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Friday October 10, 2008 12:06 AM

Rockets Down Spurs 85-78


Ron Artest leads the way with 18 points, 5 rebounds

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

HOUSTON - A masterpiece, it wasn't.

The Rockets were alternately impressive, inconsistent and, at times, borderline inept. But, hey, since when do perfection and preseason ever find themselves in the same sentence? And lest we forget, the Rockets did escape with a win Thursday night, eventually putting away pesky San Antonio 85-78.

"Yeah, it was spotty," said Brent Barry, who dished out a game-high 8 assists. "There were flashes of some of the things that we’re capable of doing, but those flashes have to start turning into quarters, and those quarters need to start turning into halves, and the halves have to start turning into forty-eight minutes."

During the second quarter at least, the Rockets experienced one of those extended flashes to which Barry was referring. Von Wafer and Ron Artest keyed a 15-0 run which had Houston sitting pretty at halftime, up 50-34.

The difference was still sixteen points by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, but the Rockets seemed to lose their offensive compass in the final frame. San Antonio eventually cut the deficit down to four, before Houston finally regained control.

"It's hard to explain a game where we played pretty good in the first half, then the third quarter was just so-so, and then in the fourth quarter we really struggled," said Rick Adelman. "We turned it over nine times in the fourth quarter. And like I told them, once you’re struggling at the offensive end, you can’t put your head down and stop defending – and that’s what happened. So, overall, we were a little bit better than last game, but we’ve still got a long ways to go."

And 1's: Before the game, Spurs' coach Greg Popovich was asked whether the Rockets deserve to be considered among the Western Conference elite. His response: "You better believe it. There are a lot of good teams in the West this year – just like last year, but I think even more so – and I think Houston is gonna be right at the top of the list… They won a gazillion games in a row, without Yao even. Now you add Artest and another year understanding Rick’s system, so they’re gonna be right there."

Fun stat of the night courtesy of the Rockets' inimitable media services manager Bob Schranz: Brent Barry's eight assists were more than he ever recorded in a single game during his four seasons with San Antonio. His highest single-game total with the Spurs was seven (done twice, last 3/9/06 at Phoenix).

Adelman on Von Wafer (14 points on 5-of-8 shooting): "He was very good. He came in and was aggressive offensively – he’s a very good offensive player; we’ve see that in practice all along. When you get an opportunity in these games, it’s a chance to make something happen and I thought Von did a nice job."

Have a question for Rockets.com? Send it to Jason Friedman via email at: jasonf@rocketball.com.