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Stoudemire, Suns overwhelm Rockets in the rout
Phoenix 122, Houston 113
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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
PHOENIX -- The Rockets weren't sure what to make of the Phoenix Suns after the NBA's most prolific team added Shaquille O'Neal to its lineup before the All-Star break.
Nearly a month later, the Rockets got an unpleasant introduction to Phoenix's revamped front line.
Behind a heavy dose of Amare Stoudemire and O'Neal, the Suns overwhelmed the Rockets in the paint and withstood a late run from Houston to secure an impressive 122-113 victory Saturday night at US Airways Arena.
The Rockets (47-23) suffered their third loss in four games, dropping from second to fifth in the Western Conference with less than a month remaining in the regular season.
Houston almost overcame a 23-point deficit by cutting Phoenix's advantage to single digits in the fourth quarter.
But ultimately, Stoudemire and O'Neal were too much for the Rockets to handle inside from start to finish. Stoudemire swished a franchise-record 20 consecutive free throws to finish with a game-high 38 points and 13 rebounds. O'Neal, meanwhile, had 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Basically, the retooled Suns look pretty darn good.
"They're a completely different team," Rockets forward Luis Scola said. "Shaq changed everything. They play slower, but they've got a lot more presence inside."
That's putting it mildly.
O'Neal, the Suns' newly acquired big man, was in vintage form against a Houston lineup that didn't have enough size to matchup with him. With little resistance from Houston, O'Neal canned 8 of 10 shots with all of the buckets coming from within nine feet of the hoop.
Stoudemire, the Suns' high-flying center-turned-power forward, mixed it up a little more. When he wasn't swishing one free throw after another, the Suns' All-Star forward was dunking over the Rockets and drilling 18-foot jumpers.
The pair of frontcourt stars didn't have any trouble getting their points against a Houston team that is significantly smaller without Yao Ming.
"We needed to put a lot more pressure out on the perimeter," Rockets star Tracy McGrady said. "We were making it too easy for them. Shaq and Amare were getting very deep on their post-ups because we weren't pressuring the ball. We need to do a better job of contesting them on the perimeter."
O'Neal and Stoudemire's presence inside helped the Suns gain control of the game as soon as the national anthem was finished.
The Suns seized a 38-21 advantage by the end of the first quarter, knocking down an obscene 73.7 percent of their shots. Less than six minutes into the second period, Phoenix stretched is lead to 20 points when Steve Nash netted a three-pointer.
During the second quarter alone, Stoudemire had 18 points as he sank 10 free throws.
By the time the first half was finished, the Suns had scored 74 points -- the most allowed by Houston in a half this season. Unsurprisingly, Rockets coach Rick Adelman wasn't thrilled with his team's lack of defense in the opening 24 minutes.
"That's what we talked about at halftime," Adelman said. "That's not who we are. We allowed 70 percent shooting and we just didn't have any rhythm in the first half. We did a better job in the second half. But that's a long way to comeback against a team like this."
Still, the Rockets gave themselves a chance.
By cutting the lead to 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Rockets managed to reduce Phoenix's lead to single digits with time to recover. McGrady, who had 30 points and nine assists, hit a tough off-balance jumper with 3:57 left that pulled Houston to within 112-103.
For a brief moment anyway, the Rockets were thinking about making a comeback.
"We felt we were going to pull something out," McGrady said. "It was tough because we were down the whole game. But when we cut the lead to eight points, it gave us confidence it was possible if we could get a couple more stops."
That didn't happen.
For every bucket that the Rockets managed in the waning moments, the Suns answered with one of their big men. O'Neal scored his most points with the Suns this season and Stoudemire drew MVP chants from the home crowd.
Unfortunately, the Rockets could never dig out of their early hole.
"We lost this game in the first half," McGrady said. "We were able to cut it to eight, but the game was lost in the first half."
O'Neal and Stoudemire made sure of it.
