http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3007687 Rockets look out for No. 1 With McGrady absent, subs fill gap against Magic, Francis By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle NBA: Houston 89, Orlando 78 FINAL COMING UP Wednesday: at New Orleans, 7:00 p.m. TV/Radio: Listings; KILT (610 AM) In a final irony to torment Orlando one more time, neither the Rockets nor the Magic had Tracy McGrady on Monday. The Magic missed him more. The Magic eventually did get Steve Francis going. But with McGrady attending to a family medical emergency, the Rockets plugged in Jon Barry and could hardly tell the difference, or at least got enough to take a 89-78 win over the Magic on Monday at Toyota Center, or as Francis might call it, "The House that Steve-O Built." Barry came off the bench to make seven of 10 shots for a season-high 19 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. While he had his best game with the Rockets, four other players also scored in double figures, and the Rockets suffocated the Magic offense long enough to move four games better than .500 for the first time this season. "Coach asked us do we think we have enough in this room to win," Barry said. "Evidently, we did. We played with great urgency in the first half and were able to hold on. "Any time you miss your best player, somebody's got to do it." That got teammate David Wesley giggling. Less certain, however, is how long someone other than McGrady will have to lead the Rockets. The Rockets announced only that McGrady had to miss the game because of the emergency. They did not say whether he would be on today's flight or with the team in New Orleans on Wednesday. McGrady attended the team's Monday morning shootaround and planned to be back for the game when he left Toyota Center at 12:30 p.m. Rockets players did not learn that McGrady would be out until they arrived at the arena for the game. But from the opening minutes, they did not seem in any way undermanned. "I think you underestimate professional athletes in that they think they can win no matter who's there," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "So do I. Obviously, you never want to miss someone of Tracy's magnitude over a period of time. But in any one-game situation ... you can overcome anybody's loss." But from the start Monday, the Rockets played urgent, shutdown defense. They cut off the drives to the rim with which Francis had torched them in Orlando. Then they got on the boards enough to make all that defense work for them. Magic hits a low The Magic's 27 first-half points were the fewest in franchise history and just a 3-pointer more than the fewest the Rockets have ever allowed. By then, Francis had outscored McGrady by two, the Magic had made 11 of 37 shots, and the Rockets had led by as much as 21. "This is a heck of a scoring team," Barry said of the Magic, seventh in the NBA in scoring. "They have a lot of great offensive players. To hold them to 27 is a heck of a defensive effort." To do that, the Rockets had to limit Francis to jumpers. "It takes a little determination," David Wesley said. "You try to stay in front as much as you can. It helps to have good defensive people behind you. I can't take full credit for keeping him out of the paint. He had to see something behind me and said, 'I can't get there.' " While the Magic were missing shots, the Rockets scored easily. When Orlando shifted into a zone with the Rockets' lead at 11, Barry hit a pair of jumpers and Dikembe Mutombo scored inside before Barry sent a no-look alley-oop to Mutombo for a layup. The Magic made just one of their last 10 shots of the first half, with Yao Ming knocking down a jumper and Wesley two free throws to take the lead to 48-27. The Rockets could not maintain that offensive pace. The Magic sent stronger double teams at Yao. The Rockets, especially Rod Strickland, could not hit the outside shots the Magic gave them. But Barry dropped in a 3 and then another jumper to send the Rockets to the fourth quarter with a 16-point lead, so that even when the Magic began scoring at their usual rate to pull as close as seven, it was too late. Barry the key "When you're missing as many points as Tracy's been (scoring) recently, you try to figure out how you're going to score," Van Gundy said. "Jon did a great job giving us a cushion early and also when we were dead in the water in the third (quarter). Making those two big baskets late gave us a cushion going into the fourth." While Barry had his best offensive night, Yao continued his recent offensive surge by making nine of 14 for 22 points, with 10 rebounds. As he had in Orlando, Bob Sura chased a triple double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. And if none of those numbers quite matched typical McGrady numbers, they were enough to let him have a last laugh even on a night he wasn't there. jonathan.feigen@chron.com
