LANDOVER -- When the Houston Rockets made their deal for Clyde Drexler on Tuesday, the question was who was going to rebound.
The Rockets were the second-worst rebounding team in the league, and the loss of Otis Thorpe was expected to be crucial. Crucial, except that no one anticipated the Pete Chilcutt factor.
Chilcutt, who hasn't been heard from much since leaving North Carolina in 1991, made just his third start of the season last night and grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds. He also scored 18 points, as the visiting Rockets defeated the Washington Bullets, 109-92, before a sellout crowd of 18,756 at USAir Arena.
"I like Pete Chilcutt," said Bullets coach Jim Lynam, who probably didn't like what the fourth-year forward did to his team last night. "He had a huge game."
Hakeem Olajuwon had a huge scoring game, notching 30 points to lead the Rockets. Houston has won three straight, and both games since the trade.
Chris Webber and Juwan Howard scored 20 points each, and Doug Overton came off the bench to score a season-high 16 for the Bullets.
But it was Chilcutt who surprisingly made the difference with a career-high in rebounds -- grabbing more rebounds than Olajuwon and Howard combined (five).
Rockets assistant coach Carroll Dawson "has really been on me that when I go to rebound that I need to get my man off the ball," Chilcutt said. "We need that, because when Hakeem shoots, someone else has to be there to get the rebound."
This was a game that played out strangely. At halftime, Olajuwon, who went into the game the fifth-best rebounder in the league, had none and finished with just four.
By game's end, Howard, who went into the game averaging 8.7 rebounds, had just one in 42 minutes. That was one rebound fewer than Kevin Duckworth, who came back from the suspended list and played eight minutes.
Turnovers also hurt the Bullets, who committed 17 -- 12 in the second half when they desperately tried to make it a game.
"We made critical turnovers and they made the plays," Calbert Cheaney said. "Their double-teams caused us problems. The key is to hit the open man out of the double-teams, and we didn't."
Washington started the night slowly, falling behind by 12 points in the first quarter. But the Bullets rode a strong second quarter by reserve Overton, who scored 10 in the period.
Overton's three-pointer with 5:13 left in the half pulled the Bullets to within 46-42, and later Webber scored on a short hook over Olajuwon that tied the game at 46.
Olajuwon had his 20 points at the half, with 16 of them coming in the first quarter. But by halftime it was the Rockets who looked confused, as the Bullets had a 56-55 halftime lead.
Houston took the lead for good when Drexler opened the third quarter with a layup. Chilcutt scored six of his points in the first five minutes of the third, with his tip-in giving Houston a 69-64 lead. Defensively, the Rockets continued to double-team the low post -- and the Bullets were unable to hit the perimeter shots that resulted.
"We were getting trapped in the hole and that's supposed to be an open shot for us," Lynam said. "I thought playing against the double-team was a big factor."
Washington trailed 84-74 going into the fourth quarter and got no closer than nine points. The Bullets managed just 36 points in the second half, which isn't going to win many games in this league.
"In the first half Hakeem was doing whatever he wanted," Webber said. "The difference in the second half was that everyone else on their team caught fire. Sometimes you wish just one person was scoring 50 points. They're a championship team, and we're not."
Webber played like a champion. In addition to his 20 points he grabbed 15 rebounds and passed for seven assists -- once again flirting with a triple-double.
He hit half his shots (seven of 14), committed just two turnovers and blocked a season-high five shots in 40 minutes.
But what got the Bullets back in the game -- briefly -- in the second quarter was the play of Overton. Lynam needed quickness, and Overton proved his effectiveness in the second quarter. He hit six of 10 shots in 26 minutes.
"I had good looks [at the basket]," Overton said. "I credit Chris and Juwan. They have so much confidence in themselves and in the team. That's what you need, support from your team."
Support. And a few wins would help. The Rockets know about that, with coach Rudy Tomjanovich kind of happy that the big trade happened just before a road trip.
"You gain more chemistry on the road," Tomjanovich said. "At home you go home to your families, but on the road you stay together."
Drexler didn't have a great shooting night in his first full game with the Rockets since the trade (he only played the second half of Thursday's game in Charlotte, having to wait for Thorpe to pass his physical with Portland).
He hit just four of 12 shots, but also flirted with a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
"Everybody knows I can score," Drexler said. "I just want to do some of the things I've been doing my whole career that not everyone knows I can do."
And for the most part he has won. And that's what he hopes to help the Rockets do during the second half of the season.
"There's no competition," Olajuwon said of the team play of the Rockets. "We complement each other. We're a team, and everybody has the same goal."
NOTES: Duckworth, after his six-game suspension, checked into the game with 2:32 left in the third quarter. He missed his only shot and committed one turnover, in addition to his two rebounds. . . . Former Dunbar guard Sam Cassell scored 15 points in 24 minutes for Houston.