Wizards Losing Streak Reaches 16 In Loss To Rockets

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Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Chase Budinger netted 13 of his career-best 24 points in the final quarter and hit the go-ahead bank shot with 28.3 seconds remaining, helping Houston beat Washington, 98-94, sending theWizards to their franchise-record 16th straight loss.

Kyle Lowry scored 17 points, Luis Scola 16 and Jermaine Taylor 14 for Houston, which beat the Wizards for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings. Aaron Brooks tallied 11 points and 11 assists for the Rockets, who snapped a four-game overall skid.

Andray Blatche had 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who haven’t won since February 28 at New Jersey. Mike Miller ended with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Earl Boykins sank two foul shots to put the Wizards ahead 92-90, but Lowry’s runner in the lane with the shot clock about the expire tied the game with 1:26 left.

After Blatche missed a jumper, Lowry was whistled for palming the ball.

Washington couldn’t take advantage of the turnover as Blatche missed a fade- away jumper, leaving 33.5 seconds on the clock after a Houston timeout.

Budinger then rose up from near the top of the key and kissed the ball off the glass to give Houston the lead.

“It’s a play that was run for me,” Budinger said. “We’re trying to get a quick shot so we could get another shot. The basketball gods let it go down for me.”

Boykins’ three-pointer was off the mark and Budinger made two foul shots with 11.6 on the clock before Miller countered with a tip-in with 5.1 remaining. Lowry, though, sealed the win by making two foul shots.

“Each guy tried to do it himself,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. “The reason we played so well for the first 46 minutes is we were moving the ball, sharing the ball, cutting, not standing. All of a sudden, it got to the last three minutes, and we decided we were going to play a different way...stand around and watch. When you do that against good teams, defensive teams, they make it very difficult.”

Washington held a 30-27 lead after 12 minutes and upped that to 53-48 at the half. It remained tight for the entire third quarter, but the visitors claimed a 67-65 edge moving to the fourth. Washington’s largest lead reached six points, at 86-80, with 6:49 left in the game.

Rockets guard Kevin Martin sat out his third straight game due to a sore left shoulder...The Wizards played without Randy Foye (sprained left wrist) and Al Thornton (strained right hip flexor)...Washington has lost 14 of 16 at Houston...The Rockets haven’t dropped five straight since a six-game hiccup from November 13-23, 2007...Washington has lost 10 in a row on the road.