Rockets Blast Hawks
The Houston Rockets are one team on the road and a decidedly better one at home.
Cuttino Mobley had 24 points as the Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks 115-93 on Saturday night for their fourth straight home victory. Those have wins have been by an average of 29.2 points.
Houston has also lost its last eight on the road.
"I don't understand it," Mobley said. "I think we're just as aggressive on the road as we are at home. But the shots just seem to fall here.
"I know this: if we had played from the start of the year the way we do at home now, it would have been a much different season."
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"It felt good," Thomas said. "It didn't seem like I had that many. Twenty-two rebounds is a lot of rebounds. I was surprised I had 10 at the half."
Kelvin Cato added 21 points and a career high 15 rebounds as the Rockets won for the fourth time in their last six games and ended a three-game losing streak to Atlanta.
Thomas also tied his career best with six assists.
Three other Rockets scored in double figures, including rookie Steve Francis with 16 points. Walt Wlliams and Shandon Anderson had 12 apiece.
"Tonight, we rebounded well and blocked some shots," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "This is the kind of stuff we hope to see the last 10 games. I see us growing as a team but we still have a long way to go to become a contender again. But I love what I'm seeing."
The Hawks tied a Rockets' opponent season high with 103 field goal attempts, but made only 36.9 percent.
Houston outrebounded Atlanta 63-55.
"We had some injuries that hurt us," Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens said. "But we didn't do a good job of blocking out. Dikembe (Mutombo) would block a shot but we wouldn't block out and they would get the put-back. You can't do that."
Mutombo had a team-high 15 rebounds.
Jim Jackson scored 21 points for the Hawks, who have lost nine of 11 games. Alan Henderson added 20 points and Jason Terry 14, nine in the first quarter.
The Rockets, who led 31-29 at the end of the first quarter, stretched their lead to as many as 18 in the second quarter with the help of a 13-4 run.
Houston led 65-47 at the break, the team's highest first-half point total this season.
A 13-2 run at the start of the third quarter expanded the Rockets' edge to 29 points.
Notes
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