[CHRONIC] T-Mac, Artest keep it interesting for Rockets

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Daryl Morey and Tracy McGrady had a long lunch the other day and appear to have made their peace.

“I truly believe it was a misunderstanding,” Morey said.

McGrady couldn’t be reached for comment, but he apparently believes he did inform the Rockets before deciding to have season-ending surgery on his left knee.

The Rockets may not buy it, but odd circumstances can make for odd alliances. Don’t be surprised if McGrady is back in uniform for the Rockets at some point next season.

To come back and show he can still be an impact player might make him millions in free agency, and McGrady playing at a high level is still better than every other reasonable option the Rockets have.

He won’t be back without the kind of commitment to the rehabilitation process some think he doesn’t have.

Ron Artest likely will be back, too. At least the Rockets would like to have him back. They’re willing to accept his moments of weirdness in exchange for his toughness and production.

Both sides have agreed to table negotiations until after the season, but the Rockets seem to be his best option.

These are the subplots in a week in which the Rockets played five games in seven days in three different cities. They survived, winning three out of five, losing only to the Lakers and Spurs.

They were in both games until the end, including Saturday’s 88-85 loss to the Spurs at Toyota Center. Kobe Bryant took over one of the games, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan the other.

“It’s devastating because we were in position to win this game,” Aaron Brooks said.

There’s no shame in losing to these teams. The Rockets knew this stretch would tell them how far they’ve come without McGrady.

Far, but not far enough

The answer is they’ve come far enough to make the playoffs, probably to open the first round with home-court advantage. They’re not yet as good as the Lakers and Spurs, but they already knew that.

They’re still growing. They’d better be, because they’ve got trips to New Orleans, San Antonio and Utah in the next 10 days, and road games against the Suns and Lakers early next month. Stay tuned for more updates.

“I think our best basketball is still ahead of us,” Shane Battier said. “Last year, we peaked during the streak. The emotional toll it took on us was pretty significant. By the time April rolled around, we were tired. We were spent by the time the playoffs came. I still feel we haven’t peaked emotionally, which is almost as important as the physical part of it.”

Artest has been looser and more productive since McGrady departed, but he swears that’s only a coincidence.

“I miss Tracy,” he said. “I liked playing with Tracy. The problem was that he was hurt and not playing hard, and that I was hurt and not playing hard.”

Artest is a challenge to coach. He freelances too much at times and can test the fabric of the locker room.

He apparently had issues with Rafer Alston, who wouldn’t hide his annoyance that Artest isn’t always fanatical about running the play that has been called.

Morey doesn’t agree with those who have wondered whether McGrady thought adding Artest to the mix was a mistake.

“Not true,” he said. “Not true at all. Tracy was genuinely excited when I told him we’d gotten Ron. He knew Ron gave us a better chance of winning a championship.”

Artest is good enough to put a team on his back in the playoffs. That’s the good Artest.

There’s also the bad Artest. That’s the one who takes strange shots, commits silly fouls and puts his team in a hole.

For instance, Saturday night. He helped lift the Rockets from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter into a two-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.

He then missed four straight shots down the stretch. Still, his toughness and resolve are a bonus for a team that sometimes has been lacking those ingredients.

“He’s got an edge to him,” Battier said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a malicious edge. He wants to do everything in his power to help his team win the game. If that doesn’t happen, he doesn’t react well. Most competitors don’t take losing well.”

Nothing has changed much since the first time Battier laid eyes on Ron Artest.

“We were both 14 years old and playing at the George Washington Invitational,” Battier said. “He played for a team that had him, Elton Brand and Lamar Odom. Imagine those guys together. He was probably about 6-4, 225 pounds. I remember this guy with massive long arms and just a tough kid, a tough competitor.”

Depth and toughness

Battier watched as McGrady and Artest struggled with playing with each other in the first half of the season.

“We were all having a hard time earlier this year,” he said. “We didn’t know how Ron would fit in. We didn’t know Tracy’s role. We were floating for about two and a half months. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of games we shouldn’t have.”

Despite those losses, the Rockets will be in the playoffs for the third straight season. They don’t have McGrady’s occasional greatness, but they have depth and toughness.

All in all, that’s a pretty good exchange. In other words, they still could make things interesting. Come to think of it, they already have.