Rockets beat Warriors 97-94
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-15 14:47

Tracy McGrady had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and the Houston Rockets wrapped up their unbeaten West Coast swing with a 97-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.

Houston Rockets' Tracy McGradygoes up for a basket against the Golden State WarriorsMonday, March 14, 2005, in Oakland, Calif. [AP]

The Rockets held off a remarkable rally by Golden State in the waning moments.

Mickael Pietrus hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Warriors to 79-74 with 7:37 left. Zarko Cabarkapa then made consecutive 3s that got it to 87-83 with 4:49 left. Pietrus tied it with a four-point play at 2:56, but McGrady hit a jumper on the other end.

Yao Ming made two free throws with 49 seconds left and David Wesley hit two with 10 seconds remaining. Baron Davis made a layup moments later, then Wesley converted two more free throws. Pietrus missed a long 3 at the buzzer.

The Warriors got a huge boost off the bench from Cabarkapa, who added career highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds in 32 minutes.

Yao had 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Wesley added 16 points.

Houston's previous four wins came against four of the best five teams in the Western Conference: Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix and Sacramento. But it was the last-place Warriors — they were supposed to be weary after an eight-game road trip — who gave them one of the toughest games.

Howard went down hard after teammate Mike James fell backward into his knee while guarding Cabarkapa. Howard was on the floor for several minutes before being helped off the court by two teammates.

He grimaced in pain as he left. He was scheduled to be evaluated by team doctors Tuesday morning.

Houston swept a West Coast trip of three or more games for the first time since winning five straight from March 4-11, 1997 — against the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas and San Antonio.

Troy Murphy had 24 points and nine rebounds for the cold-shooting Warriors, who at times showed signs of fatigue after returning from the grueling eight-game, 13-day trip that covered 6,951 miles.

Davis, acquired in a trade with New Orleans on Feb. 24, was in the Warriors' starting lineup for the first time, playing in place of the injured Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy and forward Calbert Cheaney both were sidelined with sprained right ankles.

But Davis, Jason Richardson and Derek Fisher started the game 3-for-27 — Davis 1-for-8, Richardson 2-for-10 and Fisher 0-for-9. Richardson finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Golden State trailed 42-29 late in the second quarter before getting consecutive 3s to pull within 42-35 at halftime. But Houston started the second half with a 7-0 run.