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Mutombo Still Grabbing Rebounds at 40

Dikembe Mutombo will turn 41 in June. That was not felt during the game against the Denver Nuggets last week in which he grabbed a season high 22 rebounds, the become the oldest player in NBA history to grab over 20 boards in a game. It was felt, however, after the game, when the Old Man rested with both knees wrapped with ice and a towel over his neck. His previous season high of 19 boards was also the record Karl Malone held of most rebounds for a 40 plus year old.

The Rockets out-rebounded the visiting Nuggest 51-40, on the way to a 108-97 victory. ?Mutombo getting 22 rebounds was huge,? Houston Coach Jeff Van Gundy said. He was also satisfied with the team passing 100 points, a feat they haven?t achieved in the last four games. The Nugget son the other hand lost another game by scoring under the 100 point mark. They are 0-19 when doing so.

But back to Mutombo. ?The old man can still rebound,? he said. Iverson, who finished with 19 points on 7-19 shooting, said of Dike?s performance: ?Man, he`s doing great. What can you say about him? They lose a great player like Yao Ming and have a great backup center like that.? The Rockets are not sure how close Ming is to returning to the court. Coach Van Gundy said he was not told by team doctors when that could happen. In the mean time, Mutombo has lots of more balls to grab.