Justice: Give McGrady the nod for MVP

Give T-Mac nod for MVP

By RICHARD JUSTICE


They are a team in every sense of the word, a really good team, a smart, resourceful and gritty team. Don't lose sight of the bottom line with these Rockets.

There's one other thing to know about them. They've got the NBA's Most Valuable Player.

Care to argue? Don't. You don't have the facts on your side. Tracy McGrady defines greatness almost any way you want to define it.

This isn't about the playoffs or last season or anything else. This is about here and now.

No player has had more of an impact on his team, and no player has had more of an impact on the standings. Isn't that what an MVP is?

"He's willing to do whatever it takes," Rockets forward Mike Harris said.

McGrady put the Rockets on his shoulders again Friday night in an 89-80 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. He turned a game around and helped make history. That's what the great ones do, what McGrady has done again and again the last few weeks.

Master of ceremonies
When he was finished, when he'd scored the last of his 30 points and grabbed the last of his seven rebounds, when he'd made the last of those plays that bring you out of your seat, Toyota Center was again rocking with celebration and emotion.

Your favorite NBA team has gone almost seven weeks between losses. That's 21 in a row, the second-longest winning streak in NBA history. All the games haven't been pretty, and they haven't all been against winning teams. Don't penalize them for this.

"It's an unbelievable accomplishment," coach Rick Adelman said.

This was another game that started ugly. The Rockets trailed by 13 points in the first half and didn't take the lead for good until midway through the third quarter.

"This was a great test to see how mentally strong we are," McGrady said. "This is pretty remarkable. I am definitely cherishing this moment."

The Rockets worked hard on the defensive end, flew after loose balls and kept plugging away. These are the things that have remained even when the shots aren't falling.

Shane Battier, Luis Scola and Harris were huge. Still, for stretches, it looked like they might not overcome their own shooting. They missed 14 in a row at one point in the first half and were outscored 21-1.

McGrady saved them, by plowing to the basket one moment, hitting a long jumper the next. He set up teammates, grabbed rebounds and made the game his. He went the full 48 minutes again, and in those final seconds was absolutely exhausted.

"McGrady can get his shot off whenever he wants, and that is what makes him so tough," Bobcats guard Matt Carroll said. "He gets the perimeter guys open shots."

A city is watching
This is a magical time in our city, one of those times when a sports team does everything right and captures the imagination of even casual fans.

Stay tuned. The Rockets and Lakers, now tied atop the Western Conference, will play one of the most interesting regular-season games in franchise history on Sunday.

Then again, no Rockets team has done the things this one has done. No team has rallied around the loss of a great player (Yao Ming) and built an amazing run on emotion, anger and smarts.

"They are a great defensive team," Carroll said. "They work as one. I take my hat off to their entire team."

There's not a high school coach on earth that wouldn't enjoy watching this NBA team.

Some have minimized the streak by talking about the teams they have or haven't played.

That's ridiculous. No matter who've they've played, they've won. They've beaten good teams and bad teams and every other team.

Now The Streak has become this living, breathing thing that inspires and ignites.

They fought their way from 13 down in the first half to a two-point lead after three quarters. Then it was McGrady's time.

He fed Harris and Chuck Hayes for short shots to open the fourth quarter. The Rockets were off and running.

"Somehow I knew it wasn't going to be easy," Adelman said. "I have to give our guys credit because these last two have been really tough. I think maybe they wanted it too much during parts of this game."

But his team ended up taking care of business. They got contributions from up and down their roster. Everything they do runs through McGrady. The MVP.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/rockets/5621793.html