(63-19) First Round Wraps Up [4-0]

[rise]

[George7]

That's what I'm talking about!!
And wow,I've never seen those Kings-Lakers vids.Indeed terrible officiating there...

[Axel The Great]

z02, no need to go all apeshit! This isn't RL, although that would be nice if all this would somehow turn out to be true.

George7, yeah it is terrible officiating. You could argue that the Kings had their chances to win the series, but really, they had Game Six won.

Parts II & III coming up later today!

[Axel The Great]

WARNING: A very long read. I'd recommend making some time to read this. A little more than five minutes maybe.




Chapter 15 Part II - The Poisonous Dagger

"Go on," motioned Judge Jones. "Well, back in January, after a game between the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs, there was an incident in the locker room which involved a scorpion. It was inside Kevin Martin's sportsbag. There's one thing I'll tell you, scorpions just don't end up in someone's bag by coincidence. It's not like we were in Arizona or something, where they're a lot more common," continued Axel.

"I did some investigating, after Martin told me about it. I've figured out that all the evidence leads up to Stern," Axel said, confidently. The crowd gasped, and an even louder buzz began to grow. The jury began to discuss their own thoughts. "Prove it," Stern interrupted all the noise.

"Why, sure old man. You see, I drove over to San Antonio, and it turns out that scorpion was the pet of a ball boy for the AT&T Center. He mourns the death of his scorpion, but he was paid for it. You see, Stern has a friend in San Antonio, and his son owned a scorpion. He paid his friend and the kid for this 'scorpion incident'. He wanted to set it in Kevin Martin's bag, so that it would sting him, and cause him to either die, or get poisoned to the point of missing games. Without him, the Rockets aren't the same team, as we've seen before this season. He wants the Los Angeles Lakers to catch up to the Rockets, in order for them to secure homecourt advantage in the playoffs, but I'll get to that in a second.

"I questioned the ball boy, it turns out he was indeed paid by Stern to set that scorpion in Martin's bag. Plan failed, but it's still an attempt to do a cruel thing to a human being. His plan was just to pass it off as a tragic accident," Axel continued. "He is here in this courtroom. I call him up to the stand."

A teenage boy with a San Antonio Spurs jersey rushed up to the front of the courtroom and sat on the stand. He was put under oath by the judge, and then was questioned.

"What is your name?" the judge asked. "Nolan Henderson, sir," the boy replied. "And how old are you?" the judge asked again. "Fifteen," the boy replied. "Are your parents here with you?" judge asked him. "Yes, sir. They're within the crowd," he replied, and as he said that, the judge looked over at the crowd and saw a man and a woman waving to him. "Very well," he said.

"Tell me, Mr. Henderson, how much did David Stern pay you to do this and why did you do this?" the judge continued his questions. "He paid me three thousand dollars. He tol' me to put dat scorpion in the bag, since he knew I worked as a ballboy in San Antonio, so I had access to the locker rooms. The rivalry that my Spurs have with the Rockets prompted me to do this, and as a teenager, three thousand dollars was an offer I couldn't refuse," Nolan said.

"Where are these three thousand dollars?" the judge asked. "Deposited them at a bank in San Antonio to earn interest in them. Gotta save up for my college education, you know," Nolan replied.

"And so you went into the locker room and put your scorpion inside Kevin Martin's bag?" asked the judge. "Correct, sir," Nolan replied. "How did you carry it from your house to the AT&T Center?" the judge further questioned. "I bought a small jar to put it in and had it hidden in a backpack I usually carry to the arena." Nolan replied. "I have that jar and the dead scorpion right here."

Judge Jones took a look at the scorpion, it was five inches in length, and coal black. Judge Jones looked convinced. "That Kevin Martin should become a pest exterminator once his basketball career is done. Very well, have a seat, Mr. Henderson," the judge motioned Nolan to the crowd. He sat down next to his parents again.

"Now if that is all, Mr. Gomez, I will be giving Mr. Stern his turn to..." the judge was interrupted. "No, wait. There is one more piece of evidence. You see, David Stern has been rigging games this season as well. Proof? Mr. Rios here has caught all of his conversations with NBA Officials, including Joey Crawford, Dick Bavetta, Bob Delaney, just to name a few. He, Rios, recorded the conversations, and I have them right here," Axel said.

He pulled out a sound recorder from his pocket, and began to play it. "Mr. Bavetta, I want you to rig this game in the Lakers' favor against the Celtics so they can win. I've put down twenty thousand dollars on that game..... I want you to 'help' the Heat win it at Houston.... I am appointing you an official for the upcoming Rockets-Lakers game on the first of February, that's about a month away. I expect the same result, don't make it look obvious, but make sure the Lakers win. I want that homecourt advantage for them," the sound recorder played the sound of Stern's voice. There were dozens more examples.

The crowd buzzed as loud as ever; they were convinced at what Stern was intending to do. "Is there a reason in particular why you want to do this, Mr. Stern?" the judge asked.

"For the same reason he rigged Game Six of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Both Los Angeles and Miami have great markets, and they both currently have some of the best players in the world. That combined in the NBA Finals, and you have a recipe to boost TV ratings and things like that. Doing this all at the expense of crowning an undeserving champion," Axel answered. "He does not want small market teams winning the championship, such as Sacramento. Teams like Houston, Boston, etcetera aren't in his plans. He wants either Kobe to three-peat, or LeBron James to win his first championship."

"Now you see, he got away with rigging some of those games. Like the Rockets-Heat one. The Lakers-Celtics one however, and the Rockets-Lakers, too, we were able to stop him. I hired someone to delay the official in charge of rigging the game, in some way, shape, or form. That's how the Rockets beat the Lakers, and that's how the Celtics defeated the Lakers. There were other games, however, where we weren't so lucky. His main target has been the Celtics and the Rockets, though, and despite that, they own the league's best record in their respective conference," Axel continued.

"And so, Mr. Gomez, let me ask you some concluding questions," Judge Jones replied. "Ask away, your honor," Axel answered.

"Well this first question maybe Mr. Stern can answer for me. Why would you keep documents that are a decade old, instead of shredding them to get rid of the evidence?" he asked first. "Million dollar question right there. That's like asking why Jordan retired in his prime. Your guess is as good as mine, your honor," Axel replied, looking over at Stern.

"I was never bothered to throw them away. I kept them stashed in a hidden folder where I put top secret documents. I thought at one point that there was no way anyone else could get their hands on those documents. I was dead wrong," Stern said, ashamed.

"Second, who was Stern gambling with? You haven't touched on that much yet," the judge continued. "I don't know. I'd assume it's a top secret mafia gang, but it's questionable. The only evidence we have is those documents that are being investigated, the sound recorder of him betting money on the games, and of course, Stern did put down gobs of money on Game Six," Axel answered.

"Very well. Third, I'd like to ask, would Kobe and Shaq and anyone else who was on that team in 2002 know anything about this fixing to further prove that Game Six really was rigged?"

"What more evidence do you need? I gave everyone examples of the riggedness of the game, showed you a non-forged memo written by Stern himself that proves he had plans to fix the game. Plus, what's done is done, Kobe and Shaq have a question mark on their third championship, isn't that evidence enough?" Axel answered. "Not until our officials confirm that that is in fact Stern's real signature. Ah, here comes our security guard now with the document," Judge Jones said.

The guard handed the documents to the judge, and whispered something in his ear. Stern looked at them in hope that the document was false and that the judge would rule him innocent.

"Well Mr. Gomez, it seems you are correct. Our investigators have confirmed that it is in fact Stern's signature and handwriting. The letters have different types of fingerprints on 'em, the most of which belong to Mr. Stern himself," the judge asked. "The letter sent by Mr. Bavetta in reply also contains some of Stern's fingerprints. We will be further questioning Mr. Bavetta on this subject, but the evidence is enough to convince me that Stern is in fact, guilty."

Stern knew he had been brought down. "Are there any words you'd like to say, Mr. Stern, that could disprove any of what has been said by Mr. Gomez or confirmed by our investigators?" the judge asked, doubtful.

"IT IS ALL A LIE!!!" he yelled. "This is not true! Please believe me, it's not! I've been commissioner of the NBA for over two decades! What makes anyone think I'd do this to my precious league?" he asked.

"Do you have evidence to prove all of this false?" the judge asked. Stern was about to speak, glanced over at his lawyer to bail him out. He was stunned, and was really not expecting this. "You told me you were innocent!" Stern's lawyer whispered to him. He merely shrugged.

"I don't want none of this lawyer cover up BS either, I've got things to do once we're done here," the judge interrupted. "No," Stern muttered.

"Those who find Mr. David Stern guilty of attempted murder, gambling, and the fixing of professional sports games, raise your hand," the judge said to the jury.

[Valor]

I love the conspiracy being shown here in your asso

[kibaxx7]

Great job, Stern is on his way down

[puttincomputers]

Read every word and understood them in 5 minutes.

Good move to allow the kid to wear a Spurs Jersey!

[George7]

This is turning out like a novel! Great read axel! Really liked how it shaping out, hoping you are going to get rid of stern once for all!

[Axel The Great]

I love the conspiracy being shown here in your asso

Lol. It's something that's probably never been done before in any association, so I thought it'd be cool to do something like this. Plus, I don't like Stern.

Great job, Stern is on his way down

Yep. He's had his time to shine.

Read every word and understood them in 5 minutes.

Good move to allow the kid to wear a Spurs Jersey!

Wow, you must be a very fast reader! Why would it be a good move to let the kid wear a Spurs jersey, though?

This is turning out like a novel! Great read axel! Really liked how it shaping out, hoping you are going to get rid of stern once for all!

Thanks, George! Part III is coming up in a bit so you can find out.

After Part III, I'm taking a two-day hiatus as I'm going to San Antonio tomorrow and Monday.

[rise]

Great story. Loving it!

[Axel The Great]

z02, great to hear.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that I'm not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to law, so the punishment that Stern receives here may or may not be way off or close to what someone would receive in real life.

Also note (again) that none of the events in this story are true. Stern is most likely not rigging any games in the real world, and if he is, it is just pure coincidence. Thank you for reading!





Chapter 15 Part III - The Verdict

Much to the delight of Axel, all of those in the jury raised their hands.

"Do you plead guilty, Stern?" the judge then asked Stern. It felt like ten minutes, even though it was actually about twenty seconds for Stern to answer. He knew he couldn't deny; the evidence was too concrete and everyone seemed convinced. "Yes," he said very quietly.

"This court now finds Mr. David Stern guilty of attempted assault or murder with a scorpion, and rigging and gambling of professional sports games as a way to get more money. I'm hereby sentencing you to ten years in federal prison, and fining you $500,000 dollars. Case closed," Judge Jones said, and banged his hammer, ending the case.

The crowd cheered. "Stern was a cunt!", "Stern gone? Woo!", "It was about time he was brought down!", were among some comments Axel heard from the crowd. He looked over at Stern; he had a look of shame on his face. Stern looked up at Axel. "You will pay for this you little Hispanic son-of-a-bitch! Mark my words! This isn't the last you'll see or hear of me, you will pay dearly for every cent I didn't get in this plan!"

He ran over to try and swing at Axel. Axel merely dodged it, and held him back with ease. The guards came over and grabbed him, pulling him away. "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck all of you!!! You are all a bunch of CUNTS!!!" Stern said, as the guards took him away. There was a bit of irony in Stern's last statement.

The crowd and jury began to file out of the courtroom as Axel began to gather up his belongings.

Axel exited the courtroom after grabbing all of his belongings and saying farewell to the judge. "You would make an excellent lawyer, or detective," the judge had complimented him.

Axel couldn't help but smile...

-------------------------------------

Axel's phone rang at the airport in New York as Axel was making his way back to Houston a day later. "Gomez speaking, how may I be of assistance?" Axel answered, expecting somebody to be calling to ask him how the case went. Many others had asked and congratulated him about his success in the case, from Daryl Morey to Kevin Martin, and even Rick Adelman, who sounded real angry at the fact that Stern had stolen a championship from him. Apparently, it wasn't someone who he expected it to be.

"I will make you pay. Now that he's gone, you're life will be a living hell," someone said. "I'm sorry, but I thought my life was already a living hell?" Axel replied jokingly. He knew it was either someone prank-calling him, or someone who was angry at the fact that David Stern had been brought down.

The person just hung up, and Axel got on his plane without a single worry. He fell asleep about thirty minutes into the plane ride, after eating the mediocre meal he had been served.

At Houston, Axel was driving back home (Daryl Morey had picked him up from the airport, and Axel had left his Mustang at the Rockets headquarters for the full two days), when a black car hurriedly appeared in the rearview mirror of his Mustang. Axel's adrenaline and heart began to pump faster, and as it got closer and closer, he saw that it was a black Mercedez. A tinted window from the passenger's seat rolled down, and the car pulled up to his left side.

A man with sunglasses popped out of the window, and he pulled out an uzi. Axel, scared, saw a right turn ahead, and quickly took it. Moments later, the other car had doubled back and was following him, coming closer and closer. "Oh it's on motherfuckers," Axel said, and pressed his foot on the gas.

He took a left turn, then a right turn, but with every move he made, the Mercedez followed suit, maintaining itself right at his heels. It got closer and closer, and the same man pulled out the uzi, and began to shoot at Axel's car. He heard the clanking of the bullets hitting the side of his car, "Wow, does this guy have bad aim or what? I'm right here!" Axel muttered to himself.

Just after he said that, he heard the firing of the same gun, and then a loud noise; that of a tire getting flattened. "Ohhhh," Axel figured out the man's intentions. He was beginning to slow down, but tried to keep going. His front left tire had been flattened by the man's uzi, and he continued firing at his back tire. Seconds later, he heard that tire go flat.

"Aw fuck, they got me," Axel told himself. He pulled over, hoping to find out who these guys were and why they were after him. He pulled out his secret gun from the passenger seat compartment, pocketed it so that it was out of sight, and got out of his car.

The Mercedez parked right behind him, and two men got out of it. They were both wearing black tuxedo suits with black sunglasses. "Do you happen to be a man named Axel?" the driver asked in an Italian accent.

Axel thought his response carefully, and said, "No."

"Why, you must a be lyin'. Of course you are Axel," he said. "I'm afraid you have the wrong person. I don't have a clue who this Axel you are talking about is. Who are you anyways?" Axel asked.

"I'm afraid we can't tell you dat. We workin' for a top dog in dis country, and our mission was to capture this Axel guy that you happen to not be," the gunman said. "But really, how can you not be him? You fit the description given to us very well."

"Can you describe this description to me?" Axel asked.

"Of course," the gunman answered. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Let's see. Around 5'7"-5'10", a tan-ish skin color, short buzzed hair, and a skinny frame."

"There are many people out there that are around 5'10", tan skinned, and skinny with short buzzed hair. I happen to be an unlucky one of those kinds of people to meet you two assholes," Axel replied in a bored tone.

"Now that's not nice is it? We're two top men with loaded weapons here and you go and insult us. I'd watch your mouth if I were you," the Italian man said. "I just a want you to tell us. Are you Axel?"

"No. I answered that question already. No," Axel responded.

"Well in that case, it was nice to meet ya," the gunman said, and pointed his uzi at Axel's head. Acting quickly, Axel made an attempt to pull out his gun from his pocket, but instead pulled out something else...

"What the? A mixtape? You're pointing a mixtape at me?" the man began to laugh. Axel saw that he was pointing the mixtape that Kevin Martin had given him a few weeks earlier at him.

"Ah man, you a funny guy. Wait? Let me see dat," he said, and took the mixtape from Axel. "Kevin Martin featurin' Aaron Brooks," he read the words aloud, and his eyes widened. "Hey, I've heard about Martin and Brooks takin' up rap recently, I've wanted to get my hands on some of their music. Would you mind if I had this?" he asked.

"If you cancel the hit on Axel," Axel said. "Fine, you got yo' self a deal," the man said. "But, but, the boss. He'll be mad at us," said the Italian man. "Fuck da boss. This mixtape is gon' be worth it. He paid us big money anyways, I wasn't ever gon' kill dis guy even if he was Axel," the other man said.

"You're soft," the Italian man told him. "Would you seriously kill an innocent man for a douchebag like Joey Crawford?" the gunman replied.

Axel went over to the trunk of his car, and pulled out the bicycle he had inside; he was uninterested in the conversation and argument the two hitmen began to have.

"He's not even Axel for fuck's sake foo'! How you gon' go killin' the wrong person?" the gunman ended the argument.

Axel got on his bicycle, and said, "Haha, that's funny because I am Axel, the guy you were lookin' for. Suck it, mafia fools!" he said, and quickly rode home on his bike, leaving his gunshot and flat tire Mustang there.

"Go after him!" said the Italian man. "Nah. Let dat foo' go. Let's go listen to this shit, I heard it was dope," said the other man, and they both got inside their Mercedez to listen to the mixtape...

[rise]

I'm fairly sure he'd be fined more than 50k- seeing as that's as much as Joakim Noah was fined for calling a heckler a "faggot".

Otherwise, great.

EDIT: Still thnik $100K is a small amount.

[|)e8*]

LOL @ the mafia

[George7]

at the ending! Though telling them your name at the end wasn't the smartest of the moves. So we're going to have a new commissioner?

[The X]

Just like IRL, Kemba & UConn win National Title

is for winner, not the coverage, which was nice

[puttincomputers]

Joey Crawford and top dog. I don't see those terms jiving so well. Maybe the mobsters knew it was Axel all along and they wanted to give him false information?

[Houndy]

Thats tightt.

Who's da commish now?

[puttincomputers]

Read every word and understood them in 5 minutes.

Good move to allow the kid to wear a Spurs Jersey!

Wow, you must be a very fast reader! Why would it be a good move to let the kid wear a Spurs jersey, though?

The judge saw that you do not hold any grudges against the spurs and do not assume the spurs had anything to do with it. It also shows that while you are partial to the Spurs that you accept them as part of the battle against corruption.

[kibaxx7]

Well, both came out as winners, you against Stern and then Kevin and Aaron, they will be recognized in the music scene from now on

[hova-]

Maaaan, watching those Kings vids drives me mad. That was such a fucking ridiculous series. I hate it. Take Stern down. I hope the Heat won't get those calls tonight only because LBJ promised to go to the line more frequently.

[Stress Fracture]

Poor Stern. Poor gunmen.

[Axel The Great]

I'm fairly sure he'd be fined more than 50k- seeing as that's as much as Joakim Noah was fined for calling a heckler a "faggot".

Otherwise, great.

EDIT: Still thnik $100K is a small amount.

How does $500K sound? It think that's what I'll go with.

LOL @ the mafia

Good to see they produced some lulz!

:lol: at the ending! Though telling them your name at the end wasn't the smartest of the moves. So we're going to have a new commissioner?

I told them my name just to make them look stupid, but I'm sure the gunman didn't care as long as he had the mixtape. And yes, there will be a new commissioner, but I'm undecided on who it will be.

Just like IRL, Kemba & UConn win National Title

is for winner, not the coverage, which was nice

Thanks, X! I'm glad you liked the coverage. I'm guessing you don't like the fact that I replicated RL or you dislike UConn?

Joey Crawford and top dog. I don't see those terms jiving so well. Maybe the mobsters knew it was Axel all along and they wanted to give him false information?

We'll see what Joey Crawford has to do with this incident in later chapters.

Thats tightt.

Who's da commish now?

As I told George, I'm still undecided. If anyone would like to offer suggestions, that'd be most welcome.

Read every word and understood them in 5 minutes.

Good move to allow the kid to wear a Spurs Jersey!

Wow, you must be a very fast reader! Why would it be a good move to let the kid wear a Spurs jersey, though?

The judge saw that you do not hold any grudges against the spurs and do not assume the spurs had anything to do with it. It also shows that while you are partial to the Spurs that you accept them as part of the battle against corruption.

Wow. I never saw it that way. Awesome how much of a coincidence that is.

Well, both came out as winners, you against Stern and then Kevin and Aaron, they will be recognized in the music scene from now on

Yep, so we're bi-winning!

Maaaan, watching those Kings vids drives me mad. That was such a fucking ridiculous series. I hate it. Take Stern down. I hope the Heat won't get those calls tonight only because LBJ promised to go to the line more frequently.

When I first watched those vids, I was mad too, because of the fact that I dislike the Lakers from the 2000's. Hate how the REAL champions in '02 didn't make the Finals because of the officiating. I'm glad that the Mavs-Heat officiating in this year's Finals isn't heavily in favor of one team. Hopefully it stays that way so we can see a great series, and a winner can be crowned in a fair way.

Poor Stern. Poor gunmen.

Yep. Stern's last few years of his life are screwed. The gunmen however, they got their pay and a mixtape from me, so they're not in a bad situation.

So Week 24 is next, and then I will finish the NLSC Tournament and the regular season. Then it's playoff time!

[rise]

I'm fairly sure he'd be fined more than 50k- seeing as that's as much as Joakim Noah was fined for calling a heckler a "faggot".

Otherwise, great.

EDIT: Still thnik $100K is a small amount.

How does $500K sound? It think that's what I'll go with.

Better.

Thats tightt.

Who's da commish now?

As I told George, I'm still undecided. If anyone would like to offer suggestions, that'd be most welcome.

I want Shaq.

[Axel The Great]

z02, thanks for the suggestion. Assuming Shaq retires after this season (in the story) then he'd be a decent choice, that is of course if he is responsible enough to be commish.

[54-22] Houston Rockets 100-83 Atlanta Hawks [44-32]


Despite having the leading candidate for DPOY on him, Scola still grabbed a double-double. | Johnson again showing his versatility this game.

If there's one word to describe Atlanta's game, then it's most likely this one: atrocious. Their offense pretty much ran for 20 seconds, and they'd wind up with a Jamal Crawford three-pointer, which was contested. Speaking of Crawford, he had 17 points and went 3/10 from range. Atlanta shot 41% from the field, behind Joe Johnson's great game of 27 points on 11/23 shooting. Johnson could not get it going early on, but got his act together in the second half to at least keep the deficit somewhat manageable.

Turnovers were terrible for the Hawks early on, as they coughed up the orange four times in the opening minutes, leading to a 16-3 start to the game for Houston. Kevin Martin led the way with his game high 32 points, and added four assists, four rebounds, and four steals. He went 12/19 from the field, continuing to dominate the game offensively. The closest Atlanta came was within nine, but Houston's firepower was too much for them as both teams split the season series.

Notable was Kirk Hinrich and Josh Smith's struggles. Smith went 0/3 from the field, while Hinrich went 0/6. Jeff Teague had to come in off the bench for Atlanta to give them a boost at the point guard position.

Player of the Game-

Kevin Martin
32 points | 4 rebounds | 4 assists | 4 steals | 1 block | 12/19 FG | 7/8 FT

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Luis Scola - 18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 7/14 FG
Yao Ming - 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks, 6/10 FG
Aaron Brooks - 14 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound, 4/10 FG, 5/5 FT
Kyle Lowry - 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 3/4 FG

Hawks:
Joe Johnson - 27 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 11/23 FG
Jamal Crawford - 17 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 7/22 FG, 3/10 3P
Marvin Williams - 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4/7 FG
Al Horford - 12 points, 8 rebounds, 6/13 FG

32 21 28 19 100
18 20 22 23 83

[55-22] Houston Rockets 106-99 Sacramento Kings [27-49]


K-Mart has proven that he can be dominant offensively, but he can also remain dominant in the clutch. | Behind Tyreke, the Kings forced the Rockets to play catch-up basketball.

All game, the Kings were executing sharply on offense; they had great ball movement, they were getting open looks and pounding the ball inside, shooting 54% from the field. They led from the second quarter and on, and it would take the Rockets all the effort available to mount a comeback. Leading the way for Sacramento was Tyreke Evans with 25 points and 7 assists, going 10/22 from the field. DeMarcus Cousins chipped in 14 points and 6 boards off the bench, and with that, the Kings were leading by eight going into the fourth quarter.

They held a 10-point lead at one point (the Kings), but Kevin Martin checked into the game, and scored 16 of his 34 points in the final period to mount a huge rally to challenge the lead. With three minutes left, Martin received a pass from Aaron Brooks at the top of the key for a wide open three-pointer to take the lead at 98-96. All fourth quarter long, Houston was getting to the free throw line, as they went 14/15 (31/33 total) from there in the final period alone. "They were not even giving the effort on defense all game. I told them to get their act together out there, we can't lose to the cellar dwellar of this conference. They woke up in the closing minutes and delivered in crunch time," said Rockets head coach Rick Adelman.

Tyreke Evans threw down a power dunk and was fouled by Shane Battier, converting the and-one to bring the score to 100-99. However, Houston was able to close out the game with clutch free throw shooting, as they poured in 34 fourth quarter points to turn the tables on the Kings. "We obviously got a lot of work to do in the offseason. We had them cornered all game, we just didn't execute well on offense and the game slipped from our hands," said Tyreke Evans.

Player of the Game-

Kevin Martin
34 points | 5 rebounds | 5 assists | 2 steals | 1 block | 7/16 FG | 4/6 3P | 16/17 FT

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Luis Scola - 17 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 5/12 FG, 7/8 FT
Yao Ming - 14 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, 7/9 FG
Kyle Lowry - 8 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2/4 FG

Kings:
Tyreke Evans - 25 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 10/22 FG
DeMarcus Cousins - 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 7/10 FG
Marcus Thornton - 14 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 4/17 FG, 3/9 3P
Beno Udrih - 13 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 6/12 FG
Jason Thompson - 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4/9 FG

30 19 23 34 106
29 23 28 19 99

[56-22] Houston Rockets 103-112 New Orleans Hornets [40-37]


David West.... again too hard to contain. | Scola answered the call in Yao's absence.

After the win against Sacramento and Oklahoma City's loss against Denver, the Houston Rockets clinched the best record in the Western Conference, and with that, have decided to rest Yao Ming for this road game and rest him up for the remaining two home games left to play in the season. Without Yao, the Rockets were pounded on the boards 44-32, and just did not bring their A-game offensively. Houston only had three players in double digits: Kevin Martin (30), Luis Scola (22), and Kyle Lowry (10), with Aaron Brooks in foul trouble the whole game.

Meanwhile, New Orleans brought their A-game offensively, with David West's game high 38 points leading the way. The skilled big man went 16/22 from the field, completely torching the lack of interior defense by the Rockets. New Orleans pulled away to double-digits near the end of the game as they shot a blistering 53% from the field.

This was a much-needed win for New Orleans, as they are still just clinging to the eighth seed in the West. They are a potential matchup against Houston, and they've split the season series 2-2.

Player of the Game-

David West
38 points | 9 rebounds | 3 assists | 16/22 FG | 6/8 FT

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Kevin Martin - 30 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 9/16 FG, 11/11 FT
Luis Scola - 22 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 7/13 FG, 8/8 FT
Kyle Lowry - 10 points, 10 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 2/9 FG, 6/6 FT
Chuck Hayes - 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 4/4 FG

Hornets:
Chris Paul - 20 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 7/10 FG, 5/6 FT
Trevor Ariza - 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 7/14 FG
Emeka Okafor - 12 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal, 3/7 FG, 6/7 FT
Willie Green - 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3/7 FG

26 27 23 27 103
26 28 27 31 112

[56-23] Houston Rockets 97-85 Los Angeles Clippers [42-38]


Deja vu Blake? | Offensive rebounds were key for the Clippers in the first half.

The Rockets had their struggles on defense in the first half, allowing the LA Clippers to shoot 57% from the field. That gave LA a 55-51 lead at halftime. Blake Griffin's monster game of 16 points and 19 rebounds was leading the way, as the Rockets had a tough time keeping him away from the paint.

Houston got their act together in the second half however, holding the Clippers to just 30 points then. A lot of it, had to do with shot selection from both Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman. "Eric (Gordon) took 14 three-point attempts out their tonight. That would be a good number of attempts in field goals for him, but three-pointers? Waaay too much," said Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro. The Clippers shot 41% from the field, while the Rockets shot 44% from the field.

Houston got the job done on the boards this game after getting outmuscled in New Orleans. They outrebounded LA 45-42, and with this win, the Clippers' hopes for the eighth seed in the playoffs seem almost hopeless; their hopes ride with the Hornets losing both of their final games and them winning one more game.

Player of the Game-

Kevin Martin
30 points | 3 rebounds | 3 assists | 1 steal | 1 block | 8/17 FG | 14/14 FT

Key Performers:
Rockets:
Aaron Brooks - 15 points, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 rebound, 1 block, 6/10 FG
Luis Scola - 12 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4/9 FG
Jordan Hill - 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 3/7 FG
Courtney Lee - 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2/6 FG

Clippers:
Eric Gordon - 21 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 6/21 FG, 3/14 3P, 6/7 FT
Blake Griffin - 16 points, 19 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 6/11 FG
Randy Foye - 13 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound, 6/11 FG
Chris Kaman - 10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 5/16 FG
Mo Williams - 10 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 7 turnovers, 4/8 FG

31 21 25 20 97
27 28 14 16 85

[Houndy]

Nice wins, the Kings are a pesky team..