--The Rockets released guard Luther Head on Saturday in his hometown of Chicago to give him a chance to hook on with another team.
With Head unlikely to receive playing time after losing the backup minutes left since the additions of Ron Artest and Brent Barry, the Rockets waived him in time to make him eligible for the playoffs should another team pick him up. The Rockets had attempted to find a place for him before the trade deadline, but Head was out with a sore right foot. He had been cleared to play this week.
"Luther has been a great player and representative for the Rockets organization," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said. "When it became clear he wasn't going to see minutes in our rotation, he maintained his professional demeanor and continued to work hard every day."
--The Rockets' six-game winning streak ended with a fourth consecutive road loss, all to teams with losing records. They have not won on the road since Jan. 25 against the Pistons. They did not, however, consider the latest loss like the ones that came before.
"It's not a step back," Shane Battier said. "We played hard. We didn't play smart, but we played hard enough to win this game. ... I'm proud of the way we fought. We just didn't handle adversity and pressure the right way."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The fourth quarter we were awful. ... Two things happened; we didn't score and we didn't stop them." -- Coach Rick Adelman, on the loss at Chicago.
