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Thursday, Dec. 23 8:30pm ET
Cato, Mobley make most of minutes | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato took full advantage of extended playing time against the Washington Wizards. The Houston reserves each scored 20 points as the Rockets beat Washington 105-89 on Thursday night to snap the Wizards' three-game winning streak. "It was like I was stealing shots down there," Cato said. "They were passing the ball around real good and when we do that, I get some chances." Cato played 39 minutes, and Mobley was on the court for 33 minutes. The Rockets, who have won only two of their last eight games, used a 13-2 run to take a 93-78 lead with 4:47 left. When it was over, the Rockets' reserves scored 57 points. Bryce Drew had 10, and Kenny Thomas seven. "The bench gave us a lift," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "It was some tough matchups, but we had a lot of contributors. They deserved to win this game, they have been working so hard." Steve Francis started Houston's decisive run with a 3-pointer, Mobley added a steal and layup, and Cato capped the run with a basket. Francis had 16 points and 11 assists. Cato also had 12 rebounds. "We came out unselfish and played good basketball," Mobley said. "We kept (Juwan) Howard and (Mitch) Richmond in check and that was a big part of our game plan." Matt Bullard, who hit 4-for-6 from 3-point range, had 16 points, and Carlos Rogers added 12. "There wasn't strong defensive mentality on our part tonight," Wizards coach Gar Heard said. "We scored easily early and maybe got a little too confident. We had a lot of mismatches and we didn't capitalize. Our energy isn't as high as it was the last few games." The Rockets couldn't pull away from the Wizards in the first half, taking a 52-50 at intermission. Washington stayed close in the third quarter, too, with Cato scoring seven points in the period to keep Houston ahead 76-72 to start the fourth period. The Rockets built nine-point leads twice in the first half, after building two nine-point leads, the last with 3:11 to go in the second quarter. The Rockets took a 25-16 lead late in the first quarter on 3-point shooting by Bullard, who hit the Rockets' first four baskets. "I was trying to break Wilt's record tonight," Bullard said. "Not really, we've been working on a play where I come off picks." Richmond led the Wizards with 18 points, and Howard had 16. "We didn't really have any flow offensively and I don't know why," Richmond said. "Houston lived at the free throw line and made the majority of those shots. Mobley got into the lane and made the right decisions and got to the line." The Rockets were 27-of-37 from the free-throw line. Game notesHouston entered the game with four straight sub-par fourth quarters. They averaged 16.5 points in those four games, three of them losses. ... Houston is averaging a league-worst 19.4 turnovers. The Rockets had 13 against the Wizards. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Washington Clubhouse Houston Clubhouse RECAPS Atlanta 108 Cleveland 90
Houston 105
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