So this is what happens when the Big Three finally play together in a month, huh? A 95-93 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, including a blown 14-point second-half lead, their second game in a row where they blew a fourth quarter lead, and a terrible play call in the game’s final seconds.

Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala throws down an alley-oop pass for a dunk over Yao Wednesday night. Houston’s defense this year has been nowhere near its norm, which is a different topic for another day. Click here for more photos from the game.

You would think after getting embarrassed in New York by blowing a 4th quarter lead to an inferior team that the Rockets would have had the motivation to take care of business and make a statement that the Knick game was a one-game lapse.

I was nervous about this game against the Sixers for days, with all of the Big Three playing or not, because Philadelphia is very athletic and they had defeated the Rockets 3 straight times heading into Wednesday’s game. Plus, they were going to have Elton Brand in this game, a force they didn’t have in their victory against Houston on January 6th.

Surprisingly, Tracy McGrady was decent, especially in the third quarter when he scored 13 points, taking it to the rack more often in this game than I’ve seen in a long time. But he missed all four of his shot attempts in the 4th quarter, including a terrible play in the game’s final seconds that could have tied or won it.

The Rockets tried to run a slow-developing pick-and-roll between Yao and McGrady, with both of them starting way out high, but that was stupid because there wasn’t enough time for Yao to start so far away from the basket, then get position in the paint down low for a high percentage shot, all in 5 seconds before time expired.

Second, McGrady was very slow in starting the play. It’s almost like the Rockets DESIGNED this play for McGrady to take a low-percentage 3-pointer, and not find Yao instead. The result was predictable – McGrady’s shot was partially blocked by Samuel Dalembert, who switched over to guarding McGrady once he sensed he was going to jack up a low-percentage three.

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24 hours after the Rockets blew a game against a Knicks team that was 0-21 when trailing entering a 4th quarter this season, I decided to watch my recording of the game to put myself through some JVG-like ‘misery.’

I felt before I was going to rip into the team (Ren did the write-up of the game since he was there in the Garden), I figured I better watch the game more closely to make sure my criticism was warranted.

It was.

You all pretty much know what happened. The Rockets settled for too many three-pointers (10-for-33). Stupid shot selection by the Rockets’ “stars” – Artest shooting too many three-pointers (1-for-10), and McGrady the same (3-for-9). Ten 3-pointers attempted in the final 5 minutes starting when Rockets had the lead, and making none of them. 2-of-15 overall in the final 5 minutes. Jeez.

We all know what we’re going to get with McGrady “the ballstoper” when he returned to the lineup, even after 2 weeks of conditioning training. His problem isn’t physical to me as much as it is mental.

We all were afraid — after the Rockets showed great ball movement in their games during their absence when they won most of those games – that his return would probably be a detriment. We learned long ago this leopard doesn’t change his stripes over the long-haul. The Rockets’ escaped with a victory in Detroit, but it shouldn’t have been that difficult.

As you know with McGrady, you never know what you’re going to get. To be fair, he was having a decent game with 20 points until about the 4-minute mark when he took an inbounds pass, dribbled it into the corner, and took the most difficult 3-point fallaway attempt you could ever see as he was falling out of bounds…like he wanted the shot to be on Sportscenter or something. Fat chance. It was an airball, and he fell into the first row of photographers, taking himself out of defensive position to boot. Terrible! He would miss 4 more 3-pointers the rest of the way, all very poor shots, with his final 3-point attempt being an airball as well!

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This post was written by Ren Hsieh, who attended the Knicks-Rockets game Monday night…

There’s nothing worse than watching a game in a packed house and you’re not rooting for the home team–unless you’re winning. With the unpleasant opportunity to watch this one in the world famous Madison Square Garden, a place I usually love to watch basketball, I was made to endure my New York friends deliberately reaching over me to give each other high-fives as the Knicks handed the Rockets a 104-98 loss. My brother chided me from his seat further to the edge of the row for not breaking up their revelry.

Anyway, there was again no Yao, and on lunar new year. There were the usual Lion Dances and other related, distinctly Chinese festivities that fill the breaks when Yao’s in town; but there was an extra tremor of expectation in the air for this one.

Yao Ming tested out his knee before the Knicks game, but it was decided he play it safe and sit it out. Click here for more photos from Yao’s workout.

The Chinese community came out large to support the Big Red One-One… who didn’t play. And MSG was left with a disappointed but nevertheless large smattering of Rockets red. And, of course, there were the New Yorkers devoted to native legends “Skip to my Lou” and Ron-Ron whom presented the odd juxtaposition of Rockets jerseys cheering for the Knicks and occasionally their hometown heroes. For whom neither was the iron particularly kind. Between them and McGrady, 14-49 FGs and 5-28 3FGs. Which should wholly explain how the Rockets lost.

Simply explained, it was balance for last night’s whirlwind affair with the net. All is right in the world now, the yin has returned for its yang. Offensively, **it happens, and Houston fans should hardly be unfamiliar but it was again the lack of defense that might turn some skeptical heads.

Not having Yao in the paint certainly hurt–Duhon and Robinson’s layups in the 4th might have been tough floaters instead of easy buckets–but match-up to match-up the Rockets D just didn’t look tight. 47% shooting and 100+ pts allowed is not Houston Rockets basketball.

Six Knicks players scored in double-figures so there wasn’t any one Rocket to blame. The team defense was poor. Neither McGrady nor Artest were impact players on the defensive end but they’ll get another chance against the nimble 76ers this Wednesday. Where they’ll try not to get blown out of the frame like last time. It’s a game that, even with Yao in the line-up, they just might have to figure out how to defend without him.

I’m really bummed for all of Yao’s fans in New York who aren’t able to see him play tonight in the Rocket’s only game in The Big Apple this season. Damn. Yao tested his knee before the game, and the powers-that-be decided to give him a couple more days of rest before the Rockets’ next game against the 76ers on Wednesday.

I feel bad for guest contributor Ren Hsieh who bought tickets to see Yao play in the Garden tonight, but he’ll be filing a first-hand report of how the Rockets played. So far, Houston is doing fine, leading 58-55 at halftime.

If there was ever a chance for the Rockets to break an 8-year losing streak to the Pistons in Detroit, this was it. The Pistons had lost 6 of their last 8 games, and 3-of-4 in Detroit. They were also blown out by Dallas 112-91 Friday night, giving up 54.9% shooting in that game.

And although Yao Ming wouldn’t play so he could rest his knee in order to play against the Knicks Monday night in New York, the Rockets were getting Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady back, the first time they were to play on the court at the same time in 3 weeks.

Sidelined because of a knee bruise, Yao Ming signs autographs among respectful Detroit fans. Click here for more photos.

It was a back-and-forth game where you thought a couple of times the Rockets were going to pull away easily for a win, but the lack of defense without Yao in the middle to clog up the lane ended up really hurting them.

But luckily with some clutch rebounds and free throws by Ron Artest in the last couple of minutes of the game, the Rockets prevailed, won their 7th game out of their last 9, and finally exorcised some demons in Detroit.

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Just when you think the Rockets are done losing to mediocre teams (like Memphis, the Clippers, the Wizards, etc.), they end up losing to a bad Indiana team (107-102) for the second time this season. Yep, folks, the Rockets were swept this season by a 15-27 team in the Eastern Conference. Embarrassing.

Sure, Yao banged his knee in the first half (it’s not serious, he’s day-to-day) and he didn’t play in the second half as a precaution. But still, this is a tough loss to take, even with “The Big 3” of Yao, Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest out of the lineup.

Before Yao exited the game, he wasn’t having that great of a performance. In 17 minutes, he was only 2-for-7 for 8 points (blocked twice by Danny Granger in the game’s first 2 minutes), and had 3 turnovers. But him not being in the game in the fourth quarter left a big gaping hole down low on defense.

Yao Ming winces in pain during the Rockets-Pacers game. Luckily, his knee injury isn’t serious (x-rays were negative), and he’s day-to-day. Click here for more photos.

The Rockets’ defense was pretty bad most of the game, allowing lots of easy baskets around the rim. The Rockets’ young guys of Von Wafer, Carl Landry, Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks may be great scoring threats, but they still have lots of work to do with the coaching staff in not blowing defensive assignments.

Even then, though, the Pacers still shot a poor 39.3% from the field, which was lower than Houston’s 43%. But it just seemed the Rockets couldn’t stop the Pacers when it really counted.

Scola, though, was fantastic in the fourth quarter, helping bring the Rockets within striking distance after the Rockets had whittled a 17-point deficit down to single digits. With Yao out of the game, Scola scored 15 points in the fourth, and 25 overall. He did miss 4-of-11 free throws, though.

Carl Landry was very good with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Rafer Alston was decent with 17 on 7-of-15 shots, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. But he had 6 turnovers and was 1-for-6 from three-point land.

The Rockets almost pulled off a miracle comeback by pulling within 4 points late in the game, but they couldn’t get stops on D. You can read how much of it played out, with key plays included in the play-by-play below.

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The Rockets lost a tough one in Indianapolis, 107-102, to one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference. It was a game they should have won. I’ll be watching it on my DVR later tonight and I’ll file a report a later.

The Rockets’ chances of winning it would have been higher if Yao hadn’t hurt his knee right in the first half. He tried to warm it up at halftime, but everyone thought it would be best to rest it and get it checked out. X-rays were negative and he’s officially listed day-to-day, which is good news. So just when you thought “The Big 3” would be on the court for Sunday’s game, Yao gets hurt. Typical for the kind of year the Rockets have been having on the injury front this season.

Raymond has found photos of Yao in his All-Star uniform that he’ll be wearing February 15th in Phoenix.

Click here for more photos.

As steady as Yao has been lately — helping the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz Wednesday night with 19 points (9-of-9 from the line) and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes of action — Rafer and Wafer have been almost as key to the Rockets winning 5 of their last 6 games, too.

Yao spins baseline on Utah’s Paul Milsap Wednesday night on his way to 19 points. Click here for more photos from the game.

Alston scored a season-high 23 points, including 5-of-7 three-pointers, 7-of-13 from the field, 4-of-4 from the line, 8 assists, and only 1 turnover. Wow! Rafer has been stepping up big-time in Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady’s absence.

And Von Wafer is still playing the role of Cinderella at the ball, scoring 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including a dagger of a 3-pointer with 2:32 remaining that gave the Rockets some breathing room, 94-87. The rest of the way, the Rockets hit 12-of-12 free throws in the final 2 minutes to ice it.

So let’s see…the Rockets are #5 in the league in free throw shooting (they were an incredible 27-of-28 from the line Wednesday night), they have a point guard who is playing out of his mind lately, they have consistent and athletic role players like Luis Scola (19 points on 6-of-10 shooting) and Carl Landry (10 points, 4-of-8 from the field). They have a virtually unstoppable All-Star center who is playing at an MVP level. They have an experienced backup guard who can hit the three and who has won championships (Brent Barry – 3-of-4 from behind the arc).

On top of that, their offense is moving the ball around like they did during their 22-game win streak last season, one of their best players (Ron Artest) will be rejoining the team very soon, Tracy McGrady will be playing again in a couple of games, and they have one of the biggest surprise players of the league (Wafer) who can score in bunches and shoot for a high percentage.

Finally, they have 2 very good role players — Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier — who are in shooting slumps right now, but you know they will get it going again. And when they do, watch out!

I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty conservative guy and don’t say things like the following off-the-cuff. But with all the Rockets have going for them again, it is not unreasonable to expect them to be playing in June.

Okay, now more about their 108-99 victory over the Jazz Wednesday night. The Rockets remind me of the Jazz a couple of years ago when they had all these new players like Ronnie Brewer and Paul Milsap, and there was no let-up when these reserves came in. It was unbelievable! That’s the way it is this season for the Rockets when phenoms like Von Wafer, Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks come into the game. There’s hardly any drop-off in intensity and energy.

For the second straight game, I’ve put together a summary of the top plays from the game on a quarter-by-quarter basis. Enjoy!

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I was listening to an old interview that Shane Battier gave to a local radio station a couple of weeks ago, and I was struck by this conversation that Shane had with the interviewer talking about Yao getting little respect from referees, but still manages to maintain his cool.

Interviewer: “Yao never loses it against players who are beating him all the time…”
Shane: “He’s amazing. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the entire league. Anybody.”

Interviewer: “What do they say to you?”
Shane: “I don’t know. They just sort of blow us off. I don’t know what it is about Yao. I wish Yao would even go after the refs a little harder and just let them know, hey, ‘I’m a 6-7 year All-Star in this league.’ I deserve some calls sometime.”

I love Shane for his loyalty toward Yao.

On another front, Raymond has translated an interview that Yao gave to Sohu Sports where he talks about improved cohesion in the locker room, his performance late in games, and what will happen with the team when Tracy McGrady returns to the line-up.

Finally, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle wrote an excellent article about Yao’s effectiveness in the fourth quarter.