The Houston Rockets should be in the dumper. At least according to many who saw the season-ending injury to Yao Ming as being the death knell to the club’s playoff hopes. Well the NBA playoffs aren’t here yet, but the Rockets still look like a team destined to be not only in the post-season but competitive to boot. At least up to this point.
This week, without Yao, Houston beat a fairly tough Washington Wizards’ team 94- 69 and then they took it to the lowly Memphis Grizzlies 116- 95. Well, those contests will hopefully be confidence builders, especially since their star center has decided to undergo surgery.
The Rockets have won 14 straight and have posted a 38- 20 record. Although now in fourth-place in their division, Houston is only two games behind the first-place Spurs. They have the sixth best record in the West.
Houston is relying on a combination of talent to fill-in for their leading point scorer, rebounder and shot blocker– Yao. Center Dikembe Mutombo and power forwards Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry are the primary relief men for the Yao Ming problem.
Dikembe has proven to be solid in capturing rebounds. Against the Wizards, he had six rebbies, while he snared 13 versus the Grizzlies. Landry had eight rebounds in the Washington contest and three against Memphis. Hayes took down six rebs in the Wizards game and five versus the Grizzlies. In the Washington game, the three scored 20. Against Memphis, the three totaled 25 points.
Thus far the Houston Rockets have weathered the storm brought on by the loss of Yao Ming. The good news for Houston is that they have some fine talent in the frontcourt even without Yao. Small forward Shane Battier and power forward Luis Scola are solid players. Battier, a starter throughout the season, offers 8.7 PPG and 5.1 RPG, while Scola (9 PPG, 5.4 RPG), who has started just 15 games but played in all this season, has upped his scoring over the past two games. During the last two, he’s averaged 14.5 PPG.
Of course, the backcourt, which features shooting guard Tracy McGrady (21.3 PPG, 5.6 APG, .321 3-PT%) and point guard Rafer Alston (12.2 PPG, 5.7 APG, 1.3 SPG) is very solid. They are anchors.
Can the Rockets blast past the division leaders without Yao? It will be tough for them to do that. The veteran center will be missed. And two games does not a second-half or post-season make. But this band aid will keep the Yao-less Rockets cruising for a while but probably not to the top or through the playoffs.
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