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McGrady and Houston go for season sweep of Seattle

Apr 9, 2007 - 3:26 PM Houston (48-29) at Seattle (31-46) 10:00 pm EDT

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets continue their push for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs when they visit the Seattle Supersonics on Monday.

The Rockets can sweep the three-game season series with a win on Monday. McGrady averaged 33.5 points in the two wins.

Houston (48-29), which got a boost when both McGrady and Yao Ming returned to the lineup in Sunday's 112-106 win over the Sacramento Kings, is just one-half game behind the Utah Jazz (48-28) for the Western Conference's fourth playoff spot.

McGrady scored 40 points and Yao added 18 as the two were on the court together for the first time in a week. Both have been battling back injuries, but appear to be healthy and ready for the playoffs.

The same cannot be said of the Seattle Sonics, who have dropped four of five and lost their leading scorer Ray Allen for the season after he had surgery on both ankles.

A bright spot for Seattle is the play of forward Rashard Lewis, who is in the last year of his contrac. He scored 35 points in a 106-103 win over Utah on Friday. Lewis is averaging 22.3 points and six rebounds this season.