Rockets roll over Sonics without McGrady
Houston 103, Seattle 80
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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- The Rockets were once again forced to rely on their supporting cast as two starters spent most of Wednesday's game inside the trainer's room.
Once again, it wasn't a problem.
Despite playing the entire game without Tracy McGrady and most of it without Shane Battier, the remaining players wearing red and white jerseys were more than enough to overwhelm the rebuilding Sonics in a 103-80 rout at Toyota Center.
Rafer Alston scored 18 points and dished out five assists to lead a balanced attack as the Rockets (53-25) surged to their highest win total since the 1996-97 season.
McGrady sat out with a sore left shoulder and Battier was limited to 18 minutes after injuring his left foot in the first quarter.
But even though the Rockets were short-handed, they managed to keep pace in the congested Western Conference playoff race.
"We've been doing it all year," Rockets rookie Aaron Brooks said. "We've been playing with people absent so it just shows how deep this team is and that we are able to get the job done without our two guys. We've gotten kind of used to playing without one of them this year. We just went out there and played. Everybody stepped up and made plays and we won the game."
The Rockets -- already missing a significant piece of their lineup without Yao Ming -- opened Wednesday's game without their leading scorer. McGrady, who has been dealing with a sore left shoulder for over two weeks, was scratched from the starting five after receiving an anti-inflammatory injection directly into the joint of the shoulder. Less than 24 hours after the injection, the shooting guard needed Wednesday night off because of discomfort from the shot.
McGrady's absence didn't bode well for the Rockets. Before Wednesday's game, the Rockets had lost 12 of their previous 13 games without both McGrady and Yao since the tandem was formed before the 2004-05 season.
Luckily, the Rockets managed to do just fine without their two stars on this occasion. Houston netted 53 percent of their shots and canned 12 three-pointers as just about everyone got in on the act. Luis Scola had 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Steve Novak scored a career-high 17 points.
"I'm really proud of our bench guys, obviously," Adelman said. "I mean they just stepped up. Luther (Head) started the game for Tracy. He came out with a lot of energy and then everybody off the bench, you know, it was just a great effort by the guys. The guys that we needed to step up off the bench did a good job. It was just a good win. We just have to keep winning games."
Things didn't look so good for the Rockets early on.
During the opening 12 minutes, the Rockets had a slew of turnovers and actually watched the Sonics bolt to a 26-21 advantage. Rookie sensation Kevin Durant, the league's leading Rookie of the Year candidate, scored nine of his game-high 26 points in the opening quarter.
Making matters worse for the Rockets was the status of Battier. The Rockets' leading defender bruised his left foot late in the first quarter. He missed all of the second period with the injury before starting the second half, but was forced to leave after seven minutes of action. The Rockets' forward will have an MRI on Thursday.
But even though things looked a little bleak, the Rockets eventually managed to do more than just surive without McGrady and Battier. Houston held Seattle to 11 points in the second quarter to take a 46-37 lead into the break.
Then, three minutes into the third quarter, the Rockets put the game out of Seattle's reach with a game-determining 14-0 run. That burst, sparked by a Scola dunk and layup, gave the Rockets a 21-point advantage.
Not bad considering who was missing.
"I think that's kind of been typical of our team," Novak said. "If you look at the year, it's kind of like when guys have gone down or when guys have gotten off the bench with a chance to play, they've really just come in there and gave us a boost. Guys like Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks have done a great job and we've been fortunate to have those guys come off the bench and play well throughout the year."
The victory boosted the Rockets into a tie for second place in the West. With four games remaining in the regular season, Houston is tied with the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs for the second-best record. The Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, are only a 1/2-game behind the trio.
"It was a huge victory for us," Scola said. "If we lose, then Phoenix and Utah and everybody is going to get over us and we would lose home-court advantage and it would make things much more difficult. We needed the win and when we found out Tracy wasn't playing, we knew we needed to step up."
The supporting cast did -- again.
