The Rockets’ loss to Sacramento was absolutely inexcusable Tuesday night. It was a huge, huge loss in the Rockets’ quest to stay in the hunt for home court advantage in the playoffs since New Orleans and San Antonio both won earlier in the night.

The Rockets are now 2 ½ games behind those teams with only 8 games remaining, 1 game behind the Lakers, and ½ game behind Phoenix in 6th place in the West.

If the playoffs started today, the Rockets would play the third-place Lakers and would NOT have home court advantage. That’s how big these recent losses have been, including this one they should have won Tuesday, their first loss to a team with a losing record in 3 ½ months.

The Rockets still managed to blow it against a team that had lost one of their best players and rebounders, Brad Miller, who got ejected midway in the third quarter because of two technical fouls. And the Kings were already playing without another big man, Spencer Hawes.

Their absence in the game helped give the Rockets an incredible 49-28 rebounding advantage, including a 21-4 advantage on the offensive boards. I have never seen a team dominate on the boards like that and still lose a game!

Attribute this disaster to the Rockets missing their first 10 shots in the fourth quarter, and shooting only 20% in that quarter and 40% overall.

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Rafer Alston penetrates into the lane and dishes for an assist against the Sacramento Kings. Alston would finish with 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting, 5 assists, and no turnovers to lead the Rockets to a 108-100 victory over Sacramento.

After watching the Rockets-Kings game on Monday night, I just had to watch the second half and overtime of the Lakers-Kings game on NBA TV because of the playoff implications that game had for the Rockets.

If the Lakers had lost that game like they did on the first night of a back-to-back on Sunday night against the Warriors, then the Rockets would be tied for 1st place in the West with L.A.

Unfortunately, the refs made one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen that basically gave the game to the Lakers (more on that later). That ‘win’ by the Lakers might be the difference of a few spots in the playoff standings for the Rockets down the stretch given how tight the race is in the West.

With other games getting top billing for the night, like Lakers-Warriors and Suns-Pistons, the Houston-Sacramento game was really an afterthought.

It was strange to see one of Houston’s games being so low-profile after every game during the 22-game winning streak seemed to be the top sports story, or their subsequent games after the streak against high-profile teams like the Celtics, Hornets, Warriors and Suns getting plenty of attention, too.

So Houston had to get “up” for a game against a very dangerous team on a Monday night when everyone else interested in the NBA was focusing on other games. It has all the signs of being another let-down game after the streak ended.

But give credit to Houston for taking care of business by beating the Kings 108-100. It wasn’t easy, though.

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Yao Ming, Shane Battier and other Rocket teammates congratulate Steve Novak after he hit a game-winning 3-pointer to save the game for the Rockets. Houston had blown an 18-point 4th quarter lead before Novak’s shot. Yao led all Houston scorers with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Click here for more photos from the game.

The Rockets narrowly escaped disaster Wednesday night and an All-Star break where they would have been torn up inside thinking about one of their most devastating losses of the season. Also…

Thinking about how their recent hot streak might have been a fluke.

How they were chokers when it came to winning close games.

How they weren’t really that good after all, despite winning 7 games in a row coming into the game.

That maybe some trades need to happen before the February 21st trade deadline after all to change the chemistry on the team so that nothing like that happens again.

That’s what they might have been thinking if they had lost Wednesday night. After all, when you’re leading by 18 points against a sub-500 team, you’re expected to close the deal if you’re a good team. Especially after the Rockets had lost in similar fashion to the 76ers at home on January 15th when they had blown a 16-point fourth quarter lead.

But the Rockets miraculously pulled victory out of the jaws of defeat when seldom-used Steve Novak rescued the Rockets “Robert Horry style” by hitting a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining to give the Rockets an 89-87 lead. It was one of the biggest shots hit by a Rocket at Toyota Center in years.

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In case you didn’t see Yao throw the towel Saturday night in Sacramento that got him ejected from the court, or didn’t see Raymond’s clip in the forum, you can check it out here.

You go, Yao!

Update: the Houston Chronicle has a short article on the complaints the Rockets registered with the NBA league office on the calls that made Yao so angry.

This picture of Yao Ming sums up the frustration he had in Sacramento in a Rockets 107-99 loss. Yao fouled out later in the game, got a technical for showing even more frustration, and was escorted to the locker room because of it. This photo is also an appropriate depiction of the frustration he and his teammates must be having by their terrible defense this season, and the inability for anyone to score consistently other than Yao and McGrady. Didn’t they fix all that during the off-season? Click here for more photos from the game.

On Saturday night in Sac-Town, the Rockets got torched again on defense, just like they did against Golden State two nights before, letting the Kings’ superior athletes get to the rim way too many times on their way to a 107-99 victory.

The Rockets got great point production from Yao (29 points) and Tracy McGrady (40 points), but the gaping holes from the other starters on offense at point guard (Rafer Alston – 5 points, 1-of-4 three-pointers), small forward (Shane Battier – 4 points), and Chuck Hayes (2 points) were too much of a handicap to overcome.

Add little production from Bonzi Wells (8 points), Luther Head (4), Mike James (7), Luis Scola (0), and Steve Francis not being able to play because of a sore back, then you’ve got even more problems.

We can’t really say that Yao and McGrady took poor shots that robbed their teammates of scoring opportunities. The two “superstars” made 22-of-45 shots together, which is about 50%. That ain’t bad. I would have preferred for McGrady to not take so many three-pointers. He made 5-of-10 treys, so he gets a pass from me because shooting 50% from three-point land is pretty damn good.

But it’s the 13-for-37 from all the other guys that was the problem. If they had just made 5 more of those shots, or 10 points, to hit 50%, then you’ve got enough points to win this game.

I had said a couple of weeks ago that I would be okay if the Rockets relied less on McGrady to score points, if he would just distribute the ball to get everyone involved in this newfangled offense Rick Adelman is trying to install. If McGrady does that and they still lose, then fine. I won’t be upset because then the players are either going to get used to this system once-and-for-all, or we’re going to ultimately find out which Rockets are not a fit for this system that can help them go deep into the playoffs.

After seeing what we’ve seen over the last two losses, I think that day is soon coming, and I’m not talking about the former case, but the latter.

Of course, everyone in the world sees one glaring problem being Alston, but every game we see Adelman putting him out there to start. It’s like Adelman is the captain of the Titanic letting Alston continue to take this offense down with him.

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Yao charges into Francisco Garcia Sunday night for one of his five fouls. Those 5 fouls held Yao to just 24 minutes of action and 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Luckily, Tracy McGrady scored 40 points as the Rockets beat the Kings 112-106 and pulled within 1/2 game of the Utah Jazz for homecourt advantage in their playoff series. Click here and here for more photos from the game. Click here for photos from Saturday’s practice in Houston before leaving for their West Coast road trip.

Maybe the Rockets should play the rest of their games on the road. After losing 3 in a row at home this past week, the Rockets went into Sacramento against a tough crowd at Arco Arena, and came back from a 8-point second half deficit to win 112-106.

It helped that Yao and T-Mac were back in the lineup together for the first time since their 3-game losing streak started.

The Rockets got off to a great start, with Yao scoring 9 of the Rockets’ first 11 points. One of those scores included T-Mac driving the lane, drawing the defense to him, and dishing to Yao for an easy dunk with Yao getting fouled. We sure missed that kind of play over the past 3 games.

For one moment, though, it looked like the Rockets’ season was going to be over when T-Mac twisted his ankle in the first quarter and went down in pain. On the replay, it looked like he had also hyperextended his knee, a much more serious injury. Thankfully, T-Mac returned to action after the ensuing timeout, and all was fine.

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Tracy McGrady reacts after hitting a jumper to give Houston a 95-92 lead with 1:19 remaining the fourth quarter against Sacramento Tuesday night, capping an amazing comeback led by T-Mac.

You gotta love T-Mac, who struggled throughout the night against Sacramento but then worked his magic just in time to lead a miraculous comeback against the Kings.

They were down by 9 points with a little over 4 minutes remaining, but finally mustered enough effort to pull out a victory for the first time in 14 games this season when trailing entering the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, T-Mac scored 10 of the Rockets last 12 points (and 12 of their last 14) on an array of jumpers and three-pointers in just 2 minutes and 49 seconds. He started the comeback by hitting a 3-pointer and a long jumper to make it 92-88, and that’s when you knew the Rockets had a chance. Then Bonzi Wells hit two free throws to make it 92-90. T-Mac then banked in a 3-pointer to give them a 93-92 lead, bringing the house down!

The Rockets defense suddenly got solid during that stretch, something it hadn’t done much of all game long. They held the Kings scoreless with great defense, including a strip by T-Mac as Kevin Martin was going up for a layup on a fast break. The ball came down inbounds right along the baseline, and Shane Battier whipped the ball behind his back to save it from going out of bounds. The Rockets picked up the loose ball, pushed it down the court, and McGrady made a juke move at the top of the key to get open and drilled a jumper to give them a 95-92 lead.

With Toyota Center going bonkers, his reaction after scoring his 10th point in the fourth quarter reminded me of when he spearheaded that comeback against the Spurs a couple of years ago. It was great theater.

Unfortunately, Ron Artest (39 points) kept hitting big shots down the stretch which forcedg overtime.

In OT, Luther Head was fantastic, coming up with a huge drive to the basket for a score to make it 107-104 with 32 seconds remaining, then forced John Salmons to turn the ball over with great defense near the sideline. He capped the victory by hitting two free throws after getting intentionally fouled.

Luther was big before OT. He hit some big shots in the fourth quarter to keep the Rockets within striking distance. Overall he finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including hitting 3-of-5 treys.

The other hero was Battier, who also hit a big 3-pointer in OT when they were down 102-100. Overall, he hit 4-of-9 three-pointers and finished with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Man, Battier is coming up big this season.

Rafer Alston also hit a difficult three-pointer from the corner to start off overtime, completing a 4-of-7 night from three-point land, and was 7-of-17 overall for 18 points. But he still missed a few chip shots, and how Clyde Drexler can say in this game (and I quote), “Rafer is a great finisher at the basket” is so completely stupid it deserves a firing.

But the star of the game was T-Mac. He was a lackluster 5-of-16 entering the fourth quarter, and was only 4-of-9 from the free throw line. However, he turned it on in the fourth, making 5-of-6 shots when the Rockets needed it. He finished with 28 points on 11-of-26 shooting, and chipped in 12 assists that were piled up mostly in the first three quarters when he couldn’t find his shot.

Reading some comments after the game, I am somewhat surprised there isn’t as much appreciation for T-Mac’s performance as you would think there would be. One writer said that T-Mac doesn’t do the “heavy lifting” and is a “preening diva.” C’mon! He’s one of the best playmakers in the game behind Steve Nash, and that’s a quote from Van Gundy.

In addition, the focus is on how the Rockets almost lost one they should have won, and their defense was terrible before their comeback (one thing they don’t point out is all the layups they missed, which is inexcusable). Yes, all these faults may be true, but I think there is value in seeing that T-Mac still has the ability to turn it on when his team needs it, which is important confidence for him to have as the season winds down and the playoffs get closer. There are going to be games where fantastic offensive scoring barrages are going to be needed to win a playoff game, or two, or three (remember Dwyane Wade in the Finals last year?)

The other factor is that the Rockets are tied with the Spurs with a 33-18 record, an important thing to keep in mind if the Rockets want to have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Every win at this point is a big one.

Man, what a crazy game it was Saturday night in Sac-town. I can’t even begin to talk about the details in this one with the limited time I have. So I’ll have to refer you to the Houston Chronicle story about their 115-111 OT win.

T-Mac was much, much better than he has played the past two games. Although he was 12-of-21 from the field, he hit big shots down the stretch and made 10-of-11 free throws for 37 points. Rafer Alston hit 4-of-9 three-pointers for 22. And Dikembe Mutombo had 18 rebounds in workhorse-like 38 minutes.

I guess my overall point is that the Rockets miraculously continue to win despite how much they want to give games away. In their recent history, it used to be the opposite – they would play well but couldn’t close teams out.

I’ll take wins anyway I can get them, especially with Yao out, but you’ve got to think something special is happening this season despite how ugly the wins they are racking up.

Yao goes up against Sacramento’s Brad Miller Sunday night. Yao scored 19 points and grabbed 12 boards, but Miller scored 30 and grabbed 11 to help put away the Rockets 86-77.

by John

SUNDAY, 4/9/06 - If there was ever a game that showed how far away the Rockets are from being playoff contenders, this was it. The Sacramento Kings are fighting hard to keep the 7th and final seed of the playoffs, and they toyed with the Rockets like a cat with a ball of string, putting the Rockets away easily in the fourth quarter to win 86-77.

Like many games this year, the Rockets looked like they were on a yo-yo diet in this one. They went long stretches without any food, then went on an eating binge to finally score bunches of points, then went anorexic again.

The Rockets fell behind at the start of the game 16-2, but started playing defense and came back to trail within one point to trail 23-22 with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter after Stromile Swift hit a bank shot and a jump hook from the left baseline. But then Sacramento turned on the jets and went on a 26-9 run to take an 18-point lead, 49-31, with 57 seconds remaining before halftime.

But Houston would rally again and close within 67-65 after a sweet spin move by Yao on the baseline for a dunk, bringing the Rockets bench to their feet with hopes of an upset. Howeer, Sacramento then slapped the Rockets back into their non-playoff place by easily getting offensive rebounds when they needed it, and hitting big shots to hold the Rockets at bay. Mike Bibby was the main assassin, hitting two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that were daggers.

The Rockets also had too many turnovers, especially in the fourth quarter, which kept their scoring production way too low to overcome a good offensive team like the Kings.

On top of that, the Rockets had to contend with some very poor officiating by the refs. Yao was called for lots of questionable calls, creating so much frustration that he was called for a technical foul after a bogus call for a flopping Bonzi Wells caused Yao to slap the ball down hard on the court.

And of course, the refs were not calling fouls for the Rockets. Yao, an inside player, only went to the line 3 times with the Rockets totaling 11 for the game. On the other hand, the Kings went to the line 30 times! And Brad Miller, mainly a perimeter player, went 10 times to the line by his lonesome!

All around, Miller’s stats were better than Yao’s. Yao got off to a slow start, only hitting 2-of-6 from the field in the first half for 7 points. But he did hit all six of his shots in the second half – including a rare face-to-the-basket 18-footer — to finish with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed 12 rebounds, but turned the ball over six times.

On the other hand, Miller finished with 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including two three-pointers, grabbed 11 rebounds and only had two turnovers. I can’t remember the last time an opposing center outplayed Yao statistically.

Okay, here are the Rocket players who failed to deliver in this game: Keith Bogans made 4-of-9 from the field, but he missed all four of his free throw attempts, including an air ball! And that’s not the first time Bogans has missed lots of free throws recently.

David Wesley was 1-for-4, and his only turnover was a big one with 4:31 remaining that the Kings converted on the other end for a dunk that basically put the game away, 76-67. But since Wesley is still gutting it out with a hurt, painful rib with the Rockets out of the playoff hunt, you’ve got to give the 35-year old some credit.

Okay, here’s the one that hurts. Rafer Alston was 0-for-11. Yes, that’s right. Zero, nada, zilch. Well, he actually scored one point on a free throw, but he missed the other free throw attempt. Sure, he had 9 assists, but he also had six turnovers! With inconsistency like that, the Rockets are going to have to think long and hard if Alston is the long-term answer at point guard. Mike Bibby outclassed him with 23 points on 7-of-15 shooting (5-of-10 treys), 6 assists and only two turnovers.

Meanwhile, the player the Rockets gave up for Alston, Mike James, continued on Sunday to show how badly the Rockets messed up last October by trading him. James scored 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting, hit 5-of-8 three-pointers, had 10 assists, and four turnovers. Ouch! Hmmm….31 extra points from your point guard or shooting guard, and I think the Rockets win this game.

On the bright side, Juwan Howard did fairly well scoring 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting and grabbing 8 boards. And Luther Head was solid again, hitting 5-of-10 shots, including 3 treys, and dishing four assists with no turnovers.

The Rockets play the second half of a back-to-back against Utah Monday night. You can guess how that game is going to turn out in Utah. And since Monday night is my wedding anniversary, I probably won’t be able to watch or report on it, a rarity considering I think I’ve covered over 98% of the Rockets’ games the past four years. Probably not a big loss considering how the Rockets really have nothing to play for except pride and a higher lottery pick.

john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To see the boxscore from the game, click here.

To read the Houston Chronicle’s article about the game, click here.

WEDNESDAY, 1/11/06 - For the second night in a row, the Rockets only had 9 players suit up in uniform. Stromile Swift missed his second straight game — he is out for about a week with conjunctivitis in his left eye (I think the Rockets have been hit by every injury possible by now). But they still had a chance to beat a team that has been struggling just about as much as themselves– the Sacramento Kings. However, the Rockets couldn’t hit shots near the end of the game — like always — and they lost their fourth in a row, 88-80.

There is really no need for me to go into the gory details. It was a pretty boring game with no superstar action to keep it interesting. The only star that made it somewhat palatable to watch was former Texas Longhorn quarterback Vince Young in attendance and being interviewed in the second quarter during the Rockets’ broadcast.

Other than that, we saw Houston make only 3-of-20 three-point attempts. Where are you, Scott Padgett? Oh yeah, I forgot…the Rockets blew up the chemistry they had last year by letting you go and trading Mike James in the off-season. On October 3rd, I wrote the following about the decision to not keep Padgett:

I know Padgett can easily be overlooked because he isn’t that flashy of a player, but he shot a team-high 39.7% from three-point territory last year. There were several games last year where Padgett was incredible from downtown to pull out victories.

With Padgett gone, (the Rockets) will need to find someone during training camp who can fill the void, or the media will soon be lameting the fact the Rockets are pitiful from long range.

With this season probably a lost cause, the Rockets must look ahead at rebuilding their roster with youth. I think we’ll see more of Luther Head and John Lucas III in the coming weeks. Juwan Howard, Dikembe Mutombo and David Wesley are probably their most tradeable healthy commodities who could help a team on the verge of making the playoffs get over the hump.

I really think the Rockets are going to need to bring in a young scorer who can be the third option behind Yao and T-Mac, and they can build from there. Especially since T-Mac’s back can flare up at any moment. They need to bring in a scoring ‘insurance policy’ for when T-Mac cannot play. That means no more bringing in old guys like Latrell Sprewell, Van Gundy!

And if I were owner Leslie Alexander, it cannot be a good feeling to see lots of empty seats at Toyota Center. I am a mini-season ticket holder, and I’m losing money on every game I cannot attend. So I can only imagine what it’s like to be the owner of the team and see lots of empty seats, which means less concession sales, parking revenue, etc. The atmosphere at Toyota Center needs to change in a big way since it is obviously affecting Houston in the won-loss column. The Rockets have the worst home record in the league at 3-11!

So we’ll see if the Rockets (now 12-22) make any moves as they approach the halfway mark of this very long season.

John
john@YaoMingFanClub.com

To see the boxscore from the game, click here.