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Rockets aim to continue dominance over Bobcats

Nov 26, 2010 - 3:44 PM (Sports Network) - The Houston Rockets have a good chance at staying in the win column when they pay a visit to the Charlotte Bobcats Friday night.

Houston has won eight of the last nine meetings with Charlotte and is coming off Wednesday's 111-101 victory versus Golden State at the Toyota Center. Kevin Martin scored 25 points and Luis Scola finished with 24 points and a game-best 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who ended a four-game losing streak.

"They're small and if we move the ball we had a chance," Houston head coach Rick Adelman said of the Warriors. "We felt we could attack them at the basket. That's all we worked on [Tuesday in practice], keeping the movement going."

Adelman's squad led by a 36-23 score after the first quarter and got a career- high 16 points from Chuck Hayes. Kyle Lowry scored 14 points and dished out a game-high 10 assists to post his second double-double in the last three games.

The Rockets are still playing without injured center Yao Ming and guard Aaron Brooks due to ankle ailments. They are just 2-6 away from home this season.

Charlotte has dropped two straight and three of four games, including Wednesday's 99-95 setback to the New York Knicks at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Tyrus Thomas led Charlotte with 26 points and 11 rebounds in his first start of the season, while Stephen Jackson added 18 points for the Bobcats, who lost both games of this recent home-and-home set with the Knicks. D.J. Augustin chipped in 14 points, eight boards and seven assists in a losing cause.

"Our effort in the fourth quarter has been so much better than over the course of a game," said Bobcats coach Larry Brown, whose squad outscored the Knicks, 24-18, in the fourth period. "We play like a bunch of strangers, no ball movement, too many guys standing around. When you have to fight uphill all the time, you have to play perfect."

The Bobcats fell to 2-5 at home this season and had 11 shots blocked in the recent loss. They also had a 47-38 edge on the glass.