I say it’s always better to get the bad out of the way, then focus on the good. After loosing 6 in a row the Rockets have been up and down as a team. They beat the high powered offense of the Suns only to get out ran by the Warriors the very next night. That’s were I last reviewed the team. Since then the Rockets had one last game on the West Coast before heading home. Despite tremendous numbers from both Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady the Rockets were defeated by the Sacramento Kings last Saturday. T-Mac and Yao combined for 69 points yet the rest of the team could only add a combined 30. Kevin Martin and Ron Artest both had 26 points a piece and there were 3 other Kings in double digit scoring. Thus concludes the bad news!
After a “roller coaster” road trip the Rockets headed home to face the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night at the Toyota Center. The Rockets did so many things well in this game it’s hard to find a starting point. I think we need to dig in the stat sheet a little to find the gem(s) that help the Rockets defeat the Grizzlies 105-92. The first thing that jumps off the stat sheet is Tracy McGrady’s 3rd career triple-double with 17pts, 12 dimes, and 10 boards. Next we come to a comfort that Houston fans are use to seeing and that’s Yao Ming putting up 20+ points and 10+ boards yet again. Yao was kind enough to sprinkle 4 blocked shots in there as well. Yao Ming has also kept his turnovers down in these past 2 games (3 and 2 respectively). So if we look past T-Mac’s triple-double, look past Yao’s usual double-double, we’ll find what I think was the real key to the game. The Rockets bench. Specifically Bonzi Wells and Luis Scola combining for 40 points off the bench! Wells had 24 points and 7 rebounds and Scola added 16 points in 17 minutes.
Tonight it’s cousin v.s. cousin as T-Mac, Yao and the Rockets face Vinsanity, Mr. Triple Double Jason Kidd, and the New Jersey Nets. Tip off is @ 7:30/6:30 (CST).
