[Chron] Going from bad to worse

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3546183.html

Dec. 23, 2005, 11:32PM
Going from bad to worse
Rockets put on dismal shooting display in Denver


By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

DENVER - Tracy McGrady was right.

He looked at what had become of the Rockets and said it reminded him of his last Orlando Magic team, then the worst team in the NBA.

Now, the same might fairly be argued about what is left of the Rockets.

Their slide is just two games long, but has been so precipitous, they followed their home loss to the Toronto Raptors with a start-to-finish 108-86 whipping by the struggling Denver Nuggets, their most lopsided loss of the season.

Severely shorthanded without their six injured players, the Rockets did not push their shooting percentage to better than 30 percent until five minutes into the fourth quarter.

By then, the Nuggets had led by as much as 27. The Rockets had made just one of their first eight shots, made 20.8 percent in the first half, and through three quarters had made just 25.4 percent of their attempts.

In the worst shooting games in franchise history, the Rockets made 29.2 percent. When both teams cleared their benches, the Rockets reserves put in enough shots for the Rockets to finish with a 27 of 86 (31.4 percent) shooting night.

Surpassing the worst shooting in team history, however, did not offer much solace. The only saving grace was that for the first time in a week, no one was hurt, with the possible exception of those that had to watch it.

Tracy McGrady made just 4 of 17 shots and did not have his second field goal of the night until the fourth quarter, connecting on just one of his first 13 attempts while the Nuggets kept him surrounded by defenders who generally did not have anything better to do.

In the three games since Yao Ming's toe surgery, McGrady has made 12 of 44 shots.

In the three games without Yao, Jon Barry, Bob Sura, Derek Anderson, Rafer Alston and Dikembe Mutombo, the Rockets have made just 89 of 228 shots, averaging 81 points per game.

If the Rockets had been wondering how bad things could get, they found out in Friday's first half — or perhaps, that is the only hope left, that there is nothing worse awaiting them.

The remnants of the Rockets looked as if they had no chance to compete with the Nuggets. Worse, they looked as if they were convinced they had no chance.

A game after the Rockets were routed at home by the Raptors, the team with the worst record in the NBA, they were similarly thrashed by a Nuggets team that had lost its previous four games and was not particularly impressive in building a 15-point lead in the first half.

The Rockets, however, shot horribly when they weren't turning the ball over, and fouled the Nuggets whenever they tried to defend them.

McGrady was shadowed by two or three defenders whenever he got his hands on the ball, but when he looked for his shot anyway, he made just one of nine in the first half, scoring eight points.

Without him to carry their offense, it was worse than it has been in any game this season, sinking lower than the 28.2 percent shooting in the first half against the Lakers, their first without Yao Ming.

The Rockets made just 10 of 41 in the first half (24.4 percent) against the Nuggets. When it ended, they walked to the locker room as if heading to the gallows — or perhaps the similarly unhappy prospect of the rest of the season.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com