I missed a few games so I’ll recap quickly. Yao vs Yi was quite the stage and I must say that I was happy with Yao’s performance that put the Rockets at 4-1, and since we beat San Antonio that put us at the top of the Western Conference! Tracy McGrady quietly added 21 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.

Next the Rockets started a short 2 game road trip against the Charlotte Bobcats and stole the game in the final minutes 85-82. It was a struggle for the Rockets but luckily Yao and Tracy combined for 60 points, however no other Rocket scored above 6 points. The Bobcats, on the other hand, had 5 players in double digits. The Rockets faced similar problems in their next match up against the Memphis Grizzlies. Although McGrady put up a season high 41 points and despite an additional 22 by Yao the Rockets fell to the Grizzlies 99-105. Once again Yao and Tracy combined for 60+ points and the other Rockets just couldn’t contribute much else. Mike James did reach double digits… barely.

Last night against the Lakers every Rocket fan (that was watching the game) saw a scary but familiar sight, Tracy McGrady leaving the game due to an injury. This time it was on a play where T-Mac hit his right (shooting) elbow on Luke Walton’s hip near the end of the 2nd quarter chasing a loose ball. How would Houston answer in the second half without the leagues leading scorer in T-Mac and the rest of the team barely able to break into double digits in the previous 2 games? See my previous post about Bonzi Wells! Yao scored 26, a few points above his average, and Bonzi came off the bench and filled in as much as he could for McGrady and put up another double double adding 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 block shots. Fast forward to the last play of the game. Yao Ming on the free throw line shooting his 2nd free throw with less than 2 seconds remaining. Yao placed his free throw perfectly so that it promptly returned right back at him forcing him to tip it out to Rafer Alston behind the arc to force overtime… brick. Rafer is currently only hitting 20% of his 3 point shots and 31.5% from the rest of the field. I’ll say it, Steve Francis I’ve got my eye on you and you better be getting back in game shape because we are hurting in our back court right now. Tracy is expected to miss a week at most at a time when Houston faces the Spurs, Suns, and Mavs.