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No charm, many fouls Rockets drop third OT game in wild 128-122 loss to Suns
Posted: Thursday December 02, 1999 09:18 AM
PHOENIX (AP) -- There was no rest for the weary Houston Rockets. Just double-overtime instead of the usual overtime, followed by a verbal blast at referee Mike Mathis that will surely cost Charles Barkley. Penny Hardaway and Jason Kidd both flirted with triple-doubles as the Phoenix Suns won their seventh in a row with a wild 128-122 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night. The Rockets tied an NBA record by playing their third consecutive overtime game. They lost at Portland Friday and won at Vancouver on Sunday, becoming the first team since Milwaukee in December 1997 to play three straight OT games. Barkley, who was called for a foul while rebounding a missed free throw by his teammate Kelvin Cato with 3.5 seconds left in the first overtime, placed all the blame on Mathis, one of seven officials reinstated by the NBA after they resigned last year following charges of tax violations. "We lost the game because of one reason -- Mike Mathis," Barkley said. "I ain't going to say nothing else. He's a bad official. He's been bad the whole time I've been in the league. He cost us the game tonight, and I hate that he's back in the league." The Suns' Rodney Rogers was ejected with 44.4 seconds left in regulation on a play that tied the game for Houston, and the Rockets' Steve Francis left the game with an injured left ankle 24 seconds later. "There were a lot of controversial calls in different directions at the end," Phoenix coach Danny Ainge said. "I'm sure they're not happy with some, but we weren't happy with some, either." Cliff Robinson scored a season-high 25 points, including 4-of-5 3-pointers. Hardaway had 21 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. Kidd, despite a 5-for-19 shooting night, had 17 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and four steals. Tom Gugliotta scored four of his 19 points in the second overtime for the Suns. Gugliotta scored inside and Hardaway sank a 3-pointer to start the second overtime, and the Rockets never caught up again. Hardaway's steal on Shandon Anderson's pass led to Todd Day's layup that sealed it 126-122 with 31.3 seconds left.
Hardaway and Kidd had a hand in virtually every Phoenix play in the two overtimes. "That's what has to happen," Hardaway said. "Jason and I are the leaders of this team. It starts with the guards. We have to go out there and be aggressive on every play. One of us has to be involved with making a play for another player or taking it to the basket ourselves." Kelvin Cato, starting in place of injured Hakeem Olajuwon, scored a career-high 23 points. Francis had 24 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds before he was hurt on a drive to the basket with 20 seconds left in regulation. Barkley scored 22 and had 13 rebounds. Cato's inside basket with 3.5 seconds left in the first overtime put Houston up 115-114. Cato was fouled by Hardaway on the play but missed the free throw, and Barkley was called for a foul on the rebound. Luc Longley made the second of two free throws to tie it at 115-115 with 3.5 seconds still on the clock. Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich used a profanity to describe the frustration of losing again in a game that his team led near the finish. "That's the 10th game out of 12 losses that we were ahead in the fourth quarter," he said. "It's sad because there's so much positive." Tomjanovich said Francis re-injured his ankle and probably won't play when the Rockets wrap up a four-game road trip against the Los Angeles Clippers Thursday night. The Suns trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and were down 15 early in the third quarter, then rallied to lead 100-95 when Rogers made one of two free throws with 3:50 to go in regulation. Francis sank a 3-pointer to cut it to 100-98 with 3:04 to go, then cut it to 103-102 on a driving layup with 1:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Rockets tied it when Rogers was ejected on his second technical for throwing Mobley to the court on a rebound. Mobley made the free throw to make it 103-103 with 44.4 seconds remaining. Francis couldn't score on his drive and was hurt, then Jason Kidd missed a layup in traffic at the regulation buzzer. Notes: It was the 13th time in NBA history a team played three straight OT games. ... To fill the roster spot left when Olajuwon was injured, the Rockets activated Thomas Hamilton. ... Kidd and Hardaway were a combined 5-for-18 in the first half. ... Just after the start of the second half, Kidd forced a jump ball with Francis. On the tip, the Suns' Shawn Marion got the ball and charged toward the wrong basket, stopping only at the last minute because the crowd and his teammates were hollering at him. ... The teams play again Saturday in Houston. ... The Rockets are 1-2 on the four-game road trip. ... Cato made his first eight shots and wound up 9-for-14.
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Pippen, Blazers take out Rockets in OT