The Rockets mercifully ended their 2-game winning skid on Sunday with a lotto-saving third quarter performance against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, a sleepwalk-job that proved to be more than enough to claim the 104-88 defeat.
It sets up a repeat leanoff against the Sonics on Tuesday, a game which could prove to have mighty lottery implications.
"In Houston, they caught us with our pants on," said forward Chuck Hayes. "But this time, we won't be ready."
The Sonics will still be reeling from Sunday's 39-point victory over Portland, where they are quickly hoarding more balls than a billiards hall in Vegas.
"I think we just match up real poorly against this team," said Blazers guard Sebastian Telfair. "We were just lucky enough to miss our shots and exploit the mismatches."
For the first time in a while, there was all kinds of tanking action on the NBA scene. Atlanta slid in safe under the Grizzlies, Toronto tightened their grip on the #5 spot with a double-OT chiller against the Hornets and Golden State continued it's downward plunge, pulling off an overtime dud in Minnesota.
