Determined to win a big game that could decide homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Rockets started Shane Battier in Utah Monday night, something they should have done the night before in Denver where they lost.

The Rockets also played Bobby Jackson, probably because Rafer Alston‘s hamstring injury was worse than Jackson’s knee problem. Perhaps Jackson should have played in Denver, too.

Even with these two key players back in the lineup, it was still going to be tough since Utah was at home where they had been 36-4, they had everything to gain (like homecourt against Houston in the first round of the playoffs) and maybe a chance to move up to 2nd in the conference.

With all the improvements the Rockets have made this season since last season’s playoff series loss against Utah — role players like Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Jackson, Aaron Brooks, Mike Harris, and an improved Steve Novak — it still wasn’t enough as the Rockets went down again to their nemesis, 105-96.

So just like that, within the span of 27 hours the Rockets went from playing for a chance to win the Western Conference, to facing the likelihood they will be the fifth seed without homecourt advantage. What a disappointing way to close out the regular season.

The Rockets now have to hope that the Spurs beat the Jazz Wednesday night in Houston while the Rockets take care of the Clippers. If that doesn’t happen, the Rockets will not have home court advantage and will have to face the possibility of playing a potential Game 7 in Utah, an almost impossible game to win.

Because the Spurs-Jazz game starts one hour after the Rockets’ game against the Clippers, you can bet the Rockets will be huddled around their big screen TV in the locker room Wednesday night after their assumed win against the Clippers.

Now the Rockets are in the same position as Utah last season – playing poorly to close out the season hoping for a miracle to turn it around in the playoffs.

People might forget that everyone was down on the Jazz last season because they finished their regular season with a whimper, then went down 0-2 to Houston in their playoff series before resurrecting themselves. That’s really the main objective for the Rockets this season – for them to play like Utah last year. Oh my, that 22-game winning streak now seems so long ago, like it was a different team.

In Monday night’s game, the Jazz out-hustled the Rockets on the offensive boards, just like last year.

Tracy McGrady’s shot selection in the fourth quarter was questionable, just like last year.

Just think, the Rockets are maybe just a few games away from having to make some major decisions on personnel. If the unthinkable happens and the Rockets lose to the Jazz AGAIN in the playoffs, especially after finishing so poorly the last few games of the season, then do they make a major roster change?

Through that question, of course I’m talking about McGrady. You can’t really complain too much with what the Rockets have built around him. Except for maybe a true backup center, I think it would be tough for the Rockets to do much better with their roster of role players. But if they can’t get more production in big games for the $19 million per year they’re paying McGrady, then it’s going to be an interesting decision.

McGrady is playing without Yao, so do you blame him for the way the Rockets have finished, or do you give him a pass? I think it all depends on how he plays during these upcoming playoffs. If he doesn’t make more of an impact given all the money they’re paying him, then I think it’s time to make a change – just like how they made a major decision with a head coach (JVG) that had won them alot of games last season, and just how they gave up on Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley a few years ago.

But rather than looking ahead at this doom-and-gloom scenario, let’s look closer at why the Rockets lost to Utah Monday night.

They actually played decent in the first quarter, leading 22-21 after the first quarter, and you had to like what you saw early in the second quarter on offense. Aaron Brooks made a three-pointer, then Brooks penetrated into the lane, kicked it out to Luther Head, and Head bounced a pass to Carl Landry for a layup to make it 27-25, Houston.

The on the next possession, we saw Chuck Hayes, Mike Harris and Carl Landry all battle hard for a rebound, and Harris got the loose ball and put it in for a hard-earned bucket to make it 29-29. That effort got the Houston bench off their feet.

A couple of minutes later, Brooks penetrated into the lane again and kicked it out beautifully to Shane Battier for a three-pointer.

After these plays, I was thinking the Rockets’ chances of winning this game were going to be decent because their second unit was competing, and Aaron Brooks’ speed was bringing an element to the game that Houston really needed against a very quick Jazz team.

But a very disturbing trend started. Referee Bob Delaney started making the most terrible calls I’ve ever seen. You may remember Delaney as the idiot who made that terrible call a few weeks ago at the end of a Golden State-Laker game when LA’s Derek Fisher pulled down Monta Ellis at the end of the game, and Delaney instead called the foul on the Warriors to give the game to the Lakers (that loss contributed to the Warriors getting eliminated from the playoffs Monday night. Boy, thanks Bob!)

On Monday night, there were at least 3 other calls made against the Rockets where Houston players had great position when Jazz players ran into them, sending the Jazz to the free throw line. I swear, Delaney is terrible. If you ever want to go to the free throw line, just attack the basket and he’ll call a foul against the defender almost every time.

The game was riddled with foul calls, and all the trips to the free throw line (36 for Houston, 38 for Utah) slowed the game down, making it a terrible game to watch.

As the second quarter wound down, the game started getting away from the Rockets. It didn’t help that McGrady blew an easy layup on his way to missing all 4 shots in the second quarter. By halftime, he was 3-for-10 with 10 points. Not good.

By halftime, Utah led 56-41, and Houston’s shooting was pathetic for the second game in a row as they made only 37% of their shots.

In the third quarter, the Rockets couldn’t stop the Jazz (just like last year) as Utah opened up a 21-point lead. Utah’s Ronnie Brewer inflicted damage down low by scoring 12 points in the third, mostly off dunks as Utah ball-handlers picked the Houston defense apart. In the post 22-game winning streak era, Utah moves the ball around so much better than Houston does now.

The Rockets would manage to cut it down to a 12-point deficit thanks to Luis Scola’s effectiveness in the middle and getting fouled to go to the line (Scola would score 15 points in the third on 4-of-7 shooting and 7-of-8 free throws). But after getting within striking difference, Houston made huge mistakes on offense (Landry mishandled a pass that went out of bounds off his leg for a turnover, Scola threw the ball away on a defensive rebound and Utah would easily score on a dunk).

Throw in another bad call on the refs by calling Scola for a block as Matt Harpring ran into him, and the Jazz would extend the lead to 84-67 entering the fourth quarter.

The Rockets would make another run in the fourth quarter, but then Houston made poor decisions again to let it slip away. Mike Harris would shoot a 3-point brick (what kind of shot selection is that from a guy who doesn’t have that kind of range?) and Chuck Hayes would throw a bad pass out of bounds for a turnover.

Then the Jazz would have a possession where they grabbed 3 offensive rebounds in a row, get fouled, and on the second free throw that they missed, they would grab the offensive rebound off that miss, too! Just like last year: Houston got out-hustled on the offensive boards (16-7) and 50-38 overall. That was the difference. The Jazz grabbing boards through desire and hustle.

The Rockets would make one more run, cutting the deficit to 10 points with 3:08 remaining thanks to McGrady getting fouled when attempting a 3-pointer and hitting all 3 free throws to make it 95-85.

But on the very next possession, McGrady tried to be a hero as he shot a 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining that missed. A very questionable shot selection in the clutch, to say the least. I can’t understand why he didn’t have much of a desire to take it to the hole when the refs were rewarding attackers with free throws anytime you got close to the basket.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

McGrady would finish with 22 points on 7-of-21 shooting. Not good enough.

Luis Scola would also finish with 22 points on 5-of-12 shooting, as well as hit 12-of-14 free throws. Scola will be a very important factor if the Rockets are going to win some games against the Jazz in the playoffs because they didn’t have that kind of force last year.

Another difference will be Rafer Alston, who when healthy, can be very effective. But like McGrady, we don’t know which Alston is going to show up, either.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 1:21 am and is filed under vs. Utah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.