By DPA
Los Angeles : China’s Yao Ming struggled but his Houston Rockets teammate Tracy McGrady picked up the slack in a big way, shooting 47 points and spoiling the Utah Jazz season home-opener with a 106-95 win in the National Basketball Association (NBA) league.
Two nights after scoring 30 points in a season-opening road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, McGrady hit 17-of-27 field attempts and 11-of-14 free throws in 39 minutes on court Thursday night.
“I’m off to a great start and my confidence is extremely high,” T-Mac said, after eclipsing the 40-point plateau for the 42nd time in his career. “Things are falling for me right now.”
McGrady’s sparkling performance gave the Rockets their first win in Salt Lake City since March 28, 2005.
Mike James had 15 points, but foul-troubled Yao finished with just 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots for Houston, which improved to 2-0 under new head coach Rick Adelman.
Elsewhere, Tayshaun Prince scored five of his career-high 34 points in a decisive 12-0 run during a six-minute stretch, bridging the third and fourth quarters, and equalled a personal best with 12 rebounds, leading the visiting Detroit Pistons to a 91-80 win over Miami Heat, in the season opener for both teams.
Chauncey Billups added 19 points and 11 assists for the Pistons, who played without their leading scorer Richard Hamilton (family emergency).
Newcomer Ricky Davis led the Heat with 23 points, while Udonis Haslem had 14 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with just over four minutes left. However, foul-troubled Shaquille O’Neal, double-teamed most of the game, finished with just nine points – all in the second half.
Amare Stoudemire had 23 points and 11 rebounds, helping Phoenix Suns spoil the season home-opener for the Seattle SuperSonics and rookie phenom Kevin Durant with a 106-99 triumph.
Steve Nash collected 18 points and 12 assists, while Grant Hill contributed 13 points in his Suns’ debut as Phoenix won for only the second time in nine season openers.
Picked second overall in last summer’s NBA Draft, Durant scored 27 points on 11-for-23 shooting. Chris Wilcox had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Seattle, which fell to 0-2 under new head coach P.J. Carlesimo.