Rockets Team Report
GETTING INSIDE
In the end, the decision was not very complicated.
The Rockets did not believe Tracy McGrady(notes) was ready to play at a level they could play him more than they had been. Even those seven first-half minutes per game were just a temporary experiment, mostly driven by his insistence that he was ready.
McGrady wanted more and made his desire clear. When he was told he was not about to get what he wanted, he changed what he wanted to a request for a trade.
The Rockets had no problem agreeing to try to deal him since they did not see how he could help them anyway. And if he wanted to go away while they looked, they were fine with that, too.
While all that seemed to be a surprising and strangely sudden conclusion to his tenure with the Rockets, it was not difficult to explain.
They did not think he was good enough to play more, at least not yet as he made his comeback from microfracture surgery.
In the end, it was about basketball and about this season and this team. The Rockets did not consider what McGrady was. And they were not willing to wait for whatever he will be. They judged what he is now, at this point, and did not think they would be better with him. They were not close to retooling their offense to his style, when they did not believe he was able to fill that job yet, anyway.
Instead, they moved on, not slowing down to look back.
“He’s coming back from major surgery and rehabilitating, and who knows when he’s going to get there?” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “Right now, he wasn’t there. The explosiveness definitely wasn’t there. That’s to be expected.
“The thing people want to write about is who he was two years ago. He isn’t that right now. We have a whole team. It’s not just about what he wants or what he was going to want. It was about what can he do to help us win.”
Rockets 108, Hornets 100: The Rockets had gone through a fourth-consecutive third quarter collapse, going from a 13-point first half lead to an eight-point third quarter deficit. They had made just 4-of-20 shots in the third quarter, scoring just 13 points. And David West(notes) was torching them, scoring 22 of his career-high 44 points in the quarter. It was clear the Rockets were not going to win ugly. They did not have to. As soon as the third quarter ended, they began moving the ball again, finding open shooters and making open shots. They outscored the Hornets, 23-4, to start the fourth quarter, taking an 11-point lead before West scored his first fourth quarter points, and then held on for their fifth-consecutive home victory.
NOTES, QUOTES
• For all of Carl Landry’s(notes) offensive success this month, defense was more of a goal than an accomplishment. But through three quarters against the Hornets, he had made 4-of-12 shots. He had to find another way to contribute.
The Rockets switched him to David West, matching up with the Hornets forward on a career night. West had 36 points through three quarters. He did not score again until the Rockets had gone from an eight-point deficit to an 11-point fourth-quarter lead.
“When I started guarding him, he had 36 points,” Landry said. “When I started defending him, I was like, ‘he (isn’t) scoring (any) more.’ My job is to play the best defense I can possibly on him. I know defense is not my specialty. That’s the area I need to work on. But I think I did a pretty good job in that fourth quarter.”
Asked what he was thinking when given the assignment, Landry said, “Lock him up.”
• The Rockets knew all about their recent third-quarter troubles, but if they didn’t, the topic was well covered at halftime. It did not matter. For a fourth-consecutive game, the Rockets’ offense shut down for 12 minutes after halftime. The Rockets made 4-of-20 shots, scoring just 13 points.
In the past four games, they have averaged 13.25 points on 27.3 percent shooting in the third quarter.
“We talked about it at halftime,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “The last few games, we have not come out in the third quarter and played. We still did it. I don’t know what it is. Guys are going to have to come out with more energy. I really thought it was more us than them, but give them credit. We really responded in that fourth quarter.”
Quote To Note: “We knew that we were playing un-Rockets basketball in the third quarter and we wanted to come out and finish the game strong and down eight (points) in the fourth quarter we said to ourselves, ‘Come on guys. Let’s play the way we know we are capable of playing.’ That means turning it up on the defensive end, turning up the intensity and getting out and running.”—Shane Battier(notes).
ROSTER REPORT
Rotation: Starters—Point guard Aaron Brooks(notes), Shooting guard Trevor Ariza(notes), Small forward Shane Battier, Power forward Luis Scola(notes), Center Chuck Hayes(notes). Bench—Guard Kyle Lowry(notes), Forward Carl Landry, Center David Andersen(notes).
Player Notes:
• F Shane Battier had just his second 20-point game this season, scoring 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, but it was not entirely a surprise. Battier made 5-of-8 three-pointers, and is making 53.6 percent of his three-pointers in the Rockets’ five-game home winning streak.
• G Trevor Ariza’s shooting trouble continued, but as he has more and more often, he found ways to contribute. Ariza made 5-of-15 shots and just 2-of-8 three-pointers. But he had five assists and five rebounds, and scored 13 points including a drive to a two-handed slam in the closing minutes that helped ice the win.
• G Aaron Brooks carried the Rockets’ offense for a second consecutive game. After scoring 23 points in 31 minutes against the Cavaliers, he hit the Hornets’ Chris Paul(notes) for 27, making 8-of-12 shots and 5-of-7 three-pointers.
Medical Watch:
• C Yao Ming(notes) (left foot) is expected to miss the season after extensive surgery to repair a fractured bone and reshape the operation of his foot to remove stress on the area.
• G Chase Budinger(notes) (sprained right ankle) will be out until mid-January.
The Dream Shake
