http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2957233 Tandem teams for 74 as Rockets topple Raptors By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady felt they had to do something. Before Monday night's game, it was evident the Rockets' problems were weighing on each of them. They couldn't let go of Saturday's disappointing overtime loss at Charlotte or the fact the Rockets were still below .500 more than a quarter of the way into the season. So when they stepped onto the court against Toronto on Monday, Yao and Mc-Grady simply decided to do it all. They put on a two-man show from the get-go and led the Rockets to a 114-102 victory at Toyota Center. Yao finished with 40 points and 10 rebounds, and McGrady had 34 points and 12 rebounds. Their combined point total marked the highest by a pair of Rockets since Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell teamed for 74 against Denver on April 5, 1991. "I still had a sour taste in my mouth from the last game we played in Charlotte and just wanted to be aggressive from the start and set the tone," McGrady said. "I took over the game for a minute, and then I took a back seat to Yao and let the big man go to work." Yao and McGrady never allowed Toronto (9-18) to sustain any momentum. The Rockets (12-13) jumped out to a 12-2 lead, with Yao and McGrady accounting for 10 of those points. Early on, the Rockets established Yao down low. He bullied his way under the basket, drawing early fouls and hitting his first three field-goal attempts. He banked a nine-foot jumper with 4:02 left in the first quarter to give the Rockets a 20-12 lead. "I tried to push my opponent into the paint, because I'm stronger than him," said Yao, who was 13-of-16 from the field. "I have to do that. The closer I am to the basket, the more field goals I can make." When Yao left the game with 3:25 to go in the first quarter, the Rockets struggled to make up for his absence. The Raptors started to find their offense and slowly crept back into the game, tying it at 24 at the end of the period. Sensing trouble, McGrady took over the game when the second quarter began. He sank a 3-pointer to break the tie and followed it with a finger roll. By the time he had rattled off all of the Rockets' points in a 12-5 run, he had given Houston a 36-29 lead. "The only two things we put on the board were to stop Tracy and Yao," Toronto's Jalen Rose said. "They are great players, and they both found a way to get it going, and it was hard for us to stop them." The Raptors again chipped away at the lead, tying the game at 38. With McGrady taking a short rest, Yao again took charge and scored the Rockets' next seven points. After he sank a free throw to cap a three-point play that put the Rockets up 45-44, they would never trail again. McGrady made the Rockets' final field goal of the first half, a layup with 38.8 seconds left for a 51-46 lead at the break. McGrady and Yao accounted for 35 of the team's 51 points in the first half and didn't slow after the break. The two combined for 16 of the team's first 20 third-quarter points, helping the Rockets take a 71-64 lead. "(Yao) was dominant tonight," said Rockets forward Maurice Taylor. "It seemed like it was almost too easy for him. A couple of plays, it looked like he wasn't even going to be able to get to the basket, and the next thing you know, he is dunking or getting a layup. "He was great tonight, and Tracy was great, too. I think Tracy set the tone, and Yao sustained the effort throughout the game. You could see them put the team on their shoulders, and they really wanted to have a great outing tonight." The rest of the Rockets finally started knocking down their own wide-open looks late in the third quarter. Juwan Howard and Maurice Taylor each finished with 12 points. Jim Jackson finished with six. The game belonged to Yao and McGrady, however, who exchanged only glances throughout the game — and a few assists. Neither spoke to the other, but they made it clear through their actions that Monday night's game was what they had been waiting for. They weren't the only ones. "I think there will be more outings like this," Taylor said. "I'm not going to say that this is going to be the last one. There will be many more nights where they get it going and make it a lot easier for all of us." megan.manfull@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rockets Summary Coach or Grinch? Two months into the season, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy continues to struggle to derive energy and enthusiasm from his players. The coach who is sometimes regarded as overcritical said he has no plans to change his approach. "You know what? I've changed enough," he said. "I am who I am. We're not going to sit there and get in a group hug today. We're not going to sing Christmas carols." Former Knicks player Charlie Ward has said that Van Gundy's demeanor has become somewhat more relaxed over the years. Part of the reason, Van Gundy says, has been out of necessity. "There are certain teams that can take intensity and certain teams that can't," he said. "That (New York) team you could drive, because they were all crankier than I was. At that time in New York, the league was different. The rules were different. And that group was a nasty lot. You could be after them." Excitement in store Tracy McGrady said he hasn't talked to his cousin, Vince Carter, since the Raptors granted his request and traded him to New Jersey on Dec. 17. But McGrady said he hopes the move helps bring back the Carter that McGrady had grown accustomed to watching play. "It was quite obvious my cousin didn't want to be there," said McGrady. "Just his whole demeanor and attitude. Vince Carter averaging 16 points? That's not my cousin. "I am so used to seeing Mr. Excitement every night -- him bringing it to the table every night. I just wasn't seeing that, and I don't know why." Accepting blame The Rockets' inability to close out close games and make critical plays down the stretch continues to plague the team. While Rockets players contest that they aren't "playing smart" and that they accept the blame, coach Jeff Van Gundy said he is pointing the finger only at himself. "If you play stupid, you have a stupid coach," he said. Turnovers have cost the team games recently, as have lapses on the defensive end of the floor. The players said such mistakes are not caused by being unprepared. "Those turnovers take a coach out of a game," Yao Ming said. "Coach can't commit a turnover." 3-point streak Rockets guard Jim Jackson's streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer appears to have ended. However, Jackson said the team plans to make an appeal to the league. One of Jackson's field goals during Monday's game was ruled a two-pointer by the officiating crew, even though replays showed that Jackson was behind the arc. "They told me about it, but then (trainer) Keith (Jones) said they were going to send in a tape (to the NBA) to say that it was a 3," Jackson said. "I wasn't thinking about it, though. I was just trying to be as consistent as possible." If the call is changed, he'll own the team record for the most consecutive games with a 3-pointer. He is currently tied with Matt Maloney and Eric "Sleepy" Floyd. By the numbers The Rockets have reached 100 points in three consecutive games for the first time since March 21-24, 2003. ... Houston's last three wins came with its three largest margins of victory this season (Atlanta by 23 points, Golden State by 17 and Toronto by 12). -- MEGAN MANFULL
What wide open looks? There were 3 defenders in the paint and 2 touching Tmac. That means there is at least 1 defender within 20 feet of the the shooter. pssst, wide open looks, this guy is clueless.
noperz. hakeem and drex did their 40 something and 40 something i think the second championship year. well... they did it sometime after april 5th, 1991 anyway.
1995 Playoffs The Rockets return trip to the NBA Finals got off to a rocky start as they fell behind the Utah Jazz 2-1 in the opening round of the playoffs. In Game Four, the Rockets got back on track as Clyde Drexler, who had come to Houston in a midseason trade, scored 41 points and Hakeem Olajuwon scored 40 points in a 123-106 win.
Yao grew some nads and finally the bull is ready to come out! Rose would you like to come and play with us?
I think tonight indicated the one most important pre-season question- can Yao and TMac coexist? I don't recall a game last year where Yao and Francis both went nuts. Certainly nothing even close to 40-10 and 34-12-7. Also 29 assists, 12 turnovers as a team. Fantastic basketball. If you throw out Jim Jackson and Bob Sura's combined 3-18 clanker, the rest of this team shot 62%. Other than Yao getting ridiculous position every other possession, these were shots we've been getting all year (as evidenced by JJ and Sura's 3-18). We've scored 92, 100, 100, and 114 in our last 4 games. The 92 came in a game in which our opponent didn't crack 70. We know we can play defense- now we're starting to develop some offense, too. The Charlotte game was an aberration- Charlotte's a good home team, and even good teams have breakdowns. Even in that game, we had 81 through 3 quarters. This team isn't perfect, but it's starting to show what it's capable of.
Ok, this is just BS. I watched the whole game and they acknowledged each other for their efforts numerous times.
Roger that. How did Marshall and Rose do? When I was watching..Marshall made 2 3's and rimmed one out..and he got a rebound..he's taller than Mo a little bit. He's 32 though..and I don't know he wouldn't be that bad to have..he got posterized by Yao though And Rose..did he do any good? He's tall..can he still shoot and do stuff? Maybe he's still good but just doesn't want to be in Toronto.
rose: 26M 11pts 5reb 1ast 5-12fg 0-3(3)pt 3-4 ft 0 pf 0 to >can still score and rebound well. can still handle the ball...he had 0 to's. not sure about the defense but offense and rebounding are there. marshall: 36M 15pts 12reb 4ast 4stl 1blk 4pf 0 to 5-12fg 3-7(3)pt >big body and can rebound. didn't look good on D but was guarding yao most of the time. had 4 steals and a block so he must have done better than yao made him look. he can really shoot the 3 well.
this will probably go down as one of my fav. games.. Where Yao and Tmac both go off.. JRose's quote was classic "The only two things we put on the board were to stop Tracy and Yao," Toronto's Jalen Rose said. "They are great players, and they both found a way to get it going, and it was hard for us to stop them." great job guys! J
Don't go overboard now....you know who they were playing. It tends to get easier to score when you play crappy teams that shoot frequently. But it is definitely way more exciting then seeing them throw up brick after brick. Hopefully they can keep it up throughout the month at least and then start to score over 90 at least against the good teams.
And that's exactly what's going to get your a$$ fired, Van Grumpy. This is professional BB, not college. You have to be flexible and build your system around the players you have. It's not the NCAA, where you can set up your system and force kids to conform to it, a la Bobby Knight. What a moron. I was hoping he'd bring more intensity to the team, but to be honest, laid-back Rudy's teams played with more intensity than this one does. Do us all a favor, Les. Stop the bleeding NOW.
I think when van gundy said that, he was referrnig to the fact that he already has changed enough. IMO, if you see games now, you can easliy see a much different game plan than we had in the first 10-20 games of the season. I nthose games, we would slowly bring the ball up the court, and dribble the ball inside the half court line to kill time. Now, on the other hand, we RUN, we push the ball down court as fast as we can and get transition buckets before the defense has a chance to set up. JVG already has changed a lot, and has adapted.
Also, if MOT and JUHO can continue to play this inspired basketball they've been playing the past couple of games, I dont thinkw e need marshall.
Well, if you know the league is different, the rules are different, and the group is different, why wouldn't you change some? It's kinda of ironic that the reason we've been winning lately is because we are playing completely out of our system. We're getting the ball up quicker, taking faster shots (rarely using any clock), it just seems that things are going much smoother right now.
