I don't know why Rudy kept Steve and Yao out the whole 4th quarter. I know Steve was not shooting well but with the game on the line the Spurs would never hold Duncan out a whole fourth quarter. The bench did great but the starters must be there to end the game. I don't agree with Rudy's decision. Maybe he will do it again tomorrow.
If we are going to the playoffs Rudy has to know a few things. One of those things is to know what the second squad can do. The only way to find that is to let them play at some point in time. They (the back-ups) played well and got the Rockets the lead briefly. Rudy let them have a chance. Unfortunately they didn't quite make it. I can live with it. I will complain if it happens again soon. If this was a playoff game, Rudy would not have left them in. He would have stuck with the starters and made them play through it, or just gave them a brief rest. This is a good, toung, inexprienced team. In the big scheme, we need to know what the top nine-ten players can do. It's the big picture.