Empty the Bench

He’s not off ETB’s hook just yet, but for one night at least, Tracy McGrady came through in the fourth quarter.

With his team facing the prospect of an insurmountable 3-0 deficit in their matchup against the powerful Utah Jazz, McGrady led his team into the teeth of Salt Lake City and emerged victorious with a nail-biting 94-92 win. There were many heroes for Houston (and I’ll get to all of them in a minute), but T-Mac was perhaps more individually motivated than any of his teammates since, ya know, he’s still never advanced past the first round in the playoffs.

On the night, McGrady fought tooth-and-nail with Andrei Kirilenko, again, finishing with a well-earned 27 points (11-26 FG), 7 assists, 5 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block, but it was his big plays in the game’s final 4 minutes that stand out most. During that span, the seven-time All Star sank three crucial free throws, knocked down two buckets, grabbed two rebounds, and blocked a shot. That’s the kind of performance expected from franchise players: not a stat-stuffing one, necessarily, but a winning one.

Of course, it takes more than one man to beat Utah on their home court. Rookie Luis Scola came up big yet again, going for 16 points and 10 boards, while perhaps more than any other player not named Tracy, Rafer Alston was the key to victory. After missing the series’ first two contests due to injury, Alston bagged 20 points, including 4 triples, to go with 5 assists and just 1 turnover. He gave the Jazz another capable long-range shooter to worry about, and allowed backup Bobby Jackson to re-assume his role off the bench and to focus more on scoring, which is what he does best.

And how about that Carl Landry? He rejected Deron Williams’ attempted game-winner at the end, and in just 23 minutes of action, the 6-7 rookie finished 7 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, and one knocked-out front tooth… a tooth he says he won’t get fixed until the team travels back to Houston. Awesome.

Winning two in a row in Utah is a tall task for the Houston Rockets, but then again, so was winning 22 games straight.

Tags: Tracy McGrady, Rafer Alston, Houston Rockets, Luis Scola, Carl Landry