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Likely without McGrady, Rockets search for offense vs. Suns

Nov 17, 2007 - 2:42 PM Phoenix (7-2) at Houston (6-4) 8:30 pm EST

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- For the Houston Rockets, finding offense without Tracy McGrady figures to be tough. It's a problem they better address quickly if they hope to keep pace with one of the NBA's best offenses.

The Rockets will welcome the high-scoring Phoenix Suns into the Toyota Center on Saturday.

McGrady sprained his right elbow in Wednesday's 93-90 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He missed Friday's 90-84 loss at San Antonio, and is questionable for this contest.

Maybe not coincidentally, the Rockets' 84 points against the Spurs were a season low. A repeat of that performance would not bode well against a Suns' team that is averaging 106.1 per contest.

On a positive note, Luis Scola stepped up in McGrady's absence to score a career-high 20 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field.

The Rockets will need a repeat of that performance if they hope to end their recent slide against the Suns, who have won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the teams.

Phoenix, which has won all seven times this season it has scored at least 100 points, is 7-2 for the sixth time in franchise history and the second time in four seasons.

Leandro Barbosa hit five 3-pointers and scored 25 points and Grant Hill added 24 points, leading the Suns to a 112-102 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.