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Francis gets speical win; Rockets face tough road trip
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-10 09:04 It was his two passes that Jameer Nelson turned into 3-pointers in the last
two minutes that gave Orlando a 73-71 lead.
Houston Rockets center Yao
Ming (L) defends the basket against Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson in
the second half of NBA action as the Magic beat the Rockets 76-74 in
Houston November 8, 2005.[Reuters]
| Nelson
had gone 2-for-8 from 3-point range in Orlando's last five games, including the
last two of the preseason. He missed his first three shots Tuesday night before
hitting a running 8-footer with 3:19 left. And then came the clutch 3-pointers.
"Nelson hasn't been making his shots lately. I told him to stick with it,"
Francis said. "We knew he had to make a shot sooner or later."
After Houston's Rafer Alston missed a 3-pointer, Francis again drew in the
Houston defense and passed to Nelson at the top of the key. This time, Nelson
drove to the basket and hit an acrobatic layup over Yao Ming with 51 seconds
remaining.
"Steve told me to keep shooting and he's the team leader," Nelson said. "When
he tells you to keep shooting, you keep shooting. I know he's going to keep
shooting, so if he tells me to, why not?"
Dwight Howard and DeShawn Stevenson each had 12 points and Nelson scored all
10 of his in the final quarter for the Magic, who won despite shooting 37.8
percent.
Yao scored 17 points for Houston (1-2), which looked shaky on offense for the
second straight game without McGrady.
"There will be things we'll have to correct," Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy
said. "I thought we played a cleaner game as far as being efficient. We're just
struggling."
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