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Rockets, Pistons hoping to get healthy

Mar 18, 2009 - 4:40 AM By Dan Pieringer Stats Writer

Detroit (33-33)_at Houston (44-25), 9:30 p.m. EDT

HOUSTON (AP) -- The Houston Rockets managed to overcome the absence of their leading scorer in their last game to beat a fellow Western Conference contender.

The Detroit Pistons didn't fare as well without their top offensive option.

Houston's Yao Ming and Detroit's Richard Hamilton could return to their respective lineups when the Rockets and Pistons square off in Houston on Wednesday night.

Yao missed Houston's game against New Orleans on Monday night because of flu-like symptoms and is day-to-day. Without their leading scorer and rebounder, the Rockets (44-25) beat the Hornets 95-84 behind Ron Artest's second-half surge.

Artest missed his first 11 shots - nine in the first half - before hitting four in a row as the Rockets rallied to take the lead after trailing by as many as 11 points in the third quarter.

"When you play in this league against many, many good players, you kind of pick up things and learn how to get through situations like that," said Artest, who scored all 18 of his points after halftime.

"Sometimes you're going to have a first half like that, and that's why you have a team and we still win by (11). That just shows what type of team we have."

Detroit (33-33) made a late run of its own Tuesday night, but the rally fell short in a 103-101 loss at Dallas. The Pistons, playing without Hamilton because of a nagging groin injury, outscored the Mavericks 35-23 in the fourth quarter but still suffered their fourth loss in six games.

"I was very pleased with our effort," Pistons coach Michael Curry said. "We stuck with it, continued to fight and did a lot of good things. ... If we put in the same effort with (Hamilton) tomorrow, we'll be good. If he can go, he will."

The Pistons have also been playing without Allen Iverson (back) and Rasheed Wallace (calf). Neither is expected to return Wednesday.

Rockets forward Carl Landry will also miss this game. The second-year player, who serves as one of Yao's primary backups in the frontcourt, was shot near his home in Houston hours after the team arrived home from the win in New Orleans.

Landry, who was treated at a hospital and released, sustained a minor wound to his left calf and is expected to miss one to three weeks. Rockets coach Rick Adelman said Landry's injury will likely mean more playing time for Chuck Hayes and Dikembe Mutombo.

"Obviously, it hurts us," said Adelman, already faced with playing the rest of the season without injured star Tracy McGrady. "But on the other hand, it's going to give other guys the chance to step up and play. We've got to have that from everybody else. It's going to hurt us, but he'll be back and the rest of our group has to try to step up and win games."

The Rockets have won three of their last four against the Pistons, including a 108-105 road victory Jan. 25 in the teams' only previous meeting this season. Yao didn't play in that game because of a knee injury, but six Houston players scored in double figures, led by Artest's 24.

Hamilton led the Pistons with 27 points in 31 minutes off the bench in that contest. He's averaging 20.4 points and shooting 50.4 percent in his last seven games against the Rockets.

Houston is in position to sweep its season series against Detroit for the first time since 2000-01.