Yao drives to the basket for a jam against the Jazz in Game 5 at Toyota Center. Despite hitting only 6-of-18 shots, Yao was 9-of-10 from the line and grab 15 boards to help the Rockets win Game Five 96-92 to take a 3-2 lead in their playoff series against the Jazz.” Click here for a page that has more photos from the game and pre-game preparations. Click here for photos from the Rockets’ practice earlier in the day.

You all probably saw the game Monday night where the Rockets held off the Jazz 96-92. Houston is now up 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled in Utah for Thursday night. Instead of going into too much detail, I’ll try to recap some of the highlights and emotions from the game.

On Monday night it was obvious Tracy McGrady was the key to the win. He was finally intent to take it to the basket more often, and it worked, scoring on several highlight reels that were incredible. Two of them were “layups” that were actually very difficult shots where he drove into traffic, then spun the ball off the glass with a lot of ‘english’ on it for the buckets. Then there was that long, stretched-out dunk over Andrei Kirilenko that got Toyota Center off their feet and was the McGrady of old.

He was 11-of-25 from the floor for 26 points, but just as important had 16 assists, with 10 coming in the first half.

At first Houston started off the first 14 minutes of the game shooting only 29%, while the Jazz had hit 55% of their shots. The Rockets were on the ropes. It looked like the Jazz were on their way to an easy win, taking a 10-point lead that looked like it could deflate the Rockets for the third straight game.

It looked like things were going to get worse when McGrady was in severe pain after getting a push from behind while playing defense. Grimacing, he went to the locker room, and it looked like it was something to akin to ‘back spasm city’ all over again.

At that moment, everyone in the building felt like the ballgame was over, that the Rockets would lose Game 5, and all kinds of repercussions in the off-season were on their way after Thursday night’s game in Salt lake.

After all, Yao didn’t look like he was capable of putting the team on his own shoulders in this game. He started out 1-for-9 from the field, and his fans in the arena and around the world had to be wondering what was happening to him. In the locker room afterwards he said to me that he “was thinking too much” on those shot attempts he was missing. As cool as Yao is on the exterior, even the best of them can get thrown off their game when the stakes are high. Hopefully he’ll be able to overcome that tendency to think too much in tight situations.

Thankfully McGrady came out of the locker room and back into the game a few minutes later. It was interesting to see the crowd – who had been let down by him so much in Games 3 & 4 — applaud his return with extreme appreciation, and without holding a grudge against him for those underwhelming losses in Utah. The crowd knew if the Rockets are going to have a chance to win this series, they will need McGrady.

Witth McGrady back in the game, Yao was able to get back on track by making his final 3 shots at the end of the second quarter. He also had an emphatic block that sent the ball into the stands, and the Toyota Center crowd was on their feet after witnessing the power behind that block. Clearly Yao was motivated, and he responded.

Moreover, Juwan Howard was finally getting it going in by making 4-of-4 shots in the second quarter, and that was HUGE to bring the Rockets back within one point at halftime, 44-43, helped by a 16-7 scoring run to end the first half where they made their last six shots. The Rockets were finally looking like the team that had won 52 games in the regular season but had disappeared in the first four games of this series. That 29% shooting in the first quarter was looking a lot better by halftime – back up to 41%.

Props also had to go to Rafer Alston in the first half for scoring 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting and making 2-of-4 three-pointers.

3rd quarter

Carlos Boozer was unstoppable in the third, scoring 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Most of the time he was abusing Yao defensively, almost scoring at will.

But McGrady countered by scoring 11 points in the quarter, the last 3 points coming on a three-pointer in which he was fouled for a potential 4-point play. But he blew the free throw that could have sent the crowd into an even bigger frenzy.

This third quarter was basically a shootout for both teams. The Rockets hit 60% of their shots (9-of-15), but the problem was that Utah almost shot the same percentage (12-of-21). It was obvious that Utah had gotten over its Game 1 & 2 jitters where they couldn’t make hardly anything, and were now scoring virtually at will. Luckily for the Rockets, they were only down 72-68 heading into the final quarter.

4th quarter

Entering the final period, you knew it was going to be a war. Boozer continued to school Yao by making 4-of-6 shots for 9 points, but the Rockets continued to make shots, too (6-of-13 with 5:45 remaining).

By the 3:40 mark, the Rockets were on the verge of putting the game away, holding a 91-84 lead and a chance to extend the lead to 8 points.

But for some stupid reason Alston inexplicably threw a risky full-court pass for what he thought could be a layup. But it was poor judgment for him to throw such a risky pass with a chance to go up 8 points and to take some time off the clock in doing so. Even McGrady threw his hands up in the air bewildered how Alston could make such a stupid pass like that.

That mistake loomed large after the Jazz rattled off 6 in a row to pull the game within one point. Meanwhile, McGrady airballed a shot on one possession, and it looked like the Rockets would earn their title “Choke City” one more time.

With the Jazz only down 93-92, Matt Harpring missed a shot with 20.5 seconds remaining that could have Utah ahead, but he missed and Alston came up with the rebound.

Unfortunately, Rafer missed 1-of-2 free throws to give the Rockets only a two-point lead. On the ensuing possession, Derek Fisher tried to take the ball down the lane, but Chuck Hayes came up with the defensive play of the game by drawing a charge in the lane on Fisher with 12.4 seconds remaining. That play rocked the roof off of Toyota Center!

You’ve got to give credit to Van Gundy for putting Hayes in the game a few minutes earlier since Yao was having such a tough time defending Boozer. By having Hayes in the vicinity, it paid off big-time.

But Yao was still instrumental down the stretch by hitting some clutch free throws as the Jazz intentionally fouled him to stop the clock. It was also a smart move by Van Gundy to get him the ball.

Before those free throws when the Rockets were building that 6-point lead before they blew it, Yao got great position on Mehmet Okur a couple of possessions where he got great position in front of the rim, or just to the right of it, and didn’t have the temptation to think too much.

Looking ahead to Game 6

Everyone knows the chances of the Rockets winning in Game 6 Thursday in Utah are very slim, especially when you look at the stat where they have lost something like 16 of 18 games in Utah.

Utah has finally hit their stride. They are playing well offensively. Struggling players like Kirilenko (4-of-5 from the field for 8 points) and Okur (3-of-7 for 9 points) are starting to score. Their backup point guard Fisher chipped in 17 on 6-of-11 shooting. And although he had an off-night, Deron Williams (4-of-16 from the field) is still a force. Oh yeah, Boozer (12-of-13 for 26 points) is still Boozer.

But Houston finally played in Game 5 similar to how they played in the regular season. Juwan Howard‘s 12 points on a perfect 6-for-6 from the field has to give him confidence that he can make big shots in big games, as well as Luther Head who made 3-of-7 shots, including 2-of-4 treys, for 8 points. The Rockets were basically playing with two hands behind their back without those guys producing in the first four games.

And what else can you say about Shane Battier, who hit 5-of-7 three-pointers to score 15 points? He also hustled back on defense to draw charge a charge, and that was right AFTER making a 3-pointer, and on another play batted the ball off Matt Harpring as the ball was going out-of-bounds so that the Rockets could get possession.

So after a game that can remind them of how good they can play in this series, look for a strong showing by the Rockets in Utah where they could get the monkey off their back and finally win one. Wouldn’t it be great for the Rockets to get payback against the Jazz, who beat Houston in Game 6 back in 1997 in Houston? Remember, that was the play where Karl Malone gave a bearhug to Clyde Drexler that freed up John Stockton to make that last minute shot to win it?

McGrady seems to be playing smart basketball going to the hoop to score (hope that lasts), or dishing off to find open looks for his teammates (16 assists Monday night). And you can’t expect Yao to have another 6-of-18 night from the field.

Perhaps now that the pressure is on Utah to win or go home, perhaps they will tighten up a bit. Just like the Rockets were pressing early in the first half, Utah might do the same and press in the first half of Game 6. I believe that first half will be the Rockets’ window of opportunity to take the game over, build a big lead, and keep the crowd out of it. But if they don’t do that, Utah’s crowd and confidence will be so sky-high, the Rockets will lose and we’ll be back at Toyota Center on Saturday night.

It’s getting very late, but I’ll have more thoughts over the next couple of days, including some quotes that Yao, Battier, and Luther gave in the locker room.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 at 4:16 am and is filed under 2007 NBA playoffs, vs. Utah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.