Houston Rockets interim coach Rudy Tomjanovich wouldn't say exactly what he told his team at the half, trailing powerful Golden State by 18 points.
Whatever he said was effective.Hakeem Olajuwon's 21-foot jumper at the buzzer gave him 33 points and rallied the Rockets to a 118-116 victory over the Warriors on Wednesday night. The victory snapped an eight-game winning streak by the Warriors, who hadn't lost since the All-Star break.
"We just talked about the things that were missing that come from within," Tomjanovich said. "It wasn't anything on the blackboard that was causing us to lose."
Golden State looked unbeatable in the first half, charging to a 71-53 halftime lead but the Rockets outscored the Warriors 15-2 to start the third quarter.
With 3:20 left in the period, Houston had outscored the visitors 33-15 and knotted the score at 86-86. Golden State regained the lead and held it through most of the fourth quarter, but it was clear the momentum had turned.
And Olajuwon led the charge.
"This is the time of year we need to make a run and this comeback victory will really help," Olajuwon said. "The crowd hated us and then loved us. I guess that's the nature of the game."
Olajuwon's jumper tied the game at 114-114 with 49 seconds to play and his two free throws with 21 seconds left, tied it at 116-116, setting up his game-winner.
Golden State's Sarunas Marciulionis lost the ball out of bounds, giving Houston a final shot with two seconds to play. Otis Thorpe got the ball into Olajuwon, who turned around and hit a 21-foot fade-away jumper for the victory.
"We had no answer for Hakeem," Golden State coach Don Nelson said. "He was sensational tonight and he had a great supporting cast too."
"I was really disappointed in our third quarter," Nelson said. "We let them get back in the game and then we were in a dogfight.
"We were so good in the first half, I don't think it would have mattered who we were playing, we would have done the same."
Tim Hardaway led the Warriors with 31 points and Chris Mullin added 21. Marciulionis scored 18 points off the bench.
"We knew it wasn't going to be as easy in the second half as it was in the first half," Hardaway said. "But we just came out and laid an egg. We rolled over. We couldn't do anything offensively or defensively and they started playing well."
Kenny Smith scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half.
"We really needed this game, and we went out and got it," Smith said. "No one gave up. In the second half, Rudy lit a fire under us. We got a couple of important defensive stops."
Tomjanovich, who became interim coach when owner Charlie Thomas fired Don Chaney on Feb. 18, went to the locker room worried at the half.
He had visions of Golden State's second game of the season when it beat Sacramento by an NBA record 62 points.
"At the half, my worst fears were coming true," Tomjanovich said. "They are so hard to defense. I didn't think we could win. I told them to at least put up a good fight."