[Chron] Justice: Exciting win gives peek at what can be

Exciting win gives peek at what can be
By RICHARD JUSTICE
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2888612

A guy down the street tells you he doesn't care much for the NBA. Says those guys are spoiled. Says they don't play hard. Says they just don't do it for him.

Next time you see that guy tell him about Saturday night at Toyota Center.

Tell him how two good teams went at one another relentlessly, each refusing to give in, each refusing to lose.

Tell him how an early-season game had the look and feel and tension of a playoff game.

Tell him how Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming combined for 56 points and 25 rebounds in exactly the kind of performance fans dreamed about when T-Mac arrived from Orlando last summer.

Had he seen how the two stars kept the Rockets competitive on a night so many others struggled, he'd have wondered if those Shaq-Kobe comparisons were as far-fetched as a few cynics say.

Rockets rally in OT
Tell him how Charlie Ward hit a pair of 3-pointers in overtime and how Maurice Taylor, Tyronn Lue and a long list of others made contributions.

Tell him how the Rockets rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to win 104-101 in overtime.

This isn't what the guy thinks the NBA is about, especially in November. He thinks it's about highlight-reel moments and entertainment.

Good thing that guy was doing something else Saturday night because if he'd watched this one, he'd be hooked.

He wouldn't have seen great basketball.

The Rockets were playing for the fourth time in five nights. They clearly were tired. They were ragged.

The Kings were also tired. Their shots were flat. Their legs were shot.

Yet somewhere amid the missed shots and fatigue, two good teams gave a crowd of 18,003 something to remember.

''Their two main guys got it going," Kings coach Rick Adelman said.

No quarter given
NBA commissioner David Stern ought to send a tape of this game to everyone who wonders how much NBA players care, wonders if they really play hard, wonders if they're worth spending your greenbacks on.

The Rockets and Kings gave a sellout crowd bodies flying across the court and spectacular comebacks. They gave them tension.

"We didn't hang our heads when we got down," McGrady said. "It shows great character."

Even if the Rockets hadn't won, it hardly would have mattered. By the time Ward gave them the lead for good with 2:25 left in overtime — their first lead since midway through the second quarter — the Rockets had sent their fans all kinds of messages about what this season could end up being.

Their regular-season home opener was supposed to be about introductions.

It's not what they are, but what they can be.

On this night, there was a little of both. With 10 minutes left in the third quarter, they trailed by 15. They'd been outscored 16-5 at the foul line. They'd been outrebounded by eight. They'd made three of 13 3-pointers.

McGrady and Yao were doing spectacular things, but their thirtysomething supporting cast was firing bricks.

And then about that time, Taylor leaped out of bounds to retrieve a loose ball. Maybe it was his play that did it and maybe it was the Rockets finally getting closer to becoming comfortable with one another.

Whatever the reason, they were a different team after that.

Yao and McGrady were spectacular.

They got just enough from others to force overtime, and then when Ward nailed a pair of 3-pointers, the Rockets were on their way to making this opening night special.

Until those final moments, they seemed headed for an ugly defeat. After they changed the ending, even their obsessive coach seemed pleased.

"We could have easily given in," Jeff Van Gundy said. "I think it says a lot about our guys, and I like their fight."

Once he looks at the films, he might like what he sees even more. Yao and McGrady dominated the game, but when the Kings pressured them, both trusted their teammates.

Late in overtime, McGrady drove the baseline just as he had done all night.

When the Kings converged, he flipped the ball to Taylor, who drew a foul.

Likewise, Jim Jackson nailed a 3-pointer late in the third quarter on a feed from McGrady.

Juwan Howard scored on a pass from Yao moments after that.

They're far from a smooth machine. They're still feeling one another out.

They're not sure exactly what they have.

On this night, it looked like they have a lot.

richard.justice@chron.com