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Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - Toyota Center Clippers Basketball. It's more than a game. To sign up for the 2008-09 season call (888) 895-8662 or click here to purchase online.
HOUSTON, April 16 (AP) -- The Houston Rockets did their part on Wednesday night and earned a first-round playoff rematch with the Utah Jazz. Luis Scola had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Rockets locked up the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 93-75 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets will play Utah in the first round for the second straight season. Just like last year, the Jazz earned the No. 4 seed by winning their division, but Houston has the home-court edge because of a better overall record. "We were counted out multiple times this year and no one even gave us a chance, not even close, of clinching home court," said forward Shane Battier. "It really is an amazing regular-season accomplishment and I'm very proud." The extra home game didn't do the Rockets any good last season -- Utah won the series in seven games. But this Houston team is different, starting with new coach Rick Adelman, rookies like Scola, Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks, and the consistent play of reserves like Bobby Jackson. The backup point guard added 15 points and five rebounds against the Clippers while the Rockets improved to 22-2 in their last 24 home games. Jackson started for the second straight game in place of Rafer Alston, who strained his right hamstring against Denver on Sunday. Alston said he would likely miss Houston's first two playoff games. By now, the Rockets are used to adversity. They played the last third of the season without injured Yao Ming, without Tracy McGrady for 16 games, and still reached the team's highest win total since the 1996-97 season. "Considering all the stuff we've been through this year," McGrady said, "for us to put ourselves in a great position with home-court advantage, that's a fabulous job on our part. This team stayed with it." Corey Maggette scored 22 points and Elton Brand added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who've lost five straight to Houston and 17 of the last 20 meetings. By the second half, they looked like they were just ready for the season to end. "This was not at all what we expected," Maggette said. "A lot of injuries hurt this team." The Rockets stayed in the race for the No. 3 spot in the West until losing their last two games to Denver and Utah. They never trailed against the Clippers, though, starting 10-for-17 from the field and building a 25-10 lead. Scola hit his first four shots and a free throw, while Battier and Jackson sank 3-pointers during Houston's opening burst. The Clippers missed 14 of their first 21 shots and trailed 35-17 after one quarter. "I think we wanted to set the tone going into the playoffs this weekend," Jackson said. "We definitely didn't want to take these guys for granted." The Rockets' starters rested on the bench as the second quarter began and Los Angeles went on a 13-6 spurt to cut the lead to 11. Houston's starting lineup returned and the Rockets retook control, stretching the lead to 58-42 by halftime. Scola had 12 points and six rebounds in the first half and the Rockets shot 51 percent (24-of-47). Maggette scored 18 points in 17 first-half minutes for the Clippers. The Utah-San Antonio game was just starting when the Rockets and Clippers came out for the second half, but the Rockets stayed focused on the task at hand. "We were just worried about ourselves," Jackson said. "We've got to worry about taking care of our business and we knew that if we won, we would probably have home court." Los Angeles cut the deficit to 10 midway through the third quarter, but Scola scored back-to-back baskets to push Houston's lead to 66-52. McGrady took a hard foul from Brand on a drive with 5:06 left, then hit two free throws to restore the halftime lead. Maggette scored only four points in the third quarter and Houston led 78-60 heading to the fourth. "This was not at all what I wanted," said Brand, who missed 74 games with a surgically repaired left Achilles' tendon. "I wanted to come back and get some wins, but the other teams wore us down a little bit." Houston led 80-62 with just under eight minutes left when Coach Rick Adelman started pulling his starters. Rookie point guard Aaron Brooks, the shortest Rocket at 6-foot, had the best highlight of the closing minutes, racing for a one-handed dunk near the 7-minute mark. Houston won 35 of its last 43 regular-season games. The Clippers dropped their last seven games and 26 of their last 30. Copyright 2007 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
Postgame Quotes
On the game... "They got off to a big start and Houston hurt us on the offensive boards. We fought the battle but we just couldn't get the score inside single digits. We had a long way to come back. Houston has been a good defensive team all year and we didn't hit our shots. They got too many offensive rebounds and we had too many turnovers."
On the Rockets for the playoffs...
On his play... "This was not at all what I wanted. I wanted to come back and get some wins but the other teams wore us down a little bit."
On the game...
On Shane Battier...
On the Clippers season... "This was not at all what we expected. A lot of injuries hurt this team. Injuries have been our Achilles heel all season. I mean that literally in that EB (Elton Brand) missed 76 games due to that injury. It also hurt having Chris (Kaman) out."
On the Rockets in the playoffs...
On the Rockets playoff outlook... "They play really hard. You have Tracy and a great coach and guys that shoot the ball well. They are a smart team and are very good defensively. They owe Utah, don't they?"
On finishing the season in Houston...
On the game... "Yeah, I am really pleased. This is a game we wanted to get. Guys came out first quarter ready to play and I couldn't be prouder of this team and what they have accomplished and the things they went through. To get fifty-five wins is pretty amazing if you look at it. I think there's probably like three teams ahead of us in the west and we're only seperated by two games. So, this group has accomplished so much. With what they've gone through, I'm just really happy they got this win tonight."
On the Rookies in the playoffs...
On making the first round of the playoffs... "Considering all the stuff we've been through this year, to put ourselves in a great position to come out with home court advantage, that's a fabulous job on our part. This team stayed with it despite losing a great part of our team, Yao (Ming), is definitely a big accomplishment. We should be proud of ourselves, with the parody in the west, you know how great these teams are out here and for us to have a young team and have home court advantage, that's pretty special."
On future playoff performance...
On the Rockets fifty-five game wins... "I'm just really proud of our guys. We were counted out multiple times this year and no one even gave us a chance. Not even close of clinching home court and as of right now, it looks like that is going to be the case. That's an amazing accomplishment for a team that's lost its best player and started off very poorly and called on so many first year players. It really is an amazing regular season accomplishment and I'm very proud."
On the Rockets having playoff home court advantage...
On the Rockets regular season success... "We fought through things the whole year. We have competed in every situation that we have had. We have had so many bad situations with Tracy (McGrady) being injured and Yao (Ming) being injured and Shane (Battier) sometimes and Rafer (Alston). We have fought through it and we have competed every day. This is the most important time of the year so we just have to play hard."
On the Rockets win...
On the win... "I think we wanted to set a tone going into the playoffs this weekend. We definitely didn't want to take these guys for granted. We wanted to put our best foot forward tonight and we did that. We didn't shoot the ball the way we wanted to but we did a lot of great things tonight. We won and that's the important thing."
On securing home court advantage... Postgame Notes
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