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.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 13th, 2007 at 6:30 am and is filed under vs. Denver. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.