Summer may be right around the corner, but Rafer Alston brought the local temperatures to below zero on Sunday with a lotto performance for the ages. The streetball hoopster went 0-11 from the field and coughed it up 6 times in swan-diving the Rockets to an 86-77 defeat at the hands of the Kings.
"Coming in, we hadn't been playing well at all," said Rocket forward Ryan Bowen. "But after watching Rafer, wow, I'm confident we can all take it down a notch or six."
The loss was conveniently timed for the Rockets as Minnesota, Orlando and Seattle all were branded as victors Sunday night, getting Houston off the 11th spot snide. The win was especially painful for the Magic, who knocked off their second straight Eastern Conference contender in Miami.
"I think we kind of took these guys seriously," said Magic forward Dwight Howard. "We don't have no room to take anybody seriously."
