Rockets laugh all the way to victory

HOUSTON: They watched the dancers. They talked to fans. Juwan Howard and Rafer Alston literally fell over each other laughing while watching one of the timeout videos on their way back to the court.

If the Rockets knew how enjoyable these routs could be, they might have finished them off early more often. Then again, they had a head start Tuesday, whipping the Golden State Warriors for all but the time it took the opening tip to reach Yao Ming's right hand.

Soon after, the Rockets began roaring through the Warriors' interpretation of defense before settling for a 118-90 blowout in which they scored more points than in any game since they had 123 on Jan. 3 last season at Washington. They also built their largest lead (33 points) of the season. And they had a grand time doing it.

"The Rockets are for real," Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "We had no answer for anything they did. I was going to attack Houston in the open court and spread their defense, and it blew up in my face."

Nelson saw the Rockets, if not at their best, close to it. Yao Ming took the life from the Warriors in the first half. Tracy McGrady blasted them in the second half. McGrady seemed to recapture then showcase more of his athletic brilliance than in any previous game this season.

"He looked dominant," Yao said. "He played like you saw Tracy the last two years, playing against the Mavericks in the playoffs, against the Spurs in that last 35 seconds.

"I think Dikembe (Mutombo) helped him with the elbow. It knocked him awake."

McGrady, in his first game since Saturday's concussion, seemed so energized, Jeff Van Gundy might have been tempted to order Mutombo elbows up and down the bench.

"He said that?" McGrady said later, laughing along with Yao. "He's a jokester, our undercover jokester. I knew he was gonna say something slick."

Yet for all the Rockets did well offensively, Yao hit upon the development that could be most important.

Yao took the entire fourth quarter off. By the end of the third quarter, the Rockets not only led 93-68, they had scored more points than in any of their past five games, more than in nine of their previous 17 games and more than in 54 games last season.

Source: China Daily