One that got away
After blowing a seven-point lead in the final three minutes, the Rockets will have a tough time making up for letting one slip Saturday.
They move from that excellent chance at a road win to facing the Lakers and Suns on consecutive nights this week on the road.
But the Rockets said the loss hurt on many levels, from wasting a chance to beat a Hornets team that has been strong at home to, long-term, failing to win against a competitor for a playoff spot.
“It was a great chance for us to go to L.A. and to Phoenix with a little bit of a cushion,” Luis Scola said. “This was a tough game itself. We were looking at three tough games. Once you get to the point to be seven up with three minutes to go, that's when it hurts. Before the game, we knew this would be a tough schedule; let's do the best we can with these three games.
“It's going to be tough on us, but it's going to give us a break later on. The more games we can win like this, the better it will be for us.”
The Hornets are two games behind eighth-place Oklahoma City, 3½ games behind the Rockets.
“You have to look long-term,” Shane Battier said. “You are trying to jockey for playoff position, and you're trying to make the playoffs. You look back at the end of the year, and there are a handful of losses that, ‘Man, I wish we could have the fourth quarter back.' That's what this feels like.”
Budinger improves
Rockets guard Chase Budinger began traveling with the team and went through a shooting drill before the game in New Orleans, but he is expected to be out for the rest of the week with a sprained left ankle suffered Dec. 19.
“I told him we would wait and get it 100 percent, try to get some practices in,” trainer Keith Jones said . “I don't want to put him back for a game. Coach (Rick Adelman) would want him to practice first.”
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