USA - Spanoulis 'ready' for his big chance in Houston

HOUSTON (NBA) - All eyes in Greece are watching the Houston Rockets and for good reason.

That's because the country that produced the EuroBasket 2005 champions has a national team player, guard Vassilis Spanoulis, who is finally getting minutes in the NBA and making the most of them.

Given a chance to play more on Monday after Kirk Snyder broke his right hand, the former Panathinaikos star Spanoulis stayed in the floor into fourth quarter.

In Wednesday’s 86-82 triumph over Washington, he played 17 minutes and had his best game, scoring 10 points on six of nine shooting (66.6%), including two of three from the arc.

In both games, Spanoulis didn't turn the ball over once.

"I knew this time would come," said Spanoulis, who was instrumental in Greece capturing a gold medal in Belgrade and then beating Team USA’s NBA stars in September’s FIBA World Championship semi-finals in Japan.

"I have played a lot of games with a lot of pressure. I'm ready."

Houston coach Jeff van Gundy is encouraged, but warned the Greek his playing time may be reduced if he turns the ball over as much as he did in the pre-season.

What is significant is that Spanoulis looks capable of playing excellent defence.

"Billy's got quick feet," Van Gundy said in the Houston Chronicle.

"He's got a great level of tenacity to him. Now he needs to combine tenacity with discipline. If he can do that, he should be able to be a fine defender."

Comeback kids Utah win again

Teams that build huge leads against Carlos Boozer and the high-flying Utah Jazz are in trouble.

It happened to the Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors, and most recently the Sacramento Kings.

For the third straight game, Utah, faced a double-digit deficit only to storm back and win, beating the Kings 110-101.

The Jazz, despite missing Russian superstar Andrei Kirilenko through injury, won for the seventh straight game, and 11th in 12.

"That was a (heck) of a game for us to come back from 21 down on the road against one of the most veteran teams in the league," Boozer said.

"I'm really proud of my team-mates for fighting and hanging in there."

Power forward Boozer, who scored 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, isn’t stupid, though.

"It's (falling behind) a bad habit,” he said. We've got to break it.

"We can't keep relying on having to come back. As the season goes along, teams aren't going to let us come back. When you get down by that many, usually the game is over.

"We've got to break that habit. We've got to play like we did in the second half from the very beginning."

The way they turned the tables on Sacramento, however, suggests no mountain is too high for Utah.

They fell behind the Kings, 58-37, with 11:27 to go in the third quarter. But entering the final period, the Jazz trailed only 84-71.

Then they put together a 39-point fourth quarter to hand the Kings their second straight home loss.

The comeback was complete with 1:45 left on a three-pointer by Mehmet Okur that provided a 101-99 edge.

Boozer, who played for Team USA at the Athens Olympics, added a dunk for a three-point play on the ensuing possession, extending the margin with 61 seconds remaining.

Those two plays highlighted a 14-2 closing burst.

Utah had the Dream Team combination of John Stockton and Karl Malone, yet they never won an NBA title.

With Boozer and guard Deron Williams, who had 20 points and 13 assists in the latest win, on board, the Jazz are starting to look like a championship-calibre side.

All of the players talk as if they been infected with a winning mentality, including Derek Fisher who came off the bench and scored 16 points.

"I think it says a lot about our team that we had enough guys out there that believed we could still win this game," he said.

Sonics defeat Clippers

Richard Lewis scored a season-high 35 points and Ray Allen added 23 as the Seattle SuperSonics handed the LA Clippers their first home loss with a 95-85 victory.

Zach Randolph scored 25 points and the Portland Trail Blazers made nine straight shots in the fourth quarter as they rallied for a 100-97 victory over the New Jersey Nets, who have lost three in a row.

Ruben Patterson locked up Kyle Korver and secured a badly needed win for the Milwaukee Bucks. Patterson forced a pair of turnovers by Korver in the final minute as the Bucks rallied for a 98-94 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in a matchup of slumping teams.

Ricky Davis scored 21 points and superstar Kevin Garnett added 19 and nine rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves cruised to a 107-89 victory over the New York Knicks, who dropped their third straight game.

Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince all recorded double-doubles as the Detroit Pistons captured their fourth straight win with a 103-98 over the slumping Atlanta Hawks.

Adam Morrison scored 26 points, including a pair of key baskets in the fourth quarter, as the Charlotte Bobcats swarmed Paul Pierce and snapped the three-game winning streak of the Boston Celtics with a 92-83 victory.

Jameer Nelson scored 22 points and Darko Milicic scored nine of his 11 in the decisive fourth quarter as the Orlando Magic posted a 96-91 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.

Joey Graham matched a season high with 16 points and fueled a second-half surge as the Toronto Raptors ended a six-game slide with a 95-87 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Team USA's Chris Bosh had 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who survived 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists by LeBron James as they won for the first time since November 8 against Philadelphia.

Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Devin Harris scored 18 points as the Dallas Mavericks won their seventh straight game with a 107-80 victory over the Washington Wizards.

By PA Sport