For one night, Norris made sure the Rockets were not even that different. But their familiar pattern left them with an 89-84 (Box score) loss to the Sacramento Kings at Compaq Center and an even greater sense of letting an opportunity get away.

"I think this is the best we ever played Sac," Rockets forward Kenny Thomas said. "Of course, we could have used our one-two guys (Francis and Cuttino Mobley).

"But we came out focused and knew the odds were people didn't think we would even have a chance to win this game."