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Monday January 26, 2009 3:18 AM

Rockets Outlast Pistons 108-105

Artest, McGrady make successful return to court

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Auburn Hills - It took nearly eight years, but the Houston Rockets finally found a way to taste victory again in Detroit.

Ron Artest scored a team-high 24 points in his return to the lineup, while Tracy McGrady added 15 in his, helping Houston hang on for a 108-105 win over the Pistons – the Rockets first victory at Auburn Hills since February 8, 2001.

Houston’s win was by no means a masterpiece – the Rockets allowed Detroit to shoot an eye-popping 56.4% from the field for the game – but the club was in no mood to quibble with the end result given its history at Auburn Hills, and the fact it was forced to play without All-Star center Yao Ming, who was sidelined with a bruised right knee.

“It’s a big win for us on the road,” said Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “They had great offensive statistics and I don’t know how we ended up pulling it out but we made some big plays.

“The first half we moved the ball pretty well. I thought the second half we got really stagnant again. Usually in the fourth quarter Yao is in the game and we’ve got to find a way to figure out what we are going to do because we usually go to him and make people guard him.

“I think there are a lot of positives tonight with getting Ron and Tracy back and trying to get a feel on how we are going to play. We were able to play small most of night and that’s a tough line-up for teams to try and guard.”

Indeed, the Pistons had no answer for Houston’s small-ball lineup early. The Rockets roared out of the gate with their best quarter of the season, scoring 39 points in the opening frame thanks to some dead-eye shooting which included 7-of-9 from three-point land and 15-19 overall.

Luis Scola, who started at center in place of Yao, led the charge, hitting all five of his first quarter shots from the field as he and Rafer Alston teamed up to pick-and-roll Detroit to death in the early going.

“We started small, so we tried to play pick-and-roll a lot,” said Scola, who finished with 21 points on the night. “We had a lot of shooters out there so it’s hard for them to rotate. It’s a mismatch and it usually takes a little time for [the opponent] to adjust and that’s what happened.”

Houston held onto its lead until midway through the third quarter, when the Pistons climbed in front briefly, only to see the Rockets surge ahead once again and re-establish a comfortable 15-point cushion early in the final frame.

But given the Rockets’ history at The Palace, they should have known victory couldn’t come that easily. Sure enough, Detroit stormed back with a 13-2 run, as Houston’s offense – so free-flowing and crisp for much of the contest – devolved into a stagnant series of isolations and poor decisions.

But with a potential win slipping away, the Rockets’ newcomers came through in the final two minutes to save the day. First, it was McGrady, capping off a possession which saw Houston come up with an offensive rebound three times, converting a driving lay-up to temporarily restore the Rockets’ lead to six.

Then it was Artest’s turn, as the burly forward knocked down three of four free throws in the final 14 seconds, forcing Detroit to knock down a three-pointer before the buzzer in an effort to send the game into overtime. Rasheed Wallace and Aaron Afflalo took their best shots, but both were heavily contested and neither attempt came close to going in.

After the game, T-Mac, who described the difference in his physical condition as “night and day” compared to how he felt a few weeks ago, said he was pleased with the results from his first game action since January 9th.

“I felt pretty good and I’m glad to be back,” said McGrady. “I’m excited to be back out there with my guys and I was moving pretty well. I didn’t get tired, which I was surprised about, and I played 37 minutes and I didn’t really even feel it.”

Artest was upbeat after the game, too.

“I felt better tonight,” he said. “I’ve been sore and banged up for awhile, so I’m just trying to get back in shape and get my ankle stronger. It was frustrating playing with that injury, but I’m back now, in better shape and feeling better so hopefully we can get some continuity for the remainder of the season.”

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN:

(On using a zone defense) “I just didn’t want them to go inside and get some easy baskets. It kind of threw them off at the start but then they got a rhythm going against us and started making shots. I think at the end of the second quarter we went to it again and it helped us but mostly the second half we played man to man and stayed with that.”

(On Luis Scola) “He was going to get the shots. If he didn’t get shots someone else was going to get shots and he did a good job. He’s so active. He was rolling and he was very active and they didn’t know what to do. If they didn’t pick him up he was going to get easy shots and he made some nice passes on the floor to people.”

TRACY MCGRADY:

Since we had a small lineup tonight we did a great job of being unselfish, moving the ball and taking really advantage of having a lot of scorers and a lot of shooters out there. We shot the ball extremely well, which got us off to a great start.”

(On the Pistons comeback) “I think that they were just a little more aggressive there and they were going to their guys and making shots. I think that they found a weakness in our defense, getting into the interior and getting to the free-throw line. Rip Hamilton came off the bench for them and gave them a spark, but I think that the way that we played in the first half established a rhythm. However well they were going to play, we were going to counter that and we did that. We are confident in ourselves though. (We) made plays and got stops when we needed them.”

(on his final bucket): I just saw it. I tried to keep my man off balance. Tayshaun was guarding me and he’s a pretty solid defender so you have to mix it up with him, and I just tried to keep him off balance… That one basket I made late in the fourth quarter, I set him up perfectly because I guess he thought I was going to take my dribble pull-up [jumper], but I just went right around him.

Night and day.

RON ARTEST:

(On their bench playing well) “Definitely, we’ve had a lot of guys that have played this season so when they get in the game they aren’t afraid to make mistakes. They are ready and they have some experience under their belt. When we have guys out there we aren’t playing with a bunch of guys that hasn’t played before.”

(On ball movement) “It was good. Guys were really thinking about their teammates, the next pass and how to assist. So, it was a good game for us.”

DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH MICHAEL CURRY:

(On first-quarter defensive plays) “They were spread pick and roll in the first quarter. The reality is we didn't play hard enough in the first quarter. We didn't do too much more, coverage-wise, the rest of the game. We eased into the game and then they went into a zone so it kind of took our (offensive) aggressiveness away early. Defensively we were only trapping. We weren't doing a good job on the ball and (Luis) Scola was getting wide open. We had guys on the weak side that were hugging their guys that were too far out on their guys because of the threat of them shooting threes. We know they can shoot threes but you just have to have those multiple efforts you have to protect the paint and get back out to those three-point shooters.”

(On playing zone defense) “I said at the beginning of the year if you play good man-to-man defense it’s like a zone. You want to be a help to protect the paint. We held them to 26 points in the paint and we got 36 points in the paint. You want to hold teams to 26 points in the paint. If we would have done a little bit better job contesting and keeping them off the free throw line we would have been ok. Regardless of how good a team shoots the basketball they need points in the paint and on the free-throw line in order to beat you.”

DETROIT PISTONS FORWARD TAYSHAUN PRINCE:

(On the game) “Through the first three or four possessions they hit open shots and then we started playing defense when guys are making shots already. It's tough because they are already in a good rhythm and that was definitely the case tonight.”

(On their game plan) “It's been, I don't know how many games up to this point, where we've been having rough first quarters and at some point you have to put all of that aside and just be able to not worry about what the x's and o's are, just try to do what you have to do defensively as far as taking a challenge and I think in the first quarter we are not taking the challenge.”

(On finding a way to win) “It's tough because you would think at this point we would have found our way and we haven't, so it was definitely unfortunate for us. It is unfortunate especially because it seems like we are playing like this more so at home then on the road. You just have to take care of your home court because we are pretty much letting people come in here and walk all over us."

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