Although the Rockets have been on a roll, having won 5 of their last 6 games, and were facing a Memphis team with the league’s worst record Tuesday night, you’ve still got to give them credit for winning 98-90.

After all, it was the second night of a back-to-back, Dikembe Mutombo ‘s knee was hurting, Juwan Howard was sick, Bonzi Wells was out, the Grizzlies are averaging 111 points a game since interim coach Tony Barone took over for the ousted Mike Fratello, and they kept coming at Houston.all game long But the Rockets fended them off to sweep the season series.

And for the second game in a row, Jeff Van Gundy praised his team:

“That was as hard as a team can play. That was a classic night that most teams let up and lose. I couldn’t be prouder of the group.”

“That’s what we’re talking about with leadership. McGrady puts it on the floor two times in a row. That’s leadership. Deke playing 37 minutes; that’s leadership. Juwan fighting through it; that’s leadership. (Shane) Battier being disciplined; that’s leadership. So I loved the way we played.”

Two post-game conferences in a row with compliments from JVG? I think hell is freezing over.

Tracy McGrady was awesome again, scoring 33 points on 12-of-26 shooting, and also throwing in 8 assists. To boot, he had two fantastic flying dunks, one on an alley-oop from Rafer Alston, and another after a baseline pump fake on Rudy Gay that left a clear lane to the hoop for an easy jam. I love T-Mac’s dunks more than most anyone’s. They just have a flair to them that makes you ask, “How did he do that?”

Houston’s offense was very efficient, shooting 49.4% and making 12-of-13 free throws. Three players shot better than 50% (Shane Battier – 6-of-9 for 14 points, Luther Head was 5-of-8 for 11, and Chuck Hayes was 4-of-6). With that kind of shooting, and only 10 team turnovers, you’re going to win a lot of games.

Of course, the Rockets’ defense was solid as always, holding Memphis to 43% shooting, and 2-of-18 from three-point territory for 11% shooting, a season-low.

Battier was awesome against his former teammate and scoring extraordinaire Mike Miller, holding him to 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting, 0-of-8 from three-point range, snapping Miller’s 27-game streak of making at least one trey.

Now the Rockets – who have played their share of cupcakes lately — face a big test on Friday and play the red-hot Dallas Mavericks. It will be interesting to see how well they measure up against arguably the best team in the league.

Another game where I don’t have anything to complain about. The Rockets showed fire and energy Monday night — and got payback against the Timberwolves for their last two losses in a row in Minnesota — dominating the T-Wolves 105-77. I can get used to this.

Tracy McGrady was back to his old self, scoring 32 points on 12-of-27 shooting, including 16 points in the third quarter. Juwan Howard was almost as good, scoring 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

Some other amazing stats from the game.

*The Rockets biggest lead was 37 points.
*They committed only 6 turnovers.
*They had 9 steals compared to Minnesota’s one.
*They outscored Minnesota 42-18 in the paint.
*They outscored the T-Wolves 17-0 on fast break points.

Wow!

Although they upchucked in their last game against the Hornets on Saturday night, the Rockets showed their pride. Van Gundy gave his team one of the best compliments I have ever seen when he said after the game:

“I loved the way we played, the energy level we had.”

That’s just as astounding as the stats mentioned above. JVG was also more encouraging during the game than seen in recent memory, clapping and applauding his players throughout.

The Rockets completed their 5-0 homestand against “cupcakes” 4-1, and are now 30-13. I’ll take it.

If anyone had any thoughts the Rockets don’t need Yao because of how well the they have been playing lately, all they need to do to understand how wrong they are is look at the Rockets’ 87-74 loss to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets Saturday night. That’s the 20-26 Hornets, the same team that had lost 11 of their last 12 road games, and is the league’s lowest scoring team.

Remember that loss to Denver five weeks ago that gave the Rockets a dose of reality? That’s nothing compared to this loss.

It was an ugly offensive showing for Houston. They scored only 15 points in the first quarter, a season low, as well as 30 points in the first half, another season low. By the third quarter, Houston was shooting only 32%.

This game also showed just how much the Rockets might need Rafer Alston in order to win, a scary proposition since Alston only shoots 36.9%. But after he got into some tough talk with Desmond Mason for hammering T-Mac on a layup attempt in the first quarter, both he and Mason were thrown out.

I didn’t really think it would affect the Rockets’ offense too much since Luther Head is a capable backup point guard and T-Mac is still very adept and finding the open man.

I actually had a little bit of respect for Alston since he didn’t back down on Mason, and wasn’t going to let his superstar teammate get assaulted like that without hearing about it. I’m glad somebody did.

Ironically, former Rocket Mike James showed the same fire in that Mavericks playoff series a couple of years ago. Van Gundy wasn’t too pleased with James losing his cool about the refs blowing several calls in a crucial Game 7, and even though the game had long been decided in a blowout loss. That off-season, James was traded for Alston. So should we expect another trade of the latest rendition of a Houston hothead for someone more ‘composed,’ like Seattle’s Earl Watson?

I doubt it. Alston has been playing better lately, even with the poor shooting, racking up all kinds of assists and turning the ball over very little in comparison. And although I’m sure Van Gundy will be tough on Alston for getting kicked out of this game, the loss of continuity would be too damaging to the offense.

Without Alston, the Rockets’ offense bogged down, even with T-Mac having shaken off the pain in his left wrist following the hard foul by Mason. Repeatedly the Rockets settled for 3-pointers, but hit very few of them (4-of-20 through the 3rd quarter). Live by the three, die by the three.

Meanwhile, the Hornets weren’t doing much better offensively, only leading 33-30 at halftime. But in the 3rd quarter they started hitting their shots, and led by 18 points at one point late in the third quarter, but thanks to a Bonzi Wells three-point play and a very long T-Mac 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer, the Rockets cut the deficit to 14 points, 63-49, heading into the third quarter.

But the Rockets couldn’t close the gap to start the fourth quarter, so in a last desperate attempt, Van Gundy said enough is enough with Juwan Howard and Chuck Hayes, and put in seldom-used Steve Novak and Scott Padgett. I applaud the attempt to mix things up, but it didn’t work.

Novak and Padgett really didn’t do anything, and on one Hornet possession, Novak got mixed up on defense and left Jannero Pargo open for a 3-pointer to push the lead up to 70-51. Van Gundy was visibly upset that Pargo was left so wide open, called a timeout, and pulled Novak out.

The Rockets ended up scoring their lowest number of points for the season (74). They were out-rebounded 49-36, and the Rocket starters were outscored by the Hornet starters 49-29.

The only bright spot was Bonzi Wells providing some low-post scoring, scoring 13 points (8 in the fourth) to give them a small chance to come back. But without Yao being the go-to guy when T-Mac couldn’t really take over (7-of-16 for 18 points, well below his 29 ppg over the last 17 games), all Rocket fans were reminded how much they missed the Big Man once the Rockets’ shooting confidence plummeted.

I enjoy watching the Rockets play great defense and winning slug-it-out games

Their 112-102 victory against the Sonics Wednesday night wasn’t one of them.

But it was a nice break to see a game where defense took a back seat, and run-and-gun offense was the order of the day.

The score was 59-51 at halftime, which is almost like a 3rd quarter score for many Rocket games. It included lots of fast breaks by the Rockets, with Rafer Alston showing what he can do in the open court by getting the ball to his teammates for layups.

But the Rocket Express started to chug down in the fourth quarter, when Luther Head missed 4 straight shots to let the Sonics hang around. But then T-Mac checked back into the game, drew the defense to him, and Luther responded by hitting two big 3-pointers to open up the Rockets’ biggest lead to 9 points.

T-Mac then juked rookie Mickael Gelabale with a killer crossover move and drilled a jumper to put them up 103-92 with 3:11 remaining. Even T-Mac himself was impressed with that move, leaving his mouth agape in astonishment as he ran back up the court.

A few minutes later with 51 seconds remaining, T-Mac had the ball at the top of the three-point line, Chuck Hayes came out and set a bone-jarring monster pick on Gelabale, and T-Mac came around the pick and drilled a three-pointer to make it 108-98.

But T-Mac’s passing to guys like Head, Hayes, and Dikembe Mutombo for layups (and everyone else who was the recipient of his 9 assists) was impressive. He is so good at finding the open man. I agree with Van Gundy that McGrady is the best playmaker in the league behind Steve Nash.

The team was pretty good sharing the ball, too. The Rockets had 30 assists in this game and only 6 turnovers, a season low. And I have to give credit to Rafer (15 points) for some of the best pinpoint passes (9 assists) I’ve seen from him in one game.

You also have to give credit to Seattle, who played hard for a team that has now lost 14 games in a row on the road. Nick Collison burned the Rockets defense by getting to the hole many times for tip-in buckets, helping the Sonics shoot 61% in the first half and 58% through three quarters — amazing against the Rockets’ vaunted defense. I know Van Gundy is not happy with them giving up 102 points when they average a league-leading 90-something.

But the Rockets defense clamped down in the fourth quarter and held the Sonics to 36% shooting and 1-for-8 from three-point territory in the fourth. Before then, Ray Allen (36 points overall, 4-of-8 from three-point territory) was awesome, hitting tough baskets to keep it close.

But it was McGrady who stole the show. He played one of the best games I’ve seen, and that’s saying something since he was also suffering from a cold. He was so efficient, scoring 36 points on 13-of-23 shooting to go along with those 9 assists. It’s hard to believe he struggled like he did earlier this season.

Notes:

This is the first time in a long time I’ve seen Earl Watson, who has been rumored to be on the trading block, and who I thought would be a good fit for the Rockets at point guard, especially if Alston goes back to being inconsistent. Watson didn’t disappoint, showing a nice shooting stroke from the outside, scoring 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting, and dishing 8 assists in just 29 minutes.

The other guy I really like with the Sonics is TV analyst Lenny Wilkins (I watched the Seattle feed on DirecTV). His commentary is wonderful and insightful. Can the Rockets TV people trade Clyde Drexler for him?

Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle writes a short column on Yao doing some singing to promote the All-Star game. I love that about Yao. Although he’s shy when it comes to that sort of thing (most people are), he still sucks it up to indulge American commercial makers who think they know what will entertain us.

The Rockets continue to roll, beating the 76ers 105-84 in a game that wasn’t that close Monday night. At one point the Rockets held a 41-point lead, which the reserves blew in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 33-16.

Van Gundy wasn’t happy about how the bench played after the game was a moot point.

“The fourth quarter is totally unacceptable. That’s why I never want to hear somebody else tell me they want to play more.”

Ouch.

But he lightened up a bit after that.

“I want to see guys play well. That’s all I want to see. I want to see with my eyes that guys are improving. But that fourth quarter isn’t going to get me sideways from the core group playing good basketball through three quarters.”

Indeed, the starters played exceptional. 31 assists as a team. T-Mac hitting 8-of-14 shots for 25 points. McGrady easily could have scored more, but he sat out his second straight 4th quarter. It’s nice to see him get rest when it isn’t induced by injury.

Juwan Howard (20 points on 10-of-15 shooting) hit jumper after jumper from the top of the key that he seems to make so incredibly well. It just reminds me how much damage he could have done to the Mavericks a couple of seasons ago during that Mavs-Rockets playoff series when he was sidelined because of a heart issue. If he had been able to play and hit those shots, that series could have had a completely different outcome.

Rafer Alston finally had 50% shooting! 5-of-10 for 12 points, plus nine dimes. If he continues to shoot like that, look out league!

The best compliment came from 76er Andre Miller after the game.

About the Rockets’ chances come playoff time.

“They’ll be at the top and give anybody a run for their money.”

No, they didn’t collide in the workout room. They both ran into each other at the Yao Restaurant & Bar in Houston. You can read more of the details and see more photos by clicking here.

It’s really hard to find anything to nitpick in the Rockets’ 30-point thrashing of Portland, 99-69. They did blow a 12-2 lead to start the game, but then let Portland go on a run to actually lead 20-19 after the first quarter. By halftime, the Rockets still led only 36-34, and I thought this was going to be one of those games where a young or average team comes in and catches Houston by surprise (remember the Denver game last week?).

But that’s when Tracy McGrady turned it on in the third quarter, scoring 17 points to lead a Houston attack with 71% field goal shooting in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Rockets’ defense clamped down and held Portland to 14 points on 38% shooting in the third.

From there, the Rockets opened up a 35-point lead at one point (their largest lead of the season), with T-Mac resting the whole fourth quarter. He finished with 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting, and 5 assists.

Big win. No complaints. Short blog. What a rarity. I like it.

To read more about the game and Tracy McGrady’s imitation of Jeff Van Gundy, click here for the Houston Chronicle story.

Even though he won’t be able to play in the game because of his leg injury, Yao was voted once again as a starter in the NBA All-Star game for the Western Conference. He led the Western Conference in votes, and was edged by Lebron James for most votes overall. Click here for more photos of Yao in his All-Star uniform.

Here’s the official NBA announcement on Yao making the All-Star game for the fifth straight year. And as you’ll read in this Houston Chronicle article, it looks like Yao is going to continue his rehab work in Vegas. I think that’s a good move. Yao has been incognito a little too long.