Category: Houston Rockets Blog

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Tracy McGrady health update: More exams needed

A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test conducted today on Houston Rockets guard/forward Tracy McGrady at the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute revealed no change in his left knee from prior diagnosis. McGrady is expected to seek additional medical opinions in the coming days. He is not expected to play tonight for precautionary reasons. McGrady’s status will be re-evaluated when the team returns from the 2009 NBA All-Star Break.

Rockets-Kings team connections

Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman stands as the winningest coach in Kings history, recording a 395-229 (.633) mark in eight seasons (1998-2006) as head coach of Sacramento.

Elston Turner also spent six seasons as an assistant coach on Adelman’s staff in Sacramento.

T.R. Dunn joined the Rockets coaching staff after three campaigns as an assistant coach for the Kings.

Rockets Assistant Coach R.J. Adelman served five years as a scout for Sacramento, including the final three seasons as assistant video coordinator.

Houston forward Chuck Hayes, who was born in San Leandro, California, attended Modesto Christian High School.

The Rockets acquired forward/guard Ron Artest from Sacramento in a trade that included guard Bobby Jackson and forward Donté Greene on Aug. 14, 2008.

Kings President John Thomas is a former Senior Executive Vice President with the Rockets.

Sacramento forward Kenny Thomas was drafted by Houston in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft, playing the next three-and-a-half seasons with the Rockets.

Banged-up Bucks beat Rockets 124-112

The AP reports: Charlie Villanueva scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Ramon Sessions had 26 points and seven assists to give Milwaukee a 124-112 victory over Houston on Monday night that snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Rockets… Yao Ming finished with seven points on 2-of-8 shooting and Tracy McGrady had three points on 1-of-9 shooting… Richard Jefferson added 25 points, reserve Charlie Bell had 21 and Keith Bogans 13 as Milwaukee (25-29) moved within one win of its season total last year… Aaron Brooks scored a career-high 23 points, Luis Scola and Ron Artest had 20 points apiece and Carl Landry added 16 for the Rockets.

Yao, Alston lead Rockets past Wolves 107-90

The AP reports: The Houston Rockets keep saying they need to play better defense. That’s what it took to turn around their game with Minnesota on Saturday night. Yao Ming scored 30 points, Rafer Alston added 22 and the Rockets rallied from a 15-point deficit in the first half to beat the Timberwolves 107-90. Tracy McGrady added 15 points and Ron Artest 14 for the Rockets, who also overcame Al Jefferson’s 36 points to beat Minnesota for the sixth straight time. Jefferson matched a career high with 22 rebounds, but couldn’t keep the Timberwolves from losing for the fifth time in six games.

Mayo scores 32, Grizzlies beat Rockets 104-93

The AP reports: O.J. Mayo scored 32 points and the Grizzlies held off the Houston Rockets 104-93 on Wednesday night for their second straight victory. The Rockets closed to 97-93 with just over 4 minutes remaining, but Mayo scored on a drive and hit a 3-pointer, and Memphis held on… Rudy Gay had 18 points and nine rebounds for Memphis, and Hakim Warrick finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 from the floor and had eight rebounds. Marc Gasol and Conley had 10 points apiece, and Conley also had nine rebounds and seven assists. Gasol recorded five blocks… Tracy McGrady led the Rockets with 21 points. Rafer Alston added 15 points and six assists.

Yao scores 28, Rockets beat Bulls 107-100

The AP reports: Yao Ming scored 28, Luis Scola matched a career high with 18 rebounds and Tracy McGrady added 16 points in the Rockets’ 107-100 win over Chicago. Aaron Brooks scored 18 off the bench for the Rockets, who’ve won six straight and 11 of 12 games against the Bulls… Luol Deng scored a season-high 28 and Ben Gordon scored 20 for Chicago, which had a three-game winning streak snapped… Derrick Rose had 12 points and seven assists in his first game since spraining his left foot in the Bulls’ 122-111 win in Phoenix on Saturday.

Rockets notes from win over Bulls

The Houston Rockets took a 107-100 win over the Chicago Bulls tonight, extending Houston’s overall winning streak over Chicago to six games.

Houston never relinquished the lead tonight after scoring the first five points of the game. The Rockets have now gone five games this season where they have not trailed in the contest.

The Rockets, who outscored the Warriors by a 48-22 (+26) margin in the paint in the previous game, posted a 48-38 (+10) edge in the paint over the Bulls tonight.

Yao Ming recorded 28 points (9-12 FG, 10-10 FT), eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Yao had gone three prior games played without a blocked shot (1/23/09-1/31/09). Tonight also marked Yao’s second time this season to be perfect from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts: 13-for-13 at Cleveland (12/23/08).

Luis Scola had 13 points and a career-high-tying 18 rebounds (career-high-tying 14 defensive). He now has 17 double-digit rebounding performances this season after notching just 14 over his entire rookie season of 2007-08. Scola set his career high in rebounds with 18 (13 defensive) vs. Minnesota (3/26/08) and equaled that with 18 (career-best 14 defensive) vs. Indiana (11/26/08).

Tracy McGrady returned to the lineup tonight after missing the last game vs. Golden State (1/31/09) with a sprained left ankle. He notched 16 points (7-14 FG) and six assists, ending the longest active streak of consecutive 20-point games against Chicago at 15 straight, which dated back to his time with Orlando. The next closest is Denver’s Carmelo Anthony with eight consecutive 20-point performances against the Bulls.

Ron Artest finished with 10 points (5-9 FG) and six assists. Artest was also 0-for-3 from downtown, ending his streak of contests with at least one 3-point field goal made at 24 straight games he had played.

Aaron Brooks added 18 points (6-12 FG, 3-6 3FG) off the bench, giving him 25 double-digit scoring performances in 2008-09.

Luol Deng, who registered 28 points tonight, began the game with a 12-point first quarter. It marked the best opening-quarter point total by a Houston opponent since a 13-point performance by Josh Smith at Atlanta (1/3/09). Sacramento’s John Salmons also netted 13 points over the opening 12 minutes at Houston (12/19/08), which stands as the most first-quarter points by an opponent at Toyota Center this season.

Tyrus Thomas recorded 14 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three. Thomas now has eight double-doubles on the season. Thomas also tied his season high in rebounds (previously recorded vs. Philadelphia on 12/2/08).

Yao, Artest lift Rockets past Golden State 110-93

The AP reports: Yao Ming had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Ron Artest scored 27 and the Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 110-93 Saturday night. Aaron Brooks had 22 points and nine assists, both career highs, and Carl Landry added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Rockets, who played without Tracy McGrady after he sprained his left ankle in practice on Friday. Corey Maggette scored 17 and Stephen Jackson added 16 for the Warriors, who’ve lost nine of their last 10 road games.

League denies exception for Mobley

The Bergen Record (Steve Adamek) reports (via blog): The Knicks’ appeal to get a disabled player salary-cap exception for Cuttino Mobley, which would not only have given them a nearly $4.5 million cap slot immediately to use either in a deal or to sign another player, but get his salary (for this season and next) off their cap and enable them to take him off their roster, was denied by the NBA late Friday, team president Donnie Walsh said Saturday morning. The league, Walsh said, essentially determined that Mobley’s heart condition, which forced him to retire shortly after the Knicks acquired him from the Clippers on Nov. 21, but with which he had played before that this season, was a pre-existing condition.