Luther Head scored 20 points to
lead five Houston players in double figures and the Rockets beat the
Atlanta Hawks 107-93 in a pre-season game Friday night.
Rafer Alston and Kirk Snyder each had 15 points for the Rockets,
while John Lucas scored 14 and Tracy McGrady 13.
Rockets centre Yao Ming did not make the trip. He is sidelined
after having a toe nail removed recently.
The Rockets (1-1) were the home team in the game but not the
favourite of the crowd of 6,275 because former Little Rock Central
standout Joe Johnson, who played at Arkansas, had 17 points for the
Hawks.
Johnson had his high school jersey retired during a ceremony at
the school earlier Friday.
Josh Smith led the Hawks (1-1) with 18 points and Marvin Williams
added 16.
Atlanta's only lead was 2-0. With 5:07 left in the first quarter,
the Rockets' lead hit double figures and it stayed that way for most
of the game. They led 32-20 after one quarter and 65-40 at halftime.
Houston led 84-64 starting the fourth quarter.
Atlanta got within 93-86 with 3:55 remaining, but the Rockets got
three straight baskets inside _ a dunk and layup by Head and a layup
by Lucas _ to slow the run.
The Rockets shot 49 per cent (37-of-75) from the field while
Atlanta hit 42 per cent (34-of-81). The Rockets had a 44-33
advantage on the boards and made 11 more three-pointers than the
Hawks.
