Tracy McGrady scored 26 points and the Houston
Rockets snapped the Miami Heat's 12-game winning streak with an 84-82
victory Tuesday night.
David Wesley scored 14 points, Yao Ming and
seldom-used forward Clarence Weatherspoon added 12 and aging center
Dikembe Mutombo gave the Rockets a lift off the bench to keep the NBA's
top-scoring twosome of Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade in check
.
McGrady, who scored a total of 37 points and shot just 27 percent in
the previous two games, struggled again to find his shot, going 8-of-27,
but made all the clutch plays down the stretch.
During one late sequence, McGrady scooped up a loose ball, beat Eddie
Jones with a crossover dribble and drilled a deep 3 that gave Houston a
74-62 lead with fewer than 6 minutes left. He followed that with another
3, and later whipped a crosscourt pass to Mike James for an assist on his
3 to put Houston up 80-72 with 40.5 seconds to go.
But the Rockets nearly fumbled away the win with a couple of silly
mistakes in the waning seconds of the game.
James missed four straight free throws and Miami's Damon Jones made a 3
and completed a four-point play, cutting Houston's lead to 80-79 with 14.3
seconds left.
Wesley saved the victory by making a couple of free throws, and McGrady
made one to finish off a thrilling upset of the league's top team.
O'Neal led Miami with 23 points and 16 rebounds, getting the best of
his personal rivalry with Yao. Wade added 20 on just 4-of-19 shooting and
Jones had 16 points and seven rebounds.
The loss denied the Heat's bid to tie their franchise-record 14-game
winning streak, an impressive run that went from Dec. 6-Jan. 1 and put
them in position to seize the league's best record (52-17).
Miami was playing without starting power foward Udonis Haslem, who sat
out Tuesday night's game because of a slightly separated left shoulder.
Michael Doleac took his place in the starting lineup, and had six points
and five rebounds.
But the Heat clearly missed Haslem's fierce play under the basket, and
the undersized Rockets nearly battled Miami to a tie under the boards -
46-45 - despite a subpar effort by Yao.
Yao had 12 points and nine rebounds, playing only
25 minutes because of foul trouble. He eventually fouled out with 59.8
seconds to go after hacking
O'Neal on a
dunk.
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-24 08:00
