Rockets lament lost chance to oust Mavs

Updated: 2005-04-30 08:25

The Houston Rockets were rolling late in Game 3, and Yao Ming seemed to put the game out of reach when he took a pass from Jon Barry and scored despite a hard foul from Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki.

Forward Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets hangs his head in the final seconds of a 106-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2005 NBA Playoffs at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. [AFP]

The Rockets sideline erupted in celebration, the crowd roared and Barry raced to the other end of the floor pumping his fist. Yao was going to the free throw line to give Houston a nine-point lead.

Not so fast.

An official ruled Nowitzki hacked Yao on the floor and waved off the basket, deflating the Rockets at the start of an amazing 20-0 run by Dallas in the Mavericks' 106-102 win on Thursday night. Dallas has a chance to even the first-round playoff series in Game 4 on Saturday night.

"That game was still in our hands," Yao said. "We should have taken care of that."

But the Rockets never recovered and will be forced to go back to Dallas for Game 5 on Monday night because of their collapse.

On Friday, the Rockets were still lamenting a missed opportunity to take a commanding 3-0 lead over Dallas — a hole no NBA team has ever rallied from.

"We'd love to be 3-0 ... but it didn't work out," said Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, who was unusually dour — even for him.

Houston had been expecting this sort of desperate push from the Mavericks, who had won nine straight and 16 of their last 18 going into the playoffs under rookie coach Avery Johnson. Someone wrote "Read, React and Make Them Pay" on a wipe board in the Rockets' locker room. They even wore black road shoes to remind themselves of the daunting task ahead.

It seemed to work.

The Rockets weathered an early run by the Mavericks, even after falling behind by 10 points late in the first half. Then Tracy McGrady resumed his near-flawless execution of Houston's catch-and-shoot offense — with childhood idol Magic Johnson watching from a courtside seat — and led the Rockets to an 11-point lead in the third quarter.

But the Mavericks started chipping away at the lead and the Rockets fell apart down the stretch — an odd late-game flop for the league's most experienced team.

"It was a real shame watching that game on film," Barry said. "Our focus wasn't there and we paid the price for it."

The 20-point run by Dallas — the longest in the playoffs since San Antonio did it against the Mavericks on May 29, 2003 — finally gave the Mavericks proof that they could slow down the Rockets.

Houston went more than six minutes without a basket during that stretch, missing eight straight shots and committing two turnovers. Meanwhile, Dallas befuddled the Rockets' plodding defenders by finally attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line.

"We made some strides," said Mavericks guard Jerry Stackhouse, who scored 18 in Game 3. "We feel we've turned a page in figuring out what they're doing."

Johnson, who figured to be pleased with his team's strong defensive effort late in the game, was still not too impressed.

"I'm not happy about anything right now," said Johnson, who won his first playoff game from the bench. "Even if we get it to 2-2, I still won't be content."

He and the Mavericks were a little more somber Friday after learning that they probably would be without top backup forward Keith Van Horn for Game 4. Van Horn sprained his left ankle early in Game 3 and is doubtful for Saturday. He will have an MRI when the team returns to Dallas.

"It's not a great time to have injuries," Nowitzki said. "But we'll just have to make up for it."

Regardless, the Mavericks seemed particularly loose following a light practice on Friday afternoon.

Nowitzki joined rookie big men Pavel Podkolzin and D.J. Mbenga for a quirky drill that required dunking from the baseline under the basket. After Nowitzki flubbed badly on his only attempt — drawing taunts from his teammates — the 7-footer knocked down a jumper in response.

The burden of avoiding an elimination game clearly seemed to have been lifted from the Mavericks. Some of them suggested after Game 3 that the pressure had shifted to the Rockets.

McGrady wasn't having any of that.

"We're up 2-1 and we're at home. There's no pressure," McGrady said. "The fact that they have it in their minds that the pressure is on us is crazy."

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