[Chron] History warns Rockets series is not over

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History warns Rockets series is not over

Van Gundy reminds of Houston's 'Clutch City' comeback in 1994
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle


The locker room was rocking.

The Rockets had not just won Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in their playoff series with the Dallas Mavericks, they had won a sensational game with a thrilling fin- ish.

Then coach Jeff Van Gundy entered the room, bringing a question. Van Gundy asked if anyone knew how the Rockets' "Clutch City" nickname was born.

No player raised his hand.

Van Gundy gave them more than a history lesson. The Rockets received a warning.

The Rockets were told that their 1994 descendants lost the first two games of a playoff series at home, as the Mavericks have, and headed to Phoenix in desperate trouble. The Rockets rallied to win Game 3, won the series and beat the Knicks, with Van Gundy a Knicks assistant, for the NBA championship. And "Clutch City" was born.

"I could tell he had that ready as soon as we won Game 2," Rockets guard Bob Sura said. "That's the first thing out of his mouth. We're all aware of it now.

"The locker room was clearly excited. Guys were pretty fired up. He came in in his typical manner. 'Sit down for a second. Does anybody know where the Clutch City thing came from?' He refreshed our memory pretty quick."

Only 14 NBA teams have done what the Rockets have done in the series, winning Games 1 and 2 on the road. Of those 14, only two failed to win the series, most recently the Suns, as the Rockets drove to their first championship, turning the Western Conference semifinals around in Phoenix after dropping the first two games at The Summit.

But there is another bit of NBA history that hovers over the series going into tonight's Game 3 at Toyota Center.

No team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA playoff series.

"It's huge," Jon Barry said of tonight's game. "It's a stranglehold on the series when you get up 3-0. It's a commanding position."

The Rockets might find their 2-0 position more commanding had they been more satisfied with their play.

In Game 1, the Rockets had a strong if not spectacular offensive performance, but were outstanding — and a bit fortunate — defensively. In Game 2, they were remarkable offensively, but slipped defensively.

"We've never quite gotten it all together," Sura said. "We've had stretches of great offensive performances. We've had some stretches of some unbelievable defense.

"But we've yet to combine everything. When that happens, or if that ever happens, I don't know. But that's what we're striving for."

More than merely failing to put together their best moments, a few days back in Houston have convinced them that in many ways they have actually struggled.

The Rockets have been outrebounded, outshot from the arc, given up more points off turnovers and committed more personal fouls in both games

"It's funny," David Wesley said. "We're up two. Then you start looking at stats, and tendencies and missed shots, defensive percentages, rebounds, fast breaks and those types of things, and you realize, even though we're up two, we haven't really played that good statistically.

"You realize, even though we're in the situation we're in, we can get better. That's what we have to continue to try to do, get better, and attack this Game 3 like we're down 0-2."


Improvement possible
The Rockets know they are not down 2-0.

But while they were convinced they could play better, they could hardly imagine what the Mavericks are thinking with so little to show for how they have played.

"To think we're up two and we can get better, that's encouraging for us," Wesley said. "We know there's other things we can do. Right now, we're not guessing.

"We know what we can do to get better. Maybe they are guessing. They've lost two games when they are winning the stat war. They might be thinking, 'What else can we do? What do we need to do?'

"We know what we need to do. We need to rebound the basketball. We need to get them off the offensive glass. We need to run more. Handle their pressure better."

The Mavericks mostly just need to make one more shot than they did in Game 2.

They likely could also point to Dirk Nowitzki's 32.5 percent shooting percentage or their inability to even slow Tracy McGrady.

But in a series that is in so many ways close, the Mavericks face a game that NBA history says they must win.

"I have to believe they are looking at the last two box scores and thinking, why aren't we up 2-nothing?' " Barry said. "And that's got to be something that's frustrating. They pounded us on the boards. They shot the ball well, not the first game, but shot the ball well (Monday) night — 10-for-15 from the 3-point line. They've done a lot of really, really good things. But yet there's not anything to show for it. I think that's probably frustrating."


No overconfidence
If Game 2 is any indication, the Rockets would seem as immune to overconfidence as they sound.

"I don't think we're that immature," Van Gundy said.

But at the very least, Van Gundy reminded how Dallas is likely to respond, beginning his preparations for Game 3 as soon as Game 2 ended.

"We're going into this game like we're down," guard Mike James said. "We're going into this game focused. We don't want to give Dallas any energy. We understand they're going to come out, and we understand they're going to be very aggressive.

"He wants us to play like we're down 0-2 and have that same feeling Dallas has. "We have to come down with that same intensity. We understand how valuable Game 3 is."

Game 3 is, history says, often decisive. And the Rockets quickly were warned history has a way of repeating.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com


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Rockets Summary
Home mentality
While bringing a 2-0 series lead back to Houston, the Rockets can hardly consider having the next two games in the series at Toyota Center much of a head start on finishing off Dallas.

The Mavericks' 29-12 road record was second-best in the NBA this season to Phoenix's 31-10 mark. Even with a four-game home winning streak to end the regular season, the Rockets' 26-15 home record was third-worst among playoff teams, better than New Jersey's 24-17 and Philadephia's 25-16.

Home-court advantage in the playoffs also can be diminished when both teams are equally rested and facing the same travel demands.

"The problem for too many players is they (think) ... 'We're going home now,' or, 'We're going to be playing in front of our fans,' like that's going to do it," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. " 'We're going to be playing in front of our fans.' All right, that'll be a big help in playing against ( Dirk) Nowitzki. That mind-set is so immature. The fans can help you if you play well down the stretch of a game, but they're not going to bail you out of 45 minutes of bad basketball."


Staying grounded
As painful as blowing a 3-1 series lead against Detroit in the 2002-03 playoffs was for Tracy McGrady, he said that Orlando experience is coming in handy now with the Rockets holding a two-game lead in a series.

"We haven't done anything yet," McGrady said. "We're only up 2-0. This series is far from over. I've been up 3-1 and gotten my butt kicked. I'm still grounded. My teammates are going to keep me grounded. And I'm going to do the same for them. That's just how it is. You live and learn in this league. I've learned from my mistakes, and it's helped me a lot."


Clemens likes what he sees
Astros ace righthander Roger Clemens knows the look of a champion, and he really likes what he's seeing these days from his friend Tracy McGrady and the Rockets.

Clemens, a staple at many sporting events around the city, will be in attendance tonight at Toyota Center when the Rockets play the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3.

"I'm going to show them my support," Clemens said. "I believe in them."

Clemens and McGrady met earlier this year at Clemens' home. At that meeting in Clemens' gym, the pitcher shot some hoops with and threw some batting practice to the Rockets' star. Clemens also spent some time talking to McGrady about what it takes to be a leader on a championship team.

According to Clemens, McGrady has definitely shown that special leadership while helping the Rockets win the first two games of the series at Dallas.

"I'm a big fan," Clemens said. "I enjoy the game. And I enjoy it obviously more in the playoffs when you see the guys pick up their game, especially on defense. I talked to him about being a leader. I can see it in (McGrady's) eyes when he spreads that leadership to Yao Ming. That's when they excel."


Transition game
When the Mavericks were cruising down the home stretch of the regular season with a sizzling 16-2 record, nobody made much of the notion that they were a team in transition for Don Nelson's wide-open offensive ideas to rookie head coach Avery Johnson's defensive beliefs. But now that Dallas is trailing 2-0 in the series, it might be something to consider.

"We haven't made any excuses about that," Johnson said. "The fact are the facts, though."

Club owner Mark Cuban, last seen in a TV close-up looking like he was sucking on lemons after Tracy McGrady's game-winning shot Monday, dismissed the notion.

"All of a sudden, after two games, we don't have an identity?" he wrote in an e-mail to the Dallas Morning News. "We will file this one under dumb questions."


Got him covered
Despite the TV replays that show him a full step away when Tracy McGrady launched the difference-maker at the end of Game 2, Keith Van Horn says he had T-Mac covered.

"I really felt like I was up on him," Van Horn said. "He hit a tough shot. We would have liked to have seen that ball miss. But there were a lot of other possessions where we needed to play much better defense."


Home and away
The Mavericks are now hanging their 10-gallon hats on the fact that they posted a 29-12 road record during the regular season, including an 8-2 finish since Avery Johnson was named head coach on March 19. Of course, they were also 8-0 at home under Johnson until the the playoffs started.

"It helps (the road record), we'll take anything," Johnson said. "But we were a pretty good home team the last part of the season and we didn't take anything out of that."


Hitting their shots
During the regular season, the Mavericks held their opponents to 44-percent shooting from the field and 33 percent from behind the 3-point line. But the Mavs are allowing the Rockets to connect at a 51-percent clip in the series and 44.1 percent on treys.

-- JONATHAN FEIGEN, FRAN BLINEBURY and JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ