Yao prepares to lay in one of his 11 field goals Tuesday night against Washington. Yao scored 25 points and grabbed 10 boards in a 82-75 win, while Shane Battier chipped in with 17 points in a game where Tracy McGrady was limited because of an injury. Click here for the game story.

Where would the Rockets have been last night with Yao and Shane Battier? Both players shot lights out (Yao: 11-of-15, Shane: 6-of-11) while every other Rocket struggled (13-of-53 combined). But the Rockets’ defense and some timely three-pointers late in the game prevented Minnesota from completing a fourth quarter comeback.

Despite the Rockets propensity to lose big leads this season – this time they lost an 11-point lead to allow Minnesota to tie it at 68-68 with 4:42 remaining – they were able to close it out, thanks to Shane hitting two treys in a row (he made an incredible 5-of-5).

Then Rafer Alston made up for a poor shooting night (4-of-15 overall) to hit a three, and followed with a runner in the lane to make it 79-70, and that was the ballgame as the Rockets finished with a win, 82-75.

Alston has impressed me this season to hit big shots down the stretch, even when he has struggled shooting earlier in the game. He has made me forget this year about the Rockets’ inability to sign Mike James this off-season, who finished with only 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and one steal in 23 minutes. Meanwhile, Rafer scored 13, had 7 assists, 3 steals, and grabbed 3 rebounds

Although the Rockets are known for losing big leads in the fourth quarter, they are winning (they have won 9 of their past 11), and I have said all along it doesn’t matter if they lose leads. Just win, baby. And if you lose leads and still figure out a way to win, it just makes you stronger later in the season when the pressure gets really intense. Yao seems to agree:

“Actually, at the point it’s getting close, I’m not nervous,” Yao said. “I didn’t feel worried. That’s the way we play. We’ve gone through this many times.”

Tracy McGrady got hit in the abdomen late in the first quarter and was in-and-out of the game all night long. He finished with 8 points (4-of-14) and 7 assists in 32 minutes of play.

It doesn’t look good for him to play against Phoenix on Wednesday night, but at least the injury didn’t occur in his back where things could get really scary after missing so many games last season, leading to a disastrous record.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 11:59 pm and is filed under vs. Minnesota. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.