Houston Wins to Remain in Playoff Hunt

The Houston Rockets are hoping their shooting touch didn’t return too late.

Cuttino Mobley scored 13 of his 17 points in the third quarter as the Rockets beat Seattle, 101-86, on Saturday night at Houston to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Steve Francis also had 17 points for the Rockets, who will be eliminated from playoff contention today if the Phoenix Suns beat San Antonio at home.

“We’ve got to win ours and hope for the worst for them,” Mobley said. “It hurts but I have a feeling it’s coming down to the last game. We dug our own hole so we’ve got to sleep in it.”

Seattle, playing its fourth game in five days, cut Houston’s lead to 50-48 at halftime, but the Rockets used a 25-5 run to start the third quarter to put the SuperSonics away.

Houston (41-39) shot 30% in its two previous games but heated up against the SuperSonics and made 50% from the field.

“Those two games, I don’t know what was on top of our heads, a black cloud or something,” Mobley said. “But tonight, we got out there and took care of business.”

Brent Barry led Seattle with 23 points, and Rashard Lewis had 19. Houston had seven players in double figures. Eddie Griffin and Glen Rice each had 15, Kelvin Cato 12, James Posey 11 and Yao Ming 10.

“From the start of the game there was just no defense and a big mental letdown,” Seattle Coach Nate McMillan said. “After a tough fight last night [a loss at San Antonio, 94-86], we just didn’t have it. There was no sense of urgency.”

Rice and Francis took turns pushing the Rockets ahead in the first half. Francis had 13 first-quarter points and Rice scored 13 in the second period, helping Houston to its halftime lead.

The SuperSonics scored the first seven points of the second quarter before Rice got hot. He had three three-point baskets in the period. The Rockets built a 10-point lead at 43-33 with 5 minutes 49 seconds left in the quarter but led by only two at the half. Barry had 12 second-quarter points for the SuperSonics.

Dallas 117, Golden State 108 -- Dirk Nowitzki had 37 points and 12 rebounds and Steve Nash added 21 points and 10 assists to help the Mavericks win at Dallas to get their team-record 58th win. The Mavericks had lost four of their last five to relinquish their season-long grip on the NBA’s best record.

Dallas’ Michael Finley was eligible to come off the injured list Saturday, but didn’t. Coach Don Nelson said he might be ready Monday. The Mavericks are 7-6 since their second-leading scorer went out with a hamstring injury.

Atlanta 101, Washington 100 -- Michael Jordan scored 17 points but he missed a 20-footer in the final seconds that clinched the Hawks’ win at Washington. Ira Newble, who had a career-high 21 points, dunked off an offensive rebound with eight seconds remaining to give the Hawks a one-point lead after Jordan had made a 13-footer that put the Wizards up by one.

New Jersey 94, Toronto 86 -- Richard Jefferson scored 21 points and banked in a three-point basket from midcourt at the end of the third quarter to lighten the mood at East Rutherford, N.J., as the Nets opened a half-game lead over idle Detroit in the race for the top record in the conference.

Orlando 89, Boston 86 -- Tracy McGrady scored 37 points and Gordan Giricek made the winning three-point basket with 32.2 seconds left to help the Magic win at Orlando, Fla. It was the Magic’s third straight win. Paul Pierce had 25 points and nine rebounds for Boston.

Cleveland 104, New York 99 -- Ricky Davis had 37 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to help the Cavaliers rally from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime at Cleveland. The Cavaliers (16-64) went on a 21-6 run in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime, and with the win, avoided having the worst single-season record in team history.