The Houston Rockets are coming off a thrilling win over a fellow Western Conference contender. Protecting their spot in that crowded playoff race will be easier if they can end their struggles against a team that's way out of it.
The Rockets look to avoid a third straight loss to the last-place Memphis Grizzlies when the Southwest Division rivals square off for the final time in the regular season on Sunday night at the Toyota Center.Houston (40-23) continued its strong play without Tracy McGrady with a 116-112 home win over Phoenix on Friday. Second-year guard Aaron Brooks scored a career-high 30 points and drove past Shaquille O'Neal for the game-winning layup with 7.3 seconds remaining as the Rockets improved to 9-2 since losing their star guard for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.
"I'm just happy we won. That's the most important thing," Brooks said. "In the West, everything is so close, when you play teams in the playoff hunt, you've got to really bring it to them."
Houston starts play with a one-half game lead over Utah and Portland - which are tied for sixth place in the West - and two games ahead of eighth-place Dallas. The Suns are 3 1/ 2 games behind the Mavericks.
Memphis (16-45) is last in the Southwest, but that hasn't stopped it from giving Houston fits lately.
The Rockets have won five straight home games against the Grizzlies, including an 82-71 victory in both teams' season opener Oct. 29. Houston, however, has since dropped two straight in Memphis, falling 109-97 on Dec. 8 and 104-93 on Feb. 4.
The Grizzlies have shot 52.3 percent from the field in those games, while the Rockets have connected on only 43.9 percent of their shots.
Rudy Gay, drafted by the Rockets in 2006 before being sent to the Grizzlies for Shane Battier, has averaged 19.0 points and shot 50.0 percent (16-for-32) in those wins, and rookie guard O.J. Mayo has scored 25.0 points per game on 57.1 percent (20-for-35) shooting.
Both players, however, were injured in the Grizzlies' 110-105 home loss to Philadelphia on Saturday. Gay didn't play in the second half after getting poked in the eye in the second quarter. Mayo left in the closing minutes after landing awkwardly on his left foot.
It's unclear if the Grizzlies' top two scorers will be available Sunday.
"We ran out of bodies," coach Lionel Hollins said after the Grizzlies' ninth loss in 10 games. "We didn't have enough guys that could play ... so we played with what we had. I'm proud of the way the guys battled."
The injuries overshadowed career nights for rookie center Marc Gasol and second-year point guard Mike Conley. Gasol had a career-high 30 points with 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, and Conley added a career-best 31 points with nine assists.
"That is the best I've seen (Conley) play, and it wasn't just because he was making shots," Hollins said. "He was pushing the ball and attacking the basket. He was kicking the ball ahead. He was doing all the things that we talked about and worked on in practice."
