Houston has been a two-man team all season long. They won 52 games, behind the stellar scoring performances of their two stars – McGrady and Yao Ming. Both guys scored 29 points in this Game Seven. But they lost a close decision to the Jazz, 99-103.

Jazz center Mehmet Okur hit two big three-pointers in the final seconds (again!), and Utah was quicker to the ball. They secured three big offensive rebounds, and Carlos Boozer iced the game with two free throws with 19 seconds left.

Houston had a mental lapse. After McGrady made a lay-up with eight seconds left, and just down by two, they failed to foul right away, using up seven long seconds to send a Utah player to the foul line.

McGrady, before the series started, took responsibility for the outcome of the series. He tried his best. He was impressive, scoring 29 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out a team-high 13 assists, and went 12-of-25 from the floor. But in the end, he and Yao just needed help, especially in the dying seconds. His teammates just did not deliver during the crucial moments.

There’s a lot to ponder in the off-season. It still isn’t sure if Coach Jeff Van Gundy will re-sign, and we aren’t sure if the new GM will make significant roster changes. I just hope next year will be a better year for T-Mac, and that he may advance to that elusive second round.

McGrady has been frustrated in the playoffs. He has never won a series in his career. He has not gone out of the first round from his Toronto days to Orlando and now at Houston. He is 0-5 in playoff series.

Monday night, McGrady went a dismal 9-of-29 from the field, an even uglier 1-of-8 from three-point range. But this did not stop him from shooting that ball. He made numerous attempts just to get his rhythm, and he did. The good thing was he knocked down the shots the counted the most, including a fade-away baseline jumper over Utah’s Gordan Giricek, when the Jazz were rallying and has cut down the lead to four less than two minutes remaining. The other good sign is T-Mac shot 12-of-14 free throws. The whole Rockets team hit an impressive 34-of-38 from the foul stripe, following Coach Jeff Van Gundy’s instructions that they are not allowed to leave practice unless they make 10 consecutive free throws. And that really did pay off.Â

McGrady was good for 23 points in the first game, and 31 points here in the second. Utah tried a gang of defenders against T-Mac to no avail, which included Giricek, Deron Williams, Derek Fisher and Andrei Kirilenko, who fouled out.

If Utah won’t be able to stop Houston’s two vaunted superstars in McGrady and Yao Ming, this may be a short series. With McGrady hungry to get out of the first round, it will be inevitably hard to stop him. I expect bigger numbers from T-Mac as the series progresses.

Phoenix started their week by routing the Houston Rockets, 103-82, last March 12. Leandro Barbosa, the prime candidate for the sixth man of the year, led the Suns attack as he tied a career-high 32 points.

Then on Wednesday night, March 14, the Suns overhauled a 15-point fourth quarter deficit, and two-time MVP Steve Nash scored the last ten points for the Suns in 55 seconds to force overtime.

The NBA leaders battled thru two extensions, and Phoenix emerged as victors in a highly emotional, playoff-like-atmosphered game.

Amare Stoudemire led all scorers with 41 points and also had 10 caroms. Nash had a near triple-double of 32 points, 16 assists and 8 rebounds.

The Suns may have been emotionally spent by that game, before they went to that Detroit game. They trailed almost the whole game and they appeared exhausted except for Nash. Stoudemire may have 24 points and 15 rebounds, but he also committed a disastrous seven turnovers. The Suns, as a whole, had a disgusting 22 TOs. And they went just 2-of-15 from the three-point line, a very disappointing percentage.

Nash had 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting, but he got no help from the other Suns. They may have drained all their energy against Dallas, that they were unable to overcome a seven-point deficit, which stood from the second canto till the third. The Pistons led 87-72 at the start of the fourth, and never looked back.

The Pistons were hitting from almost anywhere. They shot 8-of-14 from rainbow country. Reserve guard Flip Murray scored a season-high 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting from the field. He played extended minutes, due to the groin injury suffered by starter Chauncey Billups midway in the second period.

Rasheed Wallace added 20 points, including 4-of-6 threes and Chris Webber had 17 for Detroit, who went 5-0 in their Western trip, a very impressive run.

The Pistons dictated the tempo, continually getting the ball to the post, where the bulk of their points came from. They also played tenacious defense, limiting the Suns to their lowest output and their second worst loss of the season.

With the loss, Phoenix went back to being behind by 3½ games to the Mavericks for the league’s best record. They currently stand at 49-14.

The Suns just need to finish off the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night to cap a very challenging week where they would have faced all playoff bound ballclubs. And I know they will bounce back from this horrible defeat and get that win in Denver. (photos courtesy of yahoonba)

Though the Rockets were thrashed by the Suns, 82-103, there were still signs of defensive brilliance. The Suns were just too fast and too quick for Houston to handle, but other teams should beware. That game was just a matter of who will control the tempo, and the Suns were able to dictate it. But for teams who play their pace, they’ll be in trouble.

The Rockets lead the league in limiting opponents’ field goal percentage to the minimum. And currently, they are fifth in the Western Conference, at 39-25, just behind the Utah Jazz. I feel that they are the ultimate dark horses in the NBA. A lot of talks are going on about Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio dominating the West, but they should not forget Houston. The Rockets are just lurking in the shadows, ready to take the spotlight away from those three perennial title contenders.

But McGrady?!? Yes, he’s good! But he isn’t getting any better. He has been sagged down by injuries, missed seven of Houston’s 31 games. He is having his worst scoring year at just merely 20.4 points per game even in sensational Yao Ming’s absence. And he’ll be starting!?!

Come on people! Are you forgetting Steve Nash?!? He is having a career-year, leads the league in assists (again!) for the third straight year, has his best scoring year ever averaging 20.6 points an outing, scored his career-high 42 points twice in two victories, and he led the Phoenix Suns to a league-best 15-game winning streak! Plus, he missed only two games, and is leading the Suns at a Pacific Division best 21-8, third best in the West. And, he is only the NBA’s two-time (back-to-back) reigning MVP for crying out loud! And he ain’t starting!?!

Well, let’s have a look at the numbers:

Nash                               McGrady

20.6         Points             20.4
11.3         Assists            5.9
3.5          Rebounds        5.3
53%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â FG %Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 42.6%
52%Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3 PT FG %Â Â Â Â Â Â 34.3%
89.6%Â Â Â Â Â Â FT %Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 69.8%
21-8Â Â Â Â Â Â Record (Team)Â Â 19-12

There is a big difference in the numbers alone! Wake up people! Next time, when you turn on the PC and go to NBA.com, don’t think twice when you vote the starting PG for the West. No other name rhymes with that – it’s Steve Nash!

Happy New Year everyone!

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But earlier today, in their game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Yao fell to the floor six minutes into the game after trying to block a shot. He did not get up for quite some time and was wincing in pain. Yao’s knee appeared to be under the body of Clippers forward Tim Thomas. He was diagnosed with a fractured bone under his right knee, and will be out for at least six weeks. Ouch!

The Rockets were ahead 14-12 at that point. But Chris Kaman sparked a 14-3 Clipper run in the third to take the lead for good. The Clippers beat Houston, 98-93.

Thomas led L.A. with 21 points. Kaman contributed 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Mobley and Brand had 18 and 16.

Shane Battier led the Rockets with a season-best 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and had four triples. Head and Alston added 22 and 21 points respectively.

Yao was enjoying a career-best 27 points and nine rebounds a game for the season. That was too bad for him. Other Rockets need to step up to avert a repeat of last season’s performance. Both Yao and McGrady missed 60 games combined last season, and Houston went 34-48, missing the playoffs. If only both were healthy for at least half of those games, it could have been a different story. Also, Houston went 1-8 when both stars were out. Pressure, pressure, pressure!

The guys coming off the bench has to get involved and double their effort. Houston leads the league in defense, but they need a lot of help at the offensive end. Bonzi Wells was acquired during the off-season to boost that lackluster offense dominated by T-Mac and Yao, but he hardly helped at all. Wait, he made things worse! Houston was in the game before Wells came in. He disrupted the rhythm of the Rockets offense, played 20 minutes, was a dismal 1-of-6 from the field, scored just four points and had six turnovers! More TOs than points! Whoa! Get out of here Bonzi! He has a major attitude problem, and I clearly do not understand why he is still being signed. His underachievements overshadow his skills. Talking about bad investment.

Bottom-line: veteran Dikembe Mutombo needs to play like he did when he was still with Denver and Atlanta, the “D” that is. And Head, Battier and Alston should all team-up to score the points to keep the team afloat before either T-Mac or Yao returns.

Battier contributed much in Houston’s 85-76 win over his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies, earlier. Battier, by the way, was traded for Stromile Swift and Rudy Gay (Houston’s supposedly number 8 pick this season) just before the season started. Although, those numbers could not be seen in the stat sheet. His contributions in the score card read: five points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks, and a single turnover in 41 minutes. You might say that’s ugly. But if you watched the game, you would have seen all those intangibles Battier contributed. He took the charge five times, he dived for loose balls and gave the possession back to Houston at least thrice, and at crucial times at that, and he forced at least 8 turnovers with his hustles and quick hands. He hit a crucial corner three in the fourth quarter when the Grizzlies were trying to come back, off a Tracy McGrady pass.

More than that game, Battier is currently averaging 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.8 blocks and just 1.08 turnovers a game. Those blocks and steals contribution are big, Just ask any fantasy NBA enthusiasts. They are rare.

Battier is one of a few players who completed four years in college. He played and stayed for the Duke Blue Devils despite former teammates Elton Brand and Corey Magette leaving early for the NBA. He could have applied for the draft earlier as well, but he didn’t. He instead led the Blue Devils to two Final Four appearances in 1999 and 2001, and even winning the NCAA championship in 2001. Duke even had his #31 jersey retired.

Battier is one of a kind, a rare one. He is the athlete that kids should emulate, admire, idolize and aspire to be. He is humble and unselfish. All he cares about is for his team to win. He’ll hustle for it, dive for it, and sacrifice his stats for it. He is helping Houston to an impressive start with a 9-4 record, tied with Dallas and just behind San Antonio (10-3) in the Southwest Division. If you haven’t seen him play, you are missing out a lot. The next time Houston’s playing, you should tune in and watch! (pic courtesy of yahoonba.com)