March 9, 2008
Fiery. Hot.
18 in a row (the last nine of which have been by double digits).
4 in a row since losing Yao.
And doing it now against the other giants in the West. At the fourth longest win streak (tied) in NBA history, we have long since passed fluke stage and are perhaps seeing (finally) what it would be like if Tracy McGrady carried a team. Turns out it is pretty damn good.
Third spot in the Western Conference good (at the moment). The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice with a very good read on McGrady this morning:
"He did things that take your breath away, and he made them look easy. Tracy McGrady isn't the only reason the Rockets had another magical night. He's just the biggest. If this wasn't a perfect game, it was close. McGrady was on the floor for all 48 minutes, scored 41 points, handed out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. Years from now when someone asks you why McGrady was special, tell him to watch this game. Whenever New Orleans seemed about to get back in it, McGrady delivered. "We also had Tracy McGrady, and it didn't matter what they did," Rafer Alston said. When it was over, when the Rockets had beaten the Hornets 106-96 to become just the seventh NBA team to win 18 games in a row, they acted like a bunch of high school kids."
Yeah, winning 18 in a row will probably do that. I guess. If everything breaks right, the Grizzlies might put together an 18 game losing streak to close the year. They are the bizarro Rockets.