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Pocketful of Posey Swingman leads Rockets to one-sided win over ClippersPosted: Tuesday March 25, 2003 1:11 AMUpdated: Tuesday March 25, 2003 2:02 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The next time the Houston Rockets see ailing coach Rudy Tomjanovich, they will still be in position for a playoff spot -- the best get-well present they can give him. James Posey scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half as the Rockets had their highest scoring first half of the season and breezed to a 108-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Houston's seventh win in 10 games, coupled with Phoenix's loss to Seattle, gave the Rockets a one-game lead over the Suns for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth with 12 games remaining. "We've still got to go out there and take care of business," forward Glen Rice said. "We got lucky on this road trip, still being ahead of Phoenix, but we can't be satisfied. We had an opportunity to stretch our lead and didn't take advantage of it." Houston is 2-3 under acting coach Larry Smith, who has guided the team since Tomjanovich underwent a biopsy that detected a cancerous tumor on his bladder lining. A further medical evaluation regarding Tomjanovich's return will be conducted Tuesday in Houston after the team returns from their five-game trip to host the world champion Lakers on Wednesday.
Houston shot 55.4 percent from the field for the game. The Rockets built a 63-39 halftime lead thanks to the 3-point marksmanship of Posey and Rice and a buzzer-beating 17-footer by Eddie Griffin. "That's what happens for this team when we move the ball around as well as we did," Rice said. "It gave guys an opportunity to get into that rhythm. We've got good shooters on this team, and it's fun to watch when we're shooting the ball well." Lamar Odom had a season-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who had won eight of their previous 11 against Houston -- including five straight in Los Angeles. Los Angeles fell behind by as many as 28 points in the second quarter and never got closer than 15 points in the second half. The highlight of the night for Clippers fans was a blown slam-dunk attempt by former Clipper Maurice Taylor with 5:45 left in the first half and Houston leading by 24 points. "We focused a lot on Yao Ming and slacked off on the other guys, and they hit jump shots," Odom said. "But I don't care if they hit 20 shots in a row -- you're got to protect your home court." The Rockets, who entered the game 17th in the league with a .344 percentage from 3-point range, were 12-for-20 from behind the arc. "We did a good job of moving the ball and taking our shots when we had them," Posey said. "And with Yao's presence down low, it made it easy to shoot the ball from the outside." Posey, acquired by the Rockets Dec. 18 from Denver in a three-way deal with Philadelphia, made his first seven shots -- including five 3-pointers -- and Rice was 4-for-4 with three 3s. "Everybody was just telling me to keep shooting," Posey said. "They were able to find me in certain situations and I was able to come through. I think this was the best I was feeling it since I came here." Posey canned a pair of 3-pointers in the final 1:16 of the first quarter, the first one coming after Clippers teammates Tremaine Fowlkes and Cherokee Parks went after the same defensive rebound and the ball bounced to Houston's Kelvin Cato. "He's been hot like that a couple of times for us," Rice said of Posey. "It's just that he hit a lot of 3s tonight, and people don't see him as a guy who hits 3-pointers." Notes: Yao and Clippers center Wang ZhiZhi, who were teammates on the Chinese National Team, were never on the floor at the same time. ... Yao outscored Wang 38-25 and outrebounded him 29-6 during the four-game season series -- but the Rockets' 7-foot-5 rookie also had a 120-67 advantage in minutes played over the Clippers' third-year backup center. "I don't think he's reached his full potential yet," Yao said. "I think he can make a great contribution to his team -- both at the offensive and defensive end." ... Houston's Steve Francis, a fifth-year veteran, is on pace to increase his scoring average for the fourth consecutive season. The only player in NBA history to do that following his rookie season is Clippers general manager Elgin Baylor. ... The Clippers named Jerry DeGregorio as an assistant coach, filling the void left when Dennis Johnson was promoted to head coach on March 3. DeGregorio had been the team's director of player development since the start of last season. When he was an assistant coach at Rhode Island, the roster included Odom and Houston's Cuttino Mobley.
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