Tracy McGrady blows by the Spurs’ Bruce Bowen Wednesday night in a game where T-Mac willed the Rockets to a 90-85 victory with 37 points.

Before the Rockets’ game on Wednesday against the Spurs, Tracy McGrady vowed they would come out ready to play after one of their most disappointing losses of the season against Denver the game before.

So I was watching very carefully to see what kind of start the Rockets would have in San Antonio.

It turns out T-Mac was wrong, at least at the start. The Rockets turned the ball over 4 times to start the game, couldn’t hit anything, and quickly were down 12-2.

I was thinking, “How could these guys guarantee they would be ready, and then stink up the joint like this?”

But the Rockets recovered, kept the game close, even took a big 13–point lead in the fourth quarter, blew that, but held on for a 90-85 win.

McGrady ended up being The Man at the end, redeeming himself with his vow that he would be ready. He scored 37 points on 14-of-24 shooting and made 8-of-9 free throws. He also had three assists, all which came on three consecutive possessions when he drew the double-team, then kicked it to Juwan Howard for buckets. Those plays were artistry in motion. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to hold off a Spurs’ charge that almost ended up with another late-game Houston collapse.

His biggest miscue, and recovery, occurred with about a minute remaining in the game. The Rockets led 85-81, and T-Mac was stripped bringing the ball up the court. He almost recovered it, but he slipped, and that led to a layup by Tim Duncan (37 points) to cut the lead to 85-83.

On the ensuing possession, McGrady made up for it by hitting a huge 20-foot jumper, was fouled on the shot, and hit the free throw to give the Rockets a 5-point cushion with 55 seconds remaining.

The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili responded just a few seconds later to cut the lead 88-85. After that, the Rockets needed a big hoop to fend off the Spurs, but Rafer Alston came up empty on a running jumper.

That gave the Spurs a chance to tie the game. However, Brent Barry passed up a three-pointer and dumped it down low to Tim Duncan, who had good D played against him as he missed a short bank shot off the glass. Alston came up with the rebound, got fouled, and surprisingly hit both free throws to sew up the victory, 90-85.

I have to give Alston credit for hitting those free throws. He’s not known as the best clutch FT-er in the game. He also had a decent stat line: 19 points on 7-of-15 shots, 3-of-6 three-pointers, 7 assists and only two turnovers. All the Houston Chronicle guys are giving him credit for a good game. And yes, he deserves some praise.

But the maddening thing for me is the fact he could be so much better. He’s a quick guard who can get to the rim anytime he wants. Except on a few rare occasions, he just can’t finish. Except for a big bucket where he floated a teardrop over Duncan in the fourth quarter, he blew several easy layups in this game, too. ESPN mentioned how Alston realizes he’s now known as not being a great finisher. So you would think he would avoid his weakness by not taking it to the rim so much and sending his second-lowest FG% in the league (for a starter) to even greater depths.

One other mental lapse had: late in the game there was a jump ball between T-Mac and Tony Parker. You know T-Mac was going to win that jump, and you knew exactly where he was going to tip it: right where Alston and another Rocket (can’t remember who) lined up next to each other. That’s just how you play jump balls.

But Alston fell asleep and let Brent Barry get behind him as the ref threw the ball up in the air. T-Mac tipped it right where it should have been tipped, behind Alston, and there was Barry to catch it.

Okay, enough of my Alston bashing. Since he had a good stat line, I’ll lay off for now.

To finish up on a positive note, you have to give credit to the Rockets for pulling out a huge victory without Yao on the road against a 30-13 team, and to do it after one of their worst losses of the season against Denver at home without Carmelo Anthony in the line-up. The Rockets have won two in a row in San Antonio, something that hasn’t happened in 10 years.

Now the Rockets come home for 5-straight games against what TV analyst Bill Walton called “cupcakes” (I love it): Portland, Philly, Seattle, New Orleans/OKC, and Minnesota. All teams with losing records.

If the Rockets don’t win all 5 of these games, then it will be very easy to forget about this big W against the Spurs.

Since injuring his leg on December 23rd, Yao makes one of his first public showings at the Rockets’ annual Tux ‘n Tennies benefit. Click here for more photos of Yao and his teammates at the benefit.

A Yao sighting! Yay Yao! Click here for more photos from the event (images may load slowly).

About a month ago when the Denver-Phoenix game was postponed because of a blizzard (an NBA rarity), I said to myself, “Great. That means the Rockets won’t face Carmelo Anthony after all when he comes back from his 15-game suspension. Chalk that up as a sure win.”

Well, the Rockets blew a golden chance to get a fairly easy one against the Nuggets without their MVP candidate Saturday night in Houston.

This game really makes me mad. The Rockets had an 8-point lead against the Nuggets with 2:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, and still blew it to lose in OT, 121-113.

Sure, the Rockets’ defense was bad as you’ll read in this Houston Chronicle story. But at least they were ahead against an average team and were on the cusp of putting them away in the fourth quarter.

With 1:23 remaining, the Rockets led 108-105, had the ball, and basically could have put the game out of reach when Rafer Alston zipped a pass to Tracy McGrady cutting to the basket for an easy reverse layup – but T-Mac blew the shot!

That miss cost them dearly. It gave the window the Nuggets were looking for. Allen Iverson made them pay with a three-pointer the other way to tie the game. Then Alston felt like he had to be a hero and take another ill-advised shot, which he missed (of course), ultimately sending the game to OT where the Nuggets pulled away for a shocking ‘W.’

The glaring weakness in the Rockets’ offense was Alston, who missed 13-of-18 shots (didn’t he score 29 the other day?), took stupid shots down the stretch, and had easy passes go through his hands for turnovers (4 overall). This guy’s inconsistency is driving me nuts. And why is a point guard taking 18 shots?

Meanwhile, Iverson scored 36 and only had 3 turnovers.

On the bright side, the Rockets other role players played very well offensively. Bonzi Wells played superb, hitting 5-of-9 shots for 12 points. Juwan Howard was 8-of-13 with 21 points. Shane Battier was solid with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. And Luther Head was 6-of-14 with 15 points.

Meanwhile, T-Mac was just so-so, making 9-of-25 shots for 24 points. On a night when he wasn’t shooting well, at least he was a playmaker with 10 assists.

That’s what is so gut-wrenching about this game. Except for Alston, most of the guys shot pretty well and the Rockets had this one in the bag. They even had a 13-point with 10:30 remaining.

But bad defense (Nuggets hit 15-of-29 three-pointers) and poor shooting suddenly has put Houston one game behind the Lakers in the 6th playoff spot in the Western Conference playoff seeds.

This game reminded me of those games last year when they couldn’t close out close games. Now the Rockets have lost three in a row, and they play the Spurs in San Antonio on Wednesday. You know the Spurs will be looking for payback when the Rockets beat them pretty bad last time in their own gym. Games like this one against Denver (19-17 record coming in) should be automatic W’s.

Coming into Wednesday night’s game against the Rockets, the Phoenix Suns had won 10 games in a row, and 29 of their last 32. We’re all realists here. We knew there was no way the Rockets were going to win.

Then compound the fact Tracy McGrady was not going to play because of stiffness in his back — plus the Rockets were on the second night of a back-to-back after losing to Dallas Tuesday night — and you finally had the makings of an old-fashioned blowout loss.

But I have to give the Rockets credit. Although they lost 100-91, they put a scare into the Suns. With the odds stack so much against them, the Rockets led by 15 points in the first half (the Suns’ largest deficit in almost two months!), and still trailed by only 4 points with about 3 minutes remaining.

But after coming within striking distance, the absence of Yao and T-Mac was profound. The Rockets missed their last 6 shots down the stretch for the loss.

However, with the heart the Rockets are showing, if the Rockets finish in one of the top 5 playoff seeds, I say Jeff Van Gundy may deserve consideration for Coach of the Year honors. This effort was incredible against a team as strong as the Suns.

Believe it or not, Rafer Alston was the key to the Rockets’ staying competitive, finishing with a season-high 29 points on 12-of-25 shooting and 8 assists.

It looks like Tracy’s back is going to be fine. It’s not related to the back spasms that knocked him out of a few games earlier in the season. He says he’ll play Friday against Denver.

For the Houston Chronicle story on the game, click here.

I wasn’t able to watch the Rockets lose to the Mavericks 109-06 because I’m out of town right now. Even with the Rockets having won four in a row and 9 of their past 11 games, I knew there was no way the Rockets were going to win against the red hot Mavs. The Rockets have been relying too much on big plays down the stretch to win most of those games against mediocre teams.

Even with a monster game from Tracy McGrady (45 points on 17-of-29 shooting, 7 assists), his teammates provided hardly any help as they mostly watched T-Mac do his thing, including running out of gas late.

Juwan Howard chipped in 16. Rafer Alston (12 points) made 4-of-5 three-pointers, but missed his other 5 shots. And Luther Head was 2-of-10 for 8 points. Shane Battier surprisingly scored only 5. That’s not going to “git ‘r done.”

Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki scored 30, Josh Howard poured in 28, and Devean George was the X-factor by hitting 4-of-5 threes for 15 points. I thought Mark Cuban said George’s role was to mainly play defense, and wasn’t being asked to score in the Mavericks’ scheme? When you’ve got a guy like that who can come off your bench and jump-start an offense, it’s tough to beat. Especially when you’ve already got a guy like that in Jerry Stackhouse (13 points, 5-of-10 shooting). Too many weapons.

Also tough to beat will be the 29-8 Phoenix Suns Wednesday night, who aren’t playing a back-to-back like the Rockets are. Looks like it’s going to be another Dallas-Phoenix Western Conference Finals in May.

You gotta love the story line between good friends Dirk and two-time MVP Steve Nash facing off against each other deep in the playoffs for a second straight year.

For more on the loss to the Mavericks, let me refer you to the Houston Chronicle story on the game.

Man, what a crazy game it was Saturday night in Sac-town. I can’t even begin to talk about the details in this one with the limited time I have. So I’ll have to refer you to the Houston Chronicle story about their 115-111 OT win.

T-Mac was much, much better than he has played the past two games. Although he was 12-of-21 from the field, he hit big shots down the stretch and made 10-of-11 free throws for 37 points. Rafer Alston hit 4-of-9 three-pointers for 22. And Dikembe Mutombo had 18 rebounds in workhorse-like 38 minutes.

I guess my overall point is that the Rockets miraculously continue to win despite how much they want to give games away. In their recent history, it used to be the opposite – they would play well but couldn’t close teams out.

I’ll take wins anyway I can get them, especially with Yao out, but you’ve got to think something special is happening this season despite how ugly the wins they are racking up.

Shane Battier is the man. He willed the Rockets to a 90-86 win in what would have been one of their most embarrassing losses of the season Friday night in Denver. The Rockets were sleepwalking through the entire game and failed to put the limping Nuggets away when they should have. In the NBA you can’t just hope another team will give you a game. At some point you’ve got to earn it. If you don’t, your opponent will eventually come back and haunt you.

Forget the fact the Rockets had won 7 of their last 8 games before this game. Other than their blowout win against the Lakers on Wednesday, a lot of their wins have been a result of great defense concealing a mediocre offense (can you say ‘Rafer?’) For the most part, the Rockets have just lollygagged themselves through most of their games offensively, and end up having to make big plays in the fourth quarter to win the majority of the games during their current run. I love clutch plays down the stretch, but you’ve got to win a few games in the third quarter and coast once in awhile.

Everyone thought for sure it would finally catch up with them on Friday night. Denver was pathetic from the field, but the Rockets couldn’t get any separation, settling for shooting and miss jumpers rather than take it to the hole. The only semblance of consistency that kept the Rockets competitive was Luther Head, who hit some shots when the Rockets needed them. Their overall inconsistency finally caught up with them when the Nuggets got hot in the fourth quarter and took a 93-87 lead with 3:59 to go.

That’s when Shane must have said “enough is enough,” and attempted a three-pointer with 3:17 remaining and was fouled. He hit 2 of the 3 free throws to make the score 83-79, then the next possession down hit a 3-pointer to make it 83-82 with 2:49 left. Then caught in a confused offensive possession with a little over 2 minutes remaining, Shane got the ball at the three-point line, took it to the hole and laid in a sweet left-handed layup off the glass for an 84-83 lead with 2:05 remaining. Just like that he got the Rockets back into the game. Then with 46 seconds remaining, he hit another three-pointer to break a tie game and give them a huge 89-86 lead. What a stud. 10 points in 3 ½ minutes in the clutch.

It’s unbelievable how the Rockets pulled this game out, and did NOT do it with Tracy McGrady. T-Mac was lethargic shooting the ball (5-of-17, 12 points), settling for jumper that continued to clang off the rim, and for some reason not taking it to the rack. I was flabbergasted watching him miss 2-of-9 free throws to boot. He made up for it somewhat with 11 assists.

But I love the bravery that Battier showed in the fourth quarter. He obviously sensed Tracy wasn’t going to bail them out this game, and decided to take the game into his own hands since no one else would. Battier finished with 25 points (5-of-9 three-pointers).

After seeing the effect Shane has had on the Rockets this year, it’s obvious he’s not the boring ‘scrub’ a lot of fans thought he was in Memphis. The deal to bring him to Houston for Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift was the steal of the season.

The Rockets continued to shock the league Wednesday night. With Yao out and Tracy McGrady shooting horrendously (4-of-16, 8 points), Houston was still able to blow out the second best shooting (and fifth highest scoring) team in the league, the LA Lakers, 102-77. The Rockets are now 7-2 since Yao’s injury on December 23rd.

On a night like this when you need all the scoring you can get from your role players, it really helps when your starting point guard shoots over 30%. Rafer Alston finally hit a decent percentage, hitting 8-of-19 shots (4-of-9 three-pointers) for 20 points.

Juwan Howard was fantastic, hitting 10-of-20 for 23 points, and grabbing 11 boards. Shane Battier hit 6-of-10 (five 3-pointers) for 17 points. Luther Head was 5-of-11 for 12 points, with a one-handed slam from along the baseline over Ronny Turiaf that was unlike anything I’ve ever seen from him. I didn’t know he had it in him! Either did the crowd, who were on their feet after that slam!

And give credit to T-Mac, who still was effective by finding open guys after penetrating into the lane and dished 12 dimes.

Most inspiring of all was Dikembe Mutombo – the oldest player in the league – showing the youngest player in the league that you can’t mess with him. Andrew Bynum tried to go over Deke for two dunks, and both times he was rejected at the rim. His 5 blocks on Wednesday night moved him past Hakeem and put him in second place on the all-time block list. Oh yeah, he also grabbed a monstrous 19 boards, 7 offensive.

The highly anticipated matchup between Kobe Bryant and T-Mac never really materialized. Kobe only had 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting, and headed to the locker room with 3 minutes remaining to have a strained groin attended to. But the game was long over by then, with Houston pulling away slowly with great shooting by its role players.

This loss by the Lakers was a gut check for them. It was the second game of a back-to-back, having been whipped against one of the worst teams in the league – Memphis – after getting 46 points scored against them in the third quarter to turn a 5-point halftime lead into a 19-point deficit.

Meanwhile, it was a sweet win for Houston, who had lost 5 in a row to the Lakers and are now tied with them for the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 23-13 record.

It was another pathetic game on Monday night with the Rockets. They were stinking up the place with poor shooting. Rafer Alston missed his first 10 shots, the Rockets had made only 13-of-43 shots (30%) in the first half, missed 14 three-pointers in a row, and had only 30 points to show for it, a season-low.

Luckily Chicago wasn’t shooting much better, scoring only 40 points by halftime. But with 50% team shooting in the third quarter, Tracy McGrady bounced back from a 3-of-10 first half, put the team on his back and scored 25 points in the second half to pull out an improbable win, 84-77.

Ben Gordon was schooling the Rockets in the fourth, and if it hadn’t been for Van Gundy putting Shane Battier on Gprdon defensively instead of Alston, the Bulls would have won this game. The Rockets couldn’t stop Gordon. But after Battier was assigned to him late in the fourth, Shane came up big with two stops late in the game.

Battier is like Kevin Garnett or Bruce Bowen in that he can defend almost anyone of any size. When the Rockets made the trade for him before the draft instead of picking Rudy Gay, everyone said he was being acquired in part because of defensive ability. We all knew that, but it just didn’t sound very exciting at the time, and it’s hard to point to a tangible play where defense wins a game. But in this case, Battier’s defense on Gordon resulted in a true ‘W.’

T-Mac’s performance was nothing short of remarkable. It’s like when the game gets serious in the second half, and especially the fourth quarter, he rises to the occasion, keeps you in the game, and gives you a great chance to win it. He almost was able to do that on Sunday against Minnesota. On Monday, his hitting two three-pointers in a row to make it 63-55 was the separation the Rockets were looking for, and down the stretch he made big shots to win it.

On the flipside, Alston’s 2-of-14 shooting is astounding. I’ve never seen a guy miss so many layups and shots around the basket as this guy. Before the game, Van Gundy was adamant that for the time being, Alston is their guy and nothing is going to happen to replace him. But I’ve got to think that stance can only last so long as Alston continues to miss easy shots. The Rockets won Monday night in spite of him.

Our correspondent in China, Raymond, has translated an article that Wang Meng, a writer for Tom.com who is in Houston tracking Yao’s recovery, wrote as of last Saturday. Thanks for the translation, Raymond!

It was a relaxing Saturday morning. Toyota Center was almost empty without any people. Just the previous night, the Rockets easily put away the Utah Jazz, who had humiliated them in the season opener; Jeff Van Gundy therefore granted every Rocket player a rest day, and all they needed to do was to gather at the airport that afternoon. With self confidence and an easy state of mind, the Rockets started again on one of their back-to-back road trips.

All through the week, except for Sunday when Yao Ming would give himself a holiday (as well as a rest day for his assistant coach and personal trainer), Yao Ming would get out of bed before 09:00am, leave his home around 09:30am, and join the heavy traffic of Houston for Toyota Center. Every day, Yao Ming would spend approximately 4 hours there, going through those training routines that his body could handle in his attempt to grasp every bit of the lost time.

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