Mar

6

T-Mac Leads Rockets To Record 16th Straight Win, Spank Pacers 117-99

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Main 

?????????????????????????? Houston Rockets swingman Tracy McGrady shoots for three points against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of their game, played Wednesday night. McGrady scored 25 points in the Rockets? 117-99 win.

The Houston Rockets are on a run of nearly astronomical proportions - and they’re doing it without the services of Yao Ming who is out with a season-ending foot injury; Tracy McGrady is the de facto go-to guy now and he is playing the role quite well as he led the Rockets to a convincing 117-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night at Toyota Center.

The Rockets scored 15 straight points to break a tie and take a 51-36 lead halfway through the second quarter; Houston’s Luther Head drained a pair of 3-pointers during that run.? With the score 51-40, the Rockets went on a 15-3 run, with some big help from McGrady’s 3 treys, to increase their lead to 66-43 about a minute before halftime; the Pacers would score the last 6 points of the first half to leave Houston with a 66-49 halftime lead.

Indiana would outscore Houston 15-6 in the opening minutes of the third quarter to cut the Rockets’ lead to 72-64; during that run, the Pacers got a pair of 3-pointers from Danny Granger and a 3 from from Travis Diener.? A layup by Houston’s Luis Scola later in the period pushed the Rockets’ lead to 79-66, but Indiana would respond with a 10-4 run - capped by a trey by Mike Dunleavy - to reduce the Rockets’ lead yet again to 83-76?with 3 minutes left in the third quarter.

The Rockets would finish the quarter by outscoring the Pacers 11-2?to enter the fourth quarter with a 94-78 lead.? Houston would use the?beginning of the fourth period to start a 14-4 run to stretch their lead to 108-82; both teams shortly thereafter brought in their bench players.? Houston’s leading scorer was McGrady with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, while Rafer Alston scored 21 with 2 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.? Head, from off the bench, added 14 with 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Indiana was led by Granger and Troy Murphy with 17 each - with Granger grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists and a blocked shot, while Murphy grabbed 10 rebounds and?dished out 6 assists.? Ronald Murray, from off the bench, added 14 with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.? Houston (40-20), hoping to maintain their huge winning streak, makes the short journey to Dallas to take on the Mavericks Thursday, while Indiana (24-37) travels to San Antonio to face the Spurs - also on Thursday.



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