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Yao Ming was slowed by fouls and Steve Francis scored only two points. Lucky for the Houston Rockets that they had Maurice Taylor.
Taylor scored a season-high 25 points to help the Rockets hand the Golden State Warriors their sixth straight loss, 83-65 Monday night.
``That's what Coach wants me to do when I come into the game,'' Taylor said. ``He wants me to spark us off the bench. He told me when I came into the game to give us a little lift and get us playing better basketball.''
Yao played only 23 minutes because of foul trouble, and Francis didn't get his first basket until 1:35 remained in the game.
The Warriors lost for the eighth time in 10 games, despite holding Francis without a point until he made the layup late in the game. Francis finished with a season-low point total and a season-high 12 assists.
``I'm glad all the other guys played well,'' Francis said. ``For me, these things are going to happen. Fortunately, the others picked up the slack.''
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Golden State's 65 points was the second-fewest points scored against the Rockets
in franchise history. Houston held Utah to 63 on Saturday night.
``Our defense carried us tonight,'' Taylor said. ``We play well defensively and that's something we can hang our hat on. We have to work on our offense but with our defense we've got a system that works.
``We're one of the elite defensive teams in the league. We've got to get our offense to the same level.''
Taylor scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter for the Rockets, who led 66-53 after three. Jim Jackson added 18 points and seven assists for Houston, while Yao finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Yao got two quick fouls in the first quarter and picked up his third in the second quarter.
``My center is frustrated with the whistles he's not getting and I share in his frustration,'' Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said.
A season-low 9,956 fans attended the game. The previous low in Houston's new Toyota Center was 10,679 for the Rockets game against Portland on Dec. 9.
AP - Jan 5, 11:05 pm EST
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Mike Dunleavy led Golden State with 13 points and Nick Van Exel, Jason Richardson
and Troy Murphy each added 10 points.
``Mo Taylor had a big game on a night when we knew there were not going to be a lot of points scored,'' Warriors coach Eric Musselman said. ``We struggled offensively and didn't shoot the ball well or rebound. We're just missing our shots.''
Taylor helped the Rockets overcame a slow start to lead 42-32 at the half. Houston upped its lead to 49-34 early in the third quarter before the Warriors cut it to six midway through the period.
``We missed a lot of open shots and just didn't get the job done,'' Dunleavy said. ``A lot of balls seemed to bound to Houston and we couldn't get therebounds.''
Notes
Van Gundy tied Paul Westphal for 50th place on the NBA's all-time coaching victories list with his 267th career victory. ... The Rockets have a 6-1 record when Mike Wilks plays. ... The Warriors have improved from last in the NBA in points allowed last season to 15th this season. ... Golden State's 32 points at halftime was just better than its season low of 31 set Nov. 7against the Los Angeles Lakers. ... Houston held a 50-30 rebounding edge.