Slam Dunk Central

Despite the Houston Rockets’ Tracy McGrady’s and Yao Ming’s heroics, it wasn’t enough as the other Rockets’ starters and more important - their bench - greatly underachieved. The Sacramento Kings had five players in double-digits as they overwhelmed the Rockets 107-99 at Arco Arena Saturday.

Before the game, former Kings (and current Rockets) coach Rick Adelman was given a standing ovation; he was the Kings coach for eight seasons. The first half was very close with no sizeable leads to be had by either club; Houston held a slim one-point lead at halftime. Kings guard Kevin Martin and McGrady traded baskets for much of the third quarter - McGrady scoring 15 and Martin 14. Despite that scoring barrage, the Rockets were outscored 30-24 in the period. The Kings’ Ron Artest added 8 points in the third period to give Sacramento a 79-74 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Martin’s 3-pointer gave the Kings their largest advantage at 89-79, and Houston couldn’t get closer than 3 the rest of the way. Sacramento was led by Martin and Artest with 26 points each; Beno Udrih added 15, while reserve center Spencer Hawes in 13 minutes of court time scored only 2 points but grabbed 10 rebounds. Houston’s high scorer was McGrady with 40 points, including 5-of-10 3-pointers. Yao Ming added 29 with 11 rebounds. Sacramento (6-10) remains on their homestand as they host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, while Houston (9-9) returns home to host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.