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Thursday February 28, 2008 12:07 PM


Rockets optimistic about playoff hopes without Yao


Memphis at Houston, Friday, 7:30 p.m.


Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer


HOUSTON -- Barely an hour after receiving the news that Yao Ming was lost for the season, Tracy McGrady wasn't surprised to hear that most observers around the NBA expect the Rockets to fade from the playoff race.

He just didn't think those thoughts were very accurate.

"If we continue to play defense and believe, then we really control it ourselves," McGrady said. "Everybody is really counting us out, which is cool. But we just have to keep believing."

The Rockets have the misfortune of finishing the remainder of the season without the NBA's best big man, but even without Yao, they don't don't expect to be out of luck for a second straight playoff appearance.

Despite losing one of game's best pivots to a season-ending foot injury on Tuesday, the Rockets are confident that their supporting cast around McGrady and a defense that ranks among the league's best will be enough to keep them playing into at least late April.

The Rockets (37-20) are seventh in the Western Conference heading into Friday's date against the Memphis Grizzlies, sitting three games ahead of Denver for one of the final two playoff spots.

With a little less than two months remaining in the season, the Rockets are one of 10 teams with a realistic chance of grabbing one of the West's eight playoff spots.

"Losing Yao was a shock, but we've still been talking about how we can win," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We just gotta go out and everyone has to put in the effort like we did (against Washington) and continue to win. I think that's the most important thing. We are not stepping away because we lost (Yao).
If anything we have to come together as a group and go out there and show people we can win and compete."

How can the Rockets keep winning?

Adelman and Co. point to their lock-down defense and an offense that has vastly improved over an NBA-best 13-game winning streak.

The Rockets are limiting opponents to 92.1 points on 43.4 percent shooting, a clip that is the second lowest rate in the NBA behind only Boston.

The offense, meanwhile, has been on a roll of late. During the current winning streak, Houston is averaging 99.5 points. The Rockets have twice had seven players reach double figures in scoring and are averaging a whopping 25.6 assists.

With that ball movement and balanced scoring, the Rockets believe they have enough options to continue putting up points even without Yao commanding attention in the paint.

Beyond that, the Rockets have had success without Yao in the past. Houston went 20-12 last season when the All-Star center was out with a broken leg.

"Unfortunately, we have played without Yao before this year," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "We have a pretty resillient team and although it's very tough early on, we're going to miss his good basketball. The most important thing is for this team to play together and to continue our playoff push."

The trick is finding the right rotation without Yao.

Before Tuesday's win over Washington, Adelman noted that he would need Dikembe Mutombo in the starting five against teams with larger front lines. The 7-foot-2 inch veteran center logged 23 minutes against the Wizards despite playing little over the first four-plus months of the season. He won't replace Yao's scoring, but he can defend some of the league's top big men.

But on nights when the Rockets aren't facing a team with a seven-footer in the starting lineup, Adelman mentioned that he could go small, starting two of his three power forwards. Luis Scola and Carl Landry offer some interior scoring in Yao's absence, while Chuck Hayes is one of the Rockets' best low-post defenders.

Adelman said he would evaluate the rotation over the next few games.

"We're going to find out," Adelman said. "It depends on who we play. If we play a team like Golden State, it will be hard to play (Mutombo), but I'm not worried about that type of team. We can play small."

The Rockets will be challenged as soon as the February portion of their schedule comes to a close.

They host the Nuggets on Sunday -- one of the teams chasing them for a playoff spot in the West -- and have road games against Dallas, New Orleans, Golden State and Phoenix waiting in March. The schedule won't ease up since the Rockets play 10 of their final 15 games on the road.

But as daunting as the remaining schedule is without Yao, the Rockets aren't worried about their playoff hopes.

Even if others are counting them out without Yao, Houston fully expects to be in the postseason.

"We have to keep playing the game hard like we have been," Hayes said. "We have to keep our heads up. It's a loss, but we haven't lost the whole season."