Adelman Wins 800th, Rockets Beat Kings 108-100

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Main

Houston Rockets guard Rafer Alston (#12) goes up for a shot as Sacramento Kings forward/center Mikki Moore, right, defends during the fourth quarter of their game, ploayed on Monday. Houston beat Sacramento 108-100. ?

Monday night’s game between the Saxcramento Kings and Houston Rockets would produce a milestone; not a scoring milestone per se, but a notable achievement, nonetheless.? Rafer Alston and Tracy McGrady combined for 45 points in leading Houston to a 108-100 victory over Sacramento at Honda Center.??The?win by Houston would be just an ordinary event, except for the fact that the win was Rockets coach Rick Adelman’s 800th win in his NBA career.? Adelman became the 13th coach to reach that milestone, and he is one of 6 active coaches with that distinction - along with Miami’s Pat Riley, Los Angeles’ Phil Jackson, Utah’s Jerry Sloan, Golden State’s Don Nelson and Denver’s George Karl.

The Rockets’ McGrady twisted his ankle less than 5 minutes into the game; however, Alston picked up the offensive slack, scoring 12 in the first quarter as Houston led 26-24.? The Rockets’ Chuck Hayes tossed in a hook and McGrady returned to sink a jumper as part of a 9-0 run that broke a 37-37 tie; Sacramento’s Ron Artest and Fernando Garcia drained a 3-pointer?apiece in the last 1:10 of the first half to narrow their deficit to 53-49 at halftime.

The Kings would shoot themselves in the foot as they missed 7 of their first 10 shots and Houston increased their lead to 65-55; Garcia would score 7 points for Sacramento in the last 2:16 of the third quarter as the Kings narrowed their deficit to 77-72 going into the fourth quarter.? Houston would lead 83-79 with 9:01 left in the game when McGrady would return; he would hit 2 jumpers?and sank a pair of free throws to push Houston’s lead to 91-83.

Baskets by Sacramento’s Quincy Douby and John Salmons?cut the Rockets’ lead in half; Ron Artest would score with 4:13 left in the game to pull Sacramento to within 2 at 91-89.? Houston’s Carl Landry answered back with an inside basket and Alston made 2 free throws and a jumper as the Rockets took control for the rest of the contest.? Houston was led by Alston with 28 points - including 3 treys - along with 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals while McGrady scored 17 with 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals; Shane Battier added 15 with 5 rebounds, and an assist.

Sacramento was led by Kevin Martin with 18 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists while Artest and Garcia scored 17 each - with Artest making 3 treys, grabbing 3 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists with a steal while Garcia drained 3 treys, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 2 assists, along with a steal.? Salmons chipped in with 15 along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.? Houston (48-23) now flies north to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday while Sacramento (31-39) travels to Memphis to face the Grizzlies - also on Wednesday.

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