Rockets' heart is not enough Suns are pushed despite absence of McGrady, Yao By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle The Rockets looked in the face of improbability and refused to concede to it. With all the reasons they had to doubt, they somehow convinced themselves they could still defeat the Phoenix Suns. Tracy McGrady had joined Yao Ming on the inactive list, shut down at least for the night by a sore lower back. Yet, playing the second half of a back-to-back, short-handed against Phoenix in a 100-91 loss Wednesday night before 18,244 at Toyota Center, the Rockets still insisted this was a game they not only could have won, but should have. "We play hard," guard Luther Head said. "We don't give up. We stay together. We could have made some better plays, some better decisions. We made some mistakes. I think we should have won." Facing a team that has now won 11 consecutive games and 29 of 32, the Rockets were convinced of that from the start, then spent the night making their case. The Rockets led by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Suns' largest deficit since Nov. 20. The Rockets even survived a few of those sudden Phoenix offensive explosions — 16-0 in the second quarter and 17-2 in the third. And with less than three minutes left, the Rockets were still within four. "I can't do this, but sometimes you have to appreciate what you just saw," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "What you just saw on back-to-back nights was inspired play against the two best teams in the league (Dallas and Phoenix) when we didn't play well enough to win. "We're trying to strive to get to that level, and they are ahead of us by leaps and bounds, but sometimes I think when you have the chance — not our group, because we're involved in the misery of losing — ... it's OK to say, 'You know what, they didn't win, but we got our money's worth. They put it all out there.' "I know there's no moral victories, but sometimes you have to appreciate what you see." The Suns, no doubt softened by the news that the Rockets would be without both All-Stars, started slowly by their standards. In a remarkable second-quarter surge, the Rockets dipped deep into their collection of rarities to come up with a Chuck Hayes drive, two John Lucas III jumpers and a 3, and a Hayes fast break off a pass from Kirk Snyder, to go out in front 42-27, with 5:16 left in the half. That was enough to get the Suns' attention, and they got their offense rolling, coming with the usual variety of weapons, from Steve Nash getting 21 points and 14 assists, to Amare Stoudemire scoring 22 with 11 rebounds, and Shawn Marion collecting 14 rebounds. "Houston played great without T-Mac and Yao," Stoudemire said. "They played with a lot of heart and played good, sound basketball. They hung with us until the end, and it was a battle." The Suns took their lead to as much as 10 in the third quarter. But with 3:55 left, when Rafer Alston put in a drive, the Rockets were within 93-89. "This game was winnable without those guys (Yao and McGrady)," said Alston, who matched his career high with 29 points and eight assists. "All we had to do was dig deep. This game was winnable from the start." With that, however, they were done. They did not make another basket, missing their final six attempts. "We stay in the moment, we try to do the best with what we have at the moment," Shane Battier said. "It's not always going to win you ballgames; on some nights, especially when the other team looks at you without your two star players, it's enough. Tonight, it wasn't." jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mcgrady update Rockets guard Tracy McGrady, who missed Wednesday's game against the Suns because of a sore lower back, said he was confident he would be able to play Saturday against the Nuggets. McGrady said the problem was from the tightness that gripped him after a dunk with 3:20 left in Tuesday's game in Dallas and not a reoccurrence of the back spasms that put him out Dec. 9 and on several occasions last season. ``That's all it is. It's stiffness,'' McGrady said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4478948.html
No excuses from Van Gundy for the loses against the 2 best teams (record-wise) in the NBA, even though the deck was clearly stacked against Houston. But it was good to see JVG acknowledge the competitiveness and efforts of the Rockets. That's about as close to public praise that he will allow himself.
its not lucky the suns had wide open 3s for the most part of the game, there were a few that were tough shots that they just made but that is how the suns are. they shot over 50% from 3 land which is amazing but i wouldnt considered it too surprising considering the type of offense they play compared to the type of defense we play. i would say dallas hitting 10/15 in the second half to be more lucky than the suns 15/31 or whatever it was.
