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Nets-Rockets Preview

Mar 13, 2010 - 6:22 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

New Jersey (7-57) at Houston (32-31), 8:30 p.m. EDT

Time is running out for the Houston Rockets to make a push toward a Western Conference playoff berth, and a maddening pattern of alternating wins and losses over the past seven games hasn't helped.

The Rockets, though, have a good chance to record consecutive victories for the first time in five weeks Saturday night when the hapless New Jersey Nets visit.

Houston (32-31) hasn't won back-to-back games since beating Golden State on Feb. 2 and Memphis three nights later. The Rockets have averaged 101.2 points while giving up 103.6 in 14 games since then.

That inconsistency has dropped Houston in 10th place in the highly competitive West, 5 1/2 games behind eighth-place Portland.

"You just have to keep going for it, hope you do get that streak that can send you in the other direction," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We've just kind of been in 'hit and miss' over the last three weeks."

Playing seven games without starting guard Trevor Ariza (hip) and 12 minus key reserve Kyle Lowry (sprained left ankle) didn't help Adelman's club, but both players came off the bench in Tuesday's 96-88 win over Washington.

Ariza made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points in just under 28 minutes. Lowry played 19:25, and had six points and four assists.

"It's good to be at full strength," Ariza said. "Now we've got to get in sync, back to our roles and understand what we're trying to do."

The Rockets, who start a four-game homestand, got all they could handle from the league-worst Nets in a 98-93 victory on Dec. 26 in New Jersey.

After leading by single digits for most of the game, Houston found itself tied with 1:38 remaining before Aaron Brooks made a go-ahead layup with 37 seconds left. He also made four straight free throws to help the Rockets pull away for their seventh straight win over the Nets.

Not much has changed over the past 2 1/2 months for New Jersey, which is attempting to avoid matching the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers' league-worst 9-73 record.

Since winning by 20 last Saturday over New York to open a season-high five-game trip, the Nets (7-58) have dropped three in a row including a 104-102 defeat to Oklahoma City on Friday.

New Jersey cut a 15-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter to four with seven seconds left, then scored four straight points over the final three seconds, including Courtney Lee's layup just before the final buzzer.

"The guys are learning that we aren't good enough to play without a real high level of effort for 48 minutes," coach Kiki Vandeweghe said. "When we have a slight letdown, that's when teams pull away from us."

Vandeweghe's club has shown improvement over the past four games in averaging 100.8 points - 10 above their league-worst average. Devin Harris has led the way with 24.8 points on 50.7 shooting over that span, but he's averaged 12.3 points and shot 33.3 percent in the past four matchups with the Rockets.

New Jersey hasn't beaten Houston since a 90-77 victory at the Toyota Center on March 13, 2006.