Houston Rockets Lose a Heartbreaker
3/26/2006 Houston-- The Cleveland Cavaliers got their second overtime win of the week and LeBron James took down the only NBA team he'd yet to beat. James scored 36 points, including the go-ahead dunk with 3:24 left in overtime, to lead the Cavaliers to a 104-102 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
The Cavaliers were ahead 103-101 when Damon Jones hit the second of two free throws to stretch the lead. Houston's Rafer Alston made the first of two free throws with less than a second left and intentionally missed the second one, but the ball was thrown out of bounds.
James forced overtime when he made a layup followed by a free throw after being fouled by Yao with 22 seconds left. Yao had a chance for the win, but lost the ball just outside the lane under heavy pressure. "That was a tough one to lose," Alston said. "That's a game that should have been won in regulation. We were up three with a little bit of time on the clock and we had so many ways we could have played that. We're left pondering what could have been."
In the back and forth game that featured 18 lead changes, the Rockets took the lead with a bucket by Luther Head with 34 seconds remaining and stretched their advantage to 91-88 after two free throws by Juwan Howard. Yao led Houston with 27 points and Alston added 22. The Rockets fell to 3-20 without Tracy McGrady, who could be out for the season with back problems. Houston has lost seven of its last eight games.
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