CNNSI: Rockets taking off after sluggish start

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/basketball/nba/01/27/rolling.rockets.ap/index.html

HOUSTON (AP) -- Having just been traded from New Orleans to Houston, David Wesley was grateful to leave the NBA's worst team for one considered to be a playoff contender.

But to his astonishment, Wesley found out that he had left one sub-.500 team for another.

"The first night I got here, my first question was, 'How are you guys losing?"' Wesley recalled asking his new Rockets teammates. "Man, I was surprised."

Despite an offseason trade for reigning NBA scoring champ Tracy McGrady that paired him with All-Star center Yao Ming, Houston got off to a 12-14 start and looked nothing like a team that was thought to be a preseason title favorite.

Look at those reeling Rockets now.

Since Wesley joined the team on Dec. 27, the Rockets have won 11 of their past 15 games and worked themselves back into the crowded Western Conference postseason picture. Heading into Friday night's game against Sacramento, Houston has matched a season high with four straight wins and moved five games over .500 (24-19) for the first time this season.

"It's just come together for us," point guard Bob Sura said Friday. "We're playing the way we expected to play."

Of course, the addition of Wesley, a 6-foot-1 guard who's averaging 12 points a game in his 12th NBA season, has played only a small role in the recent resurgence of the Rockets.

McGrady has comfortably settled in a role as the team's top scorer without hogging the ball. Yao has emerged from an early season slump. Sura has finally recovered from offseason back surgery to become the team's steady floor leader.

And the trades for Wesley and guard Jon Barry from Atlanta -- two guys from two of the league's worst teams -- in late December have given the Rockets a much-needed boost of intensity, toughness and veteran moxie.

"I think those guys have had an impact obviously," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Wesley has made a big impact defensively. Barry has improved our passing -- both those guys are pretty safe with the ball. To me, that's where I've noticed our improvement."

But only a little more than midway through the season, Houston still has much to prove on the way to the playoffs.

Typical of most Van Gundy-coached teams, Houston is a top-notch defensive club -- third-best in the NBA. But they're mediocre at best everywhere else: 25th (out of 30 teams) in scoring, 22nd in rebounding, 26th in steals and 19th in blocks -- even with 7-foot-6 Yao guarding the basket.

It's important to note, though, that the Rockets have made significant strides offensively: They're averaging 96.2 points a game over the past 21 games compared to 86.9 in the first 22.

"Those guys have opened it up a lot for myself and Yao," McGrady said of Wesley and Barry. "We see a lot less double teams."

The Rockets have also been frustratingly inconsistent: they have won both games against San Antonio, the NBA's best team, and been swept in two games by Charlotte, an expansion team.

Houston will face teams fighting for the playoffs in 18 of its next 20 games, including a brutal four-game road trip next week that winds through Miami, Boston, Philadelphia and Minnesota.

For the league's oldest and most experienced team, that kind of grind could prove to be a daunting task.

"We're not doing bad," Van Gundy said. "We've just got to work to improve. We're not there and we've got a long way to go."

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