On a night where they honored their past,
the Houston Rockets got a pretty good look at the future.
The Rockets retired Clyde Drexler's No. 22 at halftime, then
rallied for a 109-106 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers behind
a career-high 32 points from Shandon Anderson and clutch play
from Kelvin Cato.
Drexler, a former University of Houston standout who was part of
the Rockets' 1995 NBA championship team, was honored in a
35-minute halftime ceremony that included former NBA greats
Julius Erving, Buck Williams and Kiki Vandeweghe. Jack Ramsay,
Drexler's first NBA coach with the Portland Trail Blazers, also
was at the ceremony.
"Growing up in Houston, watching the NBA and watching college
ball, I developed a real love of the game," Drexler said. "To
be able to play it here and now to have my number retired with
Rudy Tomjanovich, Calvin Murphy and Moses Malone, I never would
have thought that. I never thought about being on the court
with them, much less being able to play with them."
Also on hand were Drexler's mother, wife and four children and
Guy Lewis, his former coach at UH. Drexler, who became coach of
his alma mater last season, also heard kind words from Hakeem
Olajuwon, his teammate at school and with the Rockets.
"I am honored to stand here tonight with Clyde," Olajuwon said.
"I've watched Clyde from the beginning in college and we won a
championship together. But it's not just his game, it's his
character. He's a very complete person. It's a blessing for me
to be here with him."
The extended halftime seemed to bother the Rockets, who blew a
nine-point halftime lead but recovered with a 15-0 burst into
the fourth quarter that gave them the lead for good. Anderson
scored nine points in the run.
"I think it was a coincidence that I had that type of game on a
night his number was retired," said Anderson, who was 10-of-17
from the field. "But I've always liked the way he's played, how
he went coast-to-coast. In a lot of ways, my game is a mirror
image of his."
"Shandon was phenomenal," said Tomjanovich, the Rockets' coach.
"He was all over the place. Tonight he did it a lot of
different ways. When we're running and when he gets into the
flow, he's at his best."
Cato scored six of his 10 points in the final two minutes as the
Rockets held off a furious late rally by the 76ers, who went 1-3
on a four-game road trip, with each contest decided by three
points or less. Philadelphia fell to 11-4 in such contests.
Sixers All-Star guard Allen Iverson scored 40 points on 16-of-25
shooting. However, the team fell to 2-10 all-time when he scores
40 or more, including 1-3 this season.
"Iverson is something special," Tomjanovich said. "He made some
great shots tonight. I feel very fortunate to get the win. This
is a really big win against a really good team."
"It really didn't matter what we did," Iverson said. "They just
played excellent."
Despite losing rookie guard and leading scorer Steve Francis to
a strained left groin, Houston won for the ninth time in 12
games. Olajuwon scored 14 points, his best total since
returning from hernia surgery, as the Rockets had seven players
in double figures.
"I think it's just time and learning how each other plays,"
Anderson said. "We had a lot of new guys at the start of the
year and the biggest thing to learn is where the shots are going
to come from. I think the coaching staff has done a great job
of getting us position, both offensively and defensively."
"We're learning what it takes to win as a team," said Cato, who
had three of his four blocks in the final period. "At first, we
were waiting for the older guys to show us the way, but then we
all got hurt. Now we're learning how to play with one another.
The biggest thing is we've had an opportunity to practice with
each other. That has helped us come together."
A dunk by rookie Kenny Thomas, who had 11 points and 12
rebounds, capped the 15-0 run and gave Houston a 95-79 bulge
with eight minutes left. A jumper by Philadelphia's Theo
Ratliff, who tied season highs with 25 points and five blocks,
ended a scoreless drought of 5:04 and started a comeback by the
Sixers.
A three-point play by Ratliff cut the deficit to 99-94 before
Anderson found Cato with an inbounds pass for an alley-oop dunk
that beat the shot clock with two minutes left. Iverson made a
pair of tough baskets around a free throw by Cato, then drew a
foul with 47 seconds to go.
He made the first to cut the deficit to 102-99 but missed the
second. Ratliff ran down the long rebound and fed Iverson, who
missed a potential tying 3-pointer.
Two free throws each by Cato, Cuttino Mobley and Bryce Drew made
it 108-103 with 13 seconds to go. Philadelphia's Eric Snow hit
a 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left and the Sixers fouled Cato,
who split a pair from the line, giving the Sixers a chance to
tie.
