Rockets beat McGrady, Knicks 116-112
March 21, 2010
NEW YORK (AP)—Aaron Brooks(notes) scored seven straight points down the stretch andthe Houston Rockets got strong efforts from the players they got for TracyMcGrady(notes) to beat the New York Knicks 116-112 Sunday.
Kevin Martin(notes), acquired by the Rockets from Sacramento in the three-team dealthat sent McGrady to New York, led Houston with 28 points. Rookie Jordan Hill(notes)and Jared Jeffries(notes), who went from the Knicks to the Rockets, played key rolesdown the stretch because of injuries and illnesses to Houston’s frontcourt.
Hill finished with a season-high 13 points, while Jeffries took a pair ofcharges in the final quarter.
McGrady finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 33minutes, but was scoreless in the fourth.
David Lee(notes) had 27 points and 20 rebounds for the Knicks, who blew an early17-point lead. Danilo Gallinari(notes) and Toney Douglas(notes) each scored 26, with Douglasmaking a franchise rookie-record six 3-pointers in the best game of his career.
Reserves Kyle Lowry(notes) and Chase Budinger(notes) each scored 18 points for theRockets, who rebounded from Friday’s loss to Boston to win for the fifth time insix games. Brooks finished with 16 points and Houston won despite getting littlefrom ailing forward Luis Scola(notes), then losing Shane Battier(notes) to a first-half kneeinjury.
Houston trailed by three before Brooks’ 3-pointer with 2:15 to go. AfterMcGrady was short on a jumper, Brooks broke the tie with a floater with 1:49left, then made it 114-110 with just under a minute remaining by knocking down along jumper.
The three-team deal at last month’s deadline also sent the Knicks’ 2012first-round pick to Houston. Moving Jeffries’ $6.9 million salary was the keyfor the Knicks, giving them about $32 million, tops in the league, in salary capspace this summer. The Rockets were able to land a coveted scorer in Martin,whom they envision playing alongside Yao Ming(notes) next season.
McGrady was a perennial All-Star but frequently injured in Houston. He hadmicrofracture knee surgery in February 2009 and returned in December, but theRockets played him only sparingly for six games before deciding he wouldn’t bein the rotation, then allowing him to leave the team and work out on his ownwhile they explored a trade.
Houston coach Rick Adelman said McGrady is still one of the best passers andplaymakers in the league, but said the former scoring champion just couldn’thelp the Rockets when he returned.
“He wasn’t ready to play. It’s a very simple explanation,” Adelman saidbefore the game. “He missed the year before, he came back and he wanted to comeback and play, but last year we played him on one leg and we had Yao and we hadRon Artest(notes) and we were able to do that for a while and get by. But this year itwas really hard to put him out there and play him when he really wasn’t ready.”
McGrady scored 26 in his Knicks debut on Feb. 20, but he hasn’t been able toplay with any consistency after his long absence. He was scoreless on 0-for-7shooting Friday in a victory over Philadelphia and his average was down to 10.6points in 15 games in New York entering Sunday.
McGrady was active early, playing the entire first quarter and finishingwith eight points and five rebounds in helping New York take a 32-17 lead.Houston charged back in the second, using a 12-0 run midway through the periodto grab a one-point lead on Hill’s basket. The Knicks took a 64-62 lead intohalftime.
Both teams shot at least 60 percent in the third quarter, which ended withNew York leading 94-92.
NOTES: Battier missed the second half after hyperextending his left kneelate in the second quarter. … McGrady also picked up a technical foul forcomplaining about a foul with 5:04 remaining in the third quarter. … Botheredby an upset stomach, Scola was limited to four points and one rebound in 22 1/2 minutes. He averaged 23.9 points and 13.0 rebounds in the previous eight games.
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