# Regular Season Game 73: Houston Rockets @ San Antonio Spurs



## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

*(49-23)/(50-23)*

When/Where:
*Sunday, March 30, 1:00 PM ET*























































*Alston / McGrady / Battier / Scola / Mutombo*














































*Parker / Finley / Bowen / Duncan / Oberto*


*Preview

Despite his obvious affection for his family, Tracy McGrady is looking forward to a few days away from home.

He won't, after all, have to deal with screaming kids for a full week.

"When you're at home, it's all about your family," McGrady said. "You got a lot more energy on the road because you don't put that energy into spending time with your kids. I have three of them. So I love being on the road."

The Rockets are hoping the rest of the trip is just as rewarding.

McGrady and Co. will begin a five-game road trip against a collection of Western Conference opponents Sunday afternoon when they visit Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs.

The road swing figures to be a pivotal stretch in determining where the Rockets will wind up in the Western Conference's crowded playoff bracket.

Before Thursday's action, Houston (49-23) was tied with two other teams for second in the West and trailed the conference-leading New Orleans Hornets by a game.

With one more good road trip, the Rockets could put themselves in great position to earn at least home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.

"If we win four out of five, I'd say that's true," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "It is important that we come together and make a stand right here. But you got to go out on the court and do it. I'm hoping that the guys can see the challenge ahead of us and if we can win on this trip, it is really going to solidify ourselves not just playoffs-wise, but maybe where you end up with the seeding."

The stretch doesn't get off to an easy start.

Before taking off on a West coast swing, the Rockets will visit the defending champions in the Alamo City. Houston has won two of three meetings against the Spurs this season, but lost the only game in San Antonio.

Unsurprisingly, the Spurs are among the leading contenders in the West and jockeying with the Rockets for home-court advantage in the conference.

After that, the schedule doesn't look as daunting. Houston has road games against four teams outside of the playoff race -- Sacramento, Portland, Seattle and the L.A. Clippers.

Still, the Rockets don't expect any of those games to be a cakewalk. The Clippers might even have Elton Brand, who has missed most of the season with a knee injury, when Houston comes to town.

With the top eight teams separated by six games in the West, a brutal road trip could significantly drop Houston down the pecking order.

"Right now, every game is important," Rockets forward Luis Scola said. "You win one game, then you go up to the No. 2 spot. You lose one and you go back down to seven. That's the way it is and that's the way it's going to be from now on until the regular season ends. We have to be ready, we have to play hard and we have to win as many games as we can because if we don't, we're probably going down."

The upside is that the Rockets have been one of the NBA's best road teams.

Through Wednesday's action, only four teams in the league had a better road record than the Rockets.

Houston is 21-13 away from home, having reeled off a franchise-record 12-game road winning streak that ended in New Orleans last week.

"We have (been good on the road) so it's nothing new," Rockets forward Chuck Hayes said. "But we know teams aren't going to just let us come in and take a win. They're going to make us work. The good thing is we bond and come together because we know everyone is against us. We want to come in and prove a point."

McGrady agrees. With fewer distractions on the road, the Rockets star is confident that his team can gain some much-needed momentum for the playoffs away from home.

"We don't mind being on the road," McGrady said. "We kind of get away from family a little bit and have a lot less distractions. We're a great team on the road. We have to go out and get some road kill."*


*Spurs Update: The Spurs are once again among the leading contenders in the Western Conference. The NBA's defending champs endured a tough stretch in the middle of the month, but have bounced back with five straight wins. San Antonio is third in the league in points allowed, giving up 91.0 points per game.*


_*Next Games*_
vs.








vs.








vs.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

this is it.... our arch rivals, and possible 1st round opponent. Scola will make Spurs pay....


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

> Forward Tracy McGrady sat out Friday's practice to protect and rest his sore left shoulder. He is expected to be able to go through today's light, shootaround style practice and play Sunday in San Antonio.
> 
> "He couldn't practice today," Coach Rick Adelman said on Friday. "We'll see how it is (today). He was sore, so he sat out."


...


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

*It's payday.
Go Rockets.*


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Time to show that this team is the real deal. 

PS Scola needs to learn to post up. Everything else I have been impressed with. But the ball always comes off his leg when he tries to post up a player.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)




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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Carluis Scolandry!


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## Kunlun (Jun 22, 2003)

Yao Mania said:


> this is it.... our arch rivals, and possible 1st round opponent. Scola will make Spurs pay....


Are you serious? Spurs are the Rockets' arch rivals? How so?


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## houst-mac (Aug 7, 2004)

Kunlun said:


> Are you serious? Spurs are the Rockets' arch rivals? How so?


In Texas, everybody is everybody's rival.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

Haha, Head is listed as a starting forward for todays game.


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

yeah, Head alreay with a 3! Scola with a nice dive for 2


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Tmac going strong today!~


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Spurs shooting a great %, hopefully they don't keep this up....


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Bobby missed Hayes underneath wide azz.....


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

Gundy vs Jackson...."The Fight for the Mic!"


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## AllEyezonTX (Nov 16, 2006)

no stopping Fin' today? guy is zoning early


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Okay I am joining the game now. But I am only listenning to the audio.
3 from 16 from TMAC......


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

I wish we had Bonzi


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## rox_fan (Mar 30, 2008)

It is impossible to beat them without Yao


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Hayes
Battier
Novak
McGrady
Head

Lets rain 3s.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

rox_fan said:


> It is impossible to beat them without Yao


Thats the other person i miss


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## rox_fan (Mar 30, 2008)

*Edited because of spam content *


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## rox_fan (Mar 30, 2008)

Game is over


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Oh well, one of the ugliest game of the season despite that Scola played well. I agree that without a threat in the paint in Yao really hurts us in this kind of game.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Oh ****.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Michael Finley always torches us it's not fair.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

damn that Michael Finley.... he comes out to play like 1 out of every 10 games, and this just happens to be his one game


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

I just wish we would've showed up. I don't even care that we lost the game. What I care about is that we didn't let them know things are going to be different in the playoffs. This blows!!!


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

*Bad game, Let's move on.:boohoo2: *


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## houst-mac (Aug 7, 2004)

I heard an intresting thing from JVG during the game. I guess you guys see commercials at every timeout and other break, but in my country they cant show any of them so we can actually hear what the commentators talk to each other. During the first timeout they we're showing McGrady and Marc Jackson said that Tracy is acting his pain and JVG responded, 
"Yes, i'm telling you, he's totally acting. I've coached him and i can tell you, he's fine. He wouldn't be playing if he wouldn't be fine."


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

McGrady is slipping badly. He is way past his prime. His inefficient scoring and extreme inconsistency drag the team down. His TS% is below 50%, which is terrible by any standards. His PER of 19 is at the level of third tier stars like Iguodala and Josh Smith. Sure he draws more attention than those guys and is an infinitely better passer, but they are better defenders and will not waste so many possessions. 

I hope we trade him this offseason.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Hakeem said:


> McGrady is slipping badly. He is way past his prime. His inefficient scoring and extreme inconsistency drag the team down. His TS% is below 50%, which is terrible by any standards. His PER of 19 is at the level of third tier stars like Iguodala and Josh Smith. Sure he draws more attention than those guys and is an infinitely better passer, but they are better defenders and will not waste so many possessions.
> 
> I hope we trade him this offseason.


I heard he's playing with a shoulder injury in the past 2 games?


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

> I heard an intresting thing from JVG during the game. I guess you guys see commercials at every timeout and other break, but in my country they cant show any of them so we can actually hear what the commentators talk to each other. During the first timeout they we're showing McGrady and Marc Jackson said that Tracy is acting his pain and JVG responded,
> "Yes, i'm telling you, he's totally acting. I've coached him and i can tell you, he's fine. He wouldn't be playing if he wouldn't be fine."


I totally believe that. AGAIN, nobody disputes his talent but his talent is fading. The difference between TMac and Kobe is DRIVE. Kobe refuses to accept as he gets older that his talent will fade so he works really hard to keep up his health. TMac just accepts that he is declining rolls with it.

If we exit the playoffs in the first round this season then you trade Tracy for a younger star. (maybe a 3 year younger Arenas?)


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