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The Houston Rockets were without the services of Tracy McGrady for Wednesday’s game against the Seattle SuperSonics; as it would turn out, they wouldn’t need him.? Balanced scoring plus some shut-down defense enabled Houston to win a laugher at Toyota Center, 103-80.? McGrady was held out due to a sore shoulder, but the Rockets collectively made up for McGrady’s absence.

Houston dominated Seattle in all of the important statistics – shooting percentage (52.7% vs. 36.4%), rebounds (47-35) and assists (27-17); Luther Head scored eight of Houston’s first 11 points as the Rockets built an early 9-point lead.? Seattle missed 13 of their first 18 shots and trailed 19-10 after Houston’s Rafer Alston drained a 3-pointer; the Sonics would finish the quarter with a 16-2 run, capped by Damien Wilkins’ trey with 1.8 seconds left in the period.? But they would get cold again while the Rockets’ Steve Novak made 2 treys in a Houston 15-2 run that put them up 36-28; the Rockets would go into halftime leading 46-37.

Houston’s Luis Scola had a dunk and 2 layups during their 14-0 run in the third quarter; Alston would make a layup which would put Houston up 65-44 with 6:02 left in the period.? Scola had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists in the quarter as Houston led going into the fourth quarter, 75-59; Novak would drain another 3-pointer 2 minutes into the final period as the Rockets’ lead increased to 20.? As a result, Houston coach Rick Adelman cleared his bench as the game’s end result was never in question.? Houston’s leading scorer was Alston with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals while Novak scored 17, including 5 three-pointers, 3 rebounds and an assist; Head added 16 with 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

Seattle was led by Kevin Durant with 26 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals while Earl Watson scored 16 with 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and a block.? Nick Collison, while scoring only 8 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, had a steal and blocked 2 shots.? Houston (53-25) continues their homestand as they host the Phoenix Suns Friday while Seattle (18-61) makes the short trip to San Antonio to face the Spurs – also on Friday.