Stevie is back! Nice to see him playing 20+ minutes, he looked rusty.

We are dropping. Not good.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

**** 4 losses in a row.


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