Rocketing straight to last place?

Rockets 80, Nets 69
Game 7 File
A blazing 11 - 0 game-opening run disappears like a shooting star as the Rockets blast a 33 - 8 run (without much from stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady) spanning the first and second quarters to send the Nets into deep space. Turnovers, poor shooting and some spacey play keep the Nets on the launching pad, waiting for the big liftoff. Home: the final frontier? Not with a 1 - 4 record.
• Box Score

Nets Record: 2 - 5
Home Record: 1 - 4
Away Record: 1 - 1
Division Record: 0 - 1
Conf. Record: 1 - 1
Other Game Reviews

Nets High Men:
• Points: Richard Jefferson, 17.
• Assists: Zoran Planinic, 4.
• Rebounds: Richard Jefferson and Brian Scalabrine each had 11.
• Steals: Planinic, Jefferson, Collins and Vaughn each had 3.
• Turnovers: Richard Jefferson, 7.
• Blocks: Alonzo Mourning, 2.
• FG Percentage: Jacque Vaughn, 40.0% (2 - 5).

Nets Team Stats:
• FG Percentage: 30.7%
• FT Percentage: 84.0%
• Rebounds: 53
• Rebound Differential: +19
• Turnovers: 20
• Opposing Team's Turnovers: 12
• Bench points: 20
• Bench points Differential: -5
• Steals: 4
• Blocks: 8
• Points in the Paint: 20
• Double-Doubles: 1 (Richard Jefferson: 17 points, 11 rebounds)
• Triple-Doubles: 0


Nets Media
Bergen Record | Nets
Newark Star-Ledger | Nets
Newsday | Nets
NY Daily News | NBA
NY Post | Nets
NY Times | Pro Basketball
YES Network | Nets

Nets Team Pages
CNNSI.com | Nets
ESPN.com | Nets
FoxSports | Nets
NBA.com | Nets
Sportsline.com | Nets

Rockets Media
Houston Chronicle

Game 7: Rockets 80, Nets 69 - November 15, 2004
Space Jam
It's looney tunes all the way, folks. With the Nets once again shooting like Pepe LePew, turning the ball over like Daffy Duck, and certainly not making anyone in the Continental Arena laugh, another one-sided, ugly home defeat is committed to film. The Nets lose their third straight, and fall to 1 - 4 on the home planet.

An game-opening 11 - 0 run by New Jersey made this a promising flick, but it was all downhill quickly as the Rockets caught up to forge several ties before Jim Jackson's back-breaking, time-expiring three was good to give Houston it's first lead of the game, one they would not relenquish. That 33 -8 run (after the 11 - 0 start) was made ridiculously easy by (what else) poor shooting, continued multiple unforced errors and no sense of defensive purpose whatsoever. That was your ballgame right there, as a Net third quarter run brought them all the way back to a 10 point hole, but not any closer.

All this was done, by the way, without much from All Stars Tracy McGrady (14 points) or Yao Ming (6), both of whom are banged up.

In last place, as in space, no one can hear you scream.

Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny?
RJ The Martian - Continued tough space walking for Richard Jefferson, who (easily) leads the universe in turnovers (as do the Nets in the team statistic category) and chipped in 7 more tonight. Trying to carry the huge burden that is contract expectations and the desire to prove to all that this team isn't as bad as it made out to be, RJ was stripped, tripped and flipped into every kind of turnover. He double-doubled again, but that's starting to be just because he has to. His rebounding ability has impressed, though.
Lawrence, Meet Herman- Is it disturbing to anyone else in this young season that the Nets take so long to get into their offense (what there is of it), then often show absolutely no clock sense before forcing a long, off balance shot which hasn't a prayer of going in? It's like the Nets and the Jets are joined at the hip. Between the 24 second violations, the half-assed shots and the forced drives to the rim that lead to charges (or three second violations, or bad passes, or steals, or...you get the idea), it's enough to drive Netsfans (not to mention Lawrence Frank) absolutely insane. So too another 31% shooting performance, or a 2 - 10 mark from three. Come back, JKidd, and quick.
Giant Croaking Alien Finds Fountain Of Youth - Think Dikembe Mutombo was excited to be back in Jersey? He looked like he was 25 instead of 45 with those successive blocks of Alonzo Mourning in the second quarter, and his 6 points, 4 rebounds and 4 blocks in 22 minutes were big, as the collective length of the Rockets clearly bothered the Nets into doing things that are clearly characteristic of them when crowded. The finger wag is back, baby - too bad it wasn't seen much in these parts (and the Nets are still footing the bill for it...).
Floating In Space On The Bench - What am I missing about the rotation? Clearly, L. Frank is not pleased with the contributions off the bench. Aaron Williams saw 5 mintues of daylight, Rodney "Chucker" Buford (I know, he's playing on a bad foot) was tethered to the bench, and even semi-regular contributor Jacque Vaughn was dialed back to 10 minutes (in fairness, Travis Best gave the Nets their one lift from the bench and stole 11 more minutes away). With the starters again working heavy minutes, the injured and beaten down Nets need someone to give them some game from the bench. A quick "way to go" to Awvee Storey, who scored his first NBA points late in what is likely to be his short-lived stint on the active roster.
Center Of Gravity - The now every-game update for Alonzo Mourning goes like this: much more effective than Saturday afternoon, with 15 points and 8 boards in 24 minutes, but he shot poorly (it was reported after Saturday's game that 'Zo tore tendons in his pinky), stumbled about and had a hard time with the extra big Mutombo. The other center, meanwhile? Jason Collins had 0 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 39 minutes. Surely, even with the sprained ankle, Collins is capable of more? The length obviously bothered him as well.
Grabbing The Launches - One preseason weakness that hasn't panned out: the Nets are rebounding the basketball well. They outrebounded the much taller and experienced Rockets by 19 tonight, led by Jefferson and Brian "Mr. Hustle" Scalabrine. (Side note on Scalabrine: seeing him wearing the headband, my 6-year-old son has taken to calling him "the leprechaun"...)
13, 942 Shining Points Of Light - Tonight's announced attendance, for those keeping track. And I'd guess about 50 of them were left after the five minute mark of the fourth quarter...And if this keeps up (1 - 4 on the home court, after three years of near invincibility there), that number is likely to be heavily padded come February.

Fire On The Launch Pad
Jim Jackson, longtime NBA vagabond finding a home in Houston, shot the ball better than anyone in this game, and that alone gets him the nod as the Astronaut of the Game from Joe. As for New Jersey, well, I don't know how else I can put this, Netsfans (and please, try to see my point of view here): This. Is. Not. A. Very. Good. Basketball. Team. Oh, we can debate the whys and even the hows, but you have to admit that fact right now. If the Nets aren't careful, they'll be sucked into the vortex of low expectations and never be heard from again in these parts, that's how painful this last week has been.
- Joe

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