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Rockets overcome rough night at line to top Pistons
Houston 80, Detroit 77
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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- During his 10-plus seasons in the NBA, Tracy McGrady has never seen a team win a game after sinking less than 30 percent of their free throws.
He has now.
Despite enduring one of the worst free-throw shooting performances in franchise history, the Rockets avoided another tough setback by collecting a much-needed 80-77 victory over the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night at Toyota Center.
The Rockets, which were coming off two frustrating losses on the road, clanked 14 of their first 15 shots from the foul line before settling for a 6-of-22 effort from the stripe. Houston finished 27.3 percent from the foul line to record the second worst foul shooting performance in team history.
Still, that wasn't enough to keep Houston from pulling out the win.
"I've never seen a night like that where we missed so many free throws and won the ballgame," McGrady said. "It's unexplainable. We just had solid defense and we executed on our offense. We played well tonight."
The Rockets certainly did fine when they avoided the free throw line.
Behind a stingy defense, the Rockets (12-11) limited the road-weary Pistons to 36.1 percent shooting. Detroit made only 4-of-15 shots from beyond the arc and struggled through a first half in which they scored a season-low 33 points.
Houston built a 14-point advantage midway through the third quarter, but the team's free throw shooting woes eventually allowed Detroit to inch back into the game. The Pistons closed the third quarter with a 16-4 run that narrowed Houston's lead to 57-55.
Luckily for the Rockets, the Pistons never got hot enough to pass them.
The Rockets went on a 10-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to seize a 71-63 lead. But after some miscues in the final two minutes, Rasheed Wallace and Rip Hamilton hit back-to-back three pointers to trim the lead to 79-77.
That's as close as it got. Wallace and Hamilton missed back-to-back three-point tries in the waning moments that would have given Detroit a one-point lead. Yao Ming, who finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, secured the rebound after the second miss. After being immediately fouled, the Rockets center swished one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left to secure the victory.
Houston, in other words, survived their free-throw shooting nightmare. Barely.
"We can lose a game because of that," Yao said. "It was close. Tomorrow, I am going to come here and shoot at least 100 free throws. It's almost like you give away free points and give away the game."
The Rockets, though, didn't give away this game. Instead, they picked up a much-needed win after enduring two humbling setbacks to Toronto and Philadelphia.
"It was a huge win for us," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "After the last game and a half, we came out and played hard. We did a lot of good things, but it was unbelievable at the free throw line. We missed free throws and we missed easy shots, but we did enough things down the stretch. We really executed well. It wasn't until the last minute and a half that we started to make some mistakes, but we still continued to defend. It was just a game that we had to get."
The Rockets got a boost by having both Rafer Alston (strained groin) and McGrady (sprained ankle) back in the lineup. McGrady had little trouble moving on his ankle, scoring a game-high 29 points on 13-of-25 shooting. Alston added 10 points and six assists.
The Pistons, meanwhile, suffered only their second loss in their past nine games. Detroit certainly had their chances given Houston's poor foul shooting, but couldn't overcome their shooting woes.
"We did one thing good," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "We defended very well at the free throw line. Probably as good as anyone has defended in the game."
