Rockets 103, Kings 96

Wednesday December 11, 2002

By MICHAEL A. LUTZ
AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON (AP) The young Houston Rockets are quickly gaining confidence and wins.

The Rockets built a big lead and almost lost it, but they withstood a comeback by the Sacramento Kings for a 103-96 victory Tuesday night, led by Steve Francis' 32 points and Yao Ming's fourth straight double-double.

``The Rockets played well in the transition game, and they played real well in the second quarter,'' Sacramento's Jim Jackson said. ``That's when we gave them confidence and when that team gets confidence, they can play with anyone in the league.''

The Rockets snapped the Kings' six-game winning streak and also ended a nine-game losing streak to Sacramento. Still, they had to fight in the closing minutes to keep their first victory over the Kings since March 28, 1999.

``It's like I said a couple of days ago, we needed to win,'' Francis said. ``Us being a team that's learning how to win, this was a good step. Just to play defense the way we did against a contender should really help us.''

With Houston leading 89-84 with 5:17 to play, Yao hit a hook shot and moments later a short jumper for a 93-84 lead. Yao also had two free throws with 55 seconds to play, and finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

``It was just a great win over a team that has had it over us for a long time,'' Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. ``We knew they'd make a run at us and they did.

``We talked about it before the third quarter. But all the things you don't do, we did. We went cold, we had miscues and they took advantage of it.''

Chris Webber led the Kings' comeback attempt with 19 of his 30 points in the second half. Bobby Jackson added 27.

``I was just being aggressive, that's my game,'' Webber said. ``I was taking the shots. I tried to get us back in it in the third, but we got beat by a good team.''

Houston extended its home winning streak to seven games.

Cuttino Mobley and Eddie Griffin came off the bench to lead a 25-13 Rockets spurt in the second quarter that created a 38-point period and a 62-45 halftime lead.

Griffin had to take a detour before entering the game. He took off his warmup and discovered he'd forgotten to put on his jersey. He went to the locker room to get his jersey before coming in.

Webber led a 15-4 charge to start the third quarter and get the Kings within 66-60 with 6:15 to go in the period. Webber had 11 points in the quarter.

Francis then hit a 3-pointer basket and fed off to Glen Rice for an alley-oop for a 71-60 advantage. The Rockets held an 81-71 lead at the start of the fourth.

Webber stayed hot in the fourth, and the Kings got it down to 89-84 with 5:17 to play.

Mobley scored nine quick points in the opening minutes of the second quarter, then Griffin came on and scored 11 points over a 5-minute span.

``The guys called a players-only meeting yesterday (Monday),'' Tomjanovich said. ``I talked to Steve after it and I just got goosebumps hearing about what they talked about.

``I think you have to bring people together. It's hard enough to win in this league even when you're together.''< ^Notes:@ The victory moved Tomjanovich past Alex Hannum into 24th place on the NBA's career list with 472 victories. ... Sacramento's backcourt of Doug Christie and Jackson have scored in double figures in 13 of their last 15 games. ... Houston's 62 first-half points were the most it has scored in a half this season.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)