This time, Jeff Van Gundy won't have to say anything for an opponent to have his team's attention.
After nearly two weeks of knocking around overmatched sparring partners — with the exception of Saturday when they let their guard down and were flattened 87-74 by the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets — the Rockets bring another run to Dallas to see how they stand up against the NBA's best.
Having further separated themselves from the pretenders, the Rockets get another look at a championship contender and another chance in the arena in which they were knocked sideways the last time they came in on a roll.
"If you're a competitor, you love it," Van Gundy said. "It's not a measuring stick. To gauge where you are, both teams have to have a full complement of players. ... I just think it's a heck of a lot of fun to play a team so good, so well-coached, so deep."
Since beating the Spurs in San Antonio, the Rockets have played six consecutive games against teams with losing records, winning five by at least the eight-point margin of Tuesday's 98-90 victory at Memphis.
But they had arrived in Dallas on Jan. 16 with wins in nine of their previous 10 games.
The Rockets' rapid start that night was easily offset by the Mavericks' roll through the final 18 minutes, in which Dallas turned a 13-point deficit into a 109-96 victory. Tracy McGrady went from a 21-point first half to hobbling off the court early with a sore lower back. The Rockets went from a four-game winning streak to the start of a three-game skid.
With the Rockets preparing to return to Dallas on Friday to step up in weight class, they sounded less brash but perhaps even more certain that their success since Yao Ming's injury could last.
"We feel good about ourselves," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "Considering all that's gone down, losing Yao, having the injuries that we've had, we feel good about the wins that we've had. We feel we can improve. That's the good part."
But the realities have changed since the Rockets' previous trip to Dallas. Their success without Yao was then still a bit of a surprise. The uncertainty that comes with McGrady's back condition, as evidenced that night and the next when he could not play in a loss to the Phoenix Suns, was more conspicuous.
When the Rockets reached the season's midway point, Van Gundy uncharacteristically broke off the remaining 11 games as a separate segment of the season to push the Rockets to a surge to the All-Star break.
"I said it could go three ways," Van Gundy said. "We could win at a good rate and probably put ourselves in a spot for the playoffs — not qualify but be in that position. We could be mediocre and put ourselves in the talk of making the playoffs. Or we could have a very poor 11-game record and put ourselves in danger."
The Rockets have gone 6-1 since. They are fifth in the Western Conference, a half-game behind the Utah Jazz in the race to have home-court advantage in the playoffs' first round. They have given themselves reason to consider that a legitimate goal.
"It's too early, really too early," McGrady said. "We have another half of basketball to play. Anything is possible in that stretch. It's a big deal to get home-court advantage. That's our main focus: getting home-court advantage, regardless of who we pass. To me, that's a big accomplishment because I've never had it. I've never been on a team that has been in the running to get it."
The Rockets have put themselves in that race, but for now, they are four games from the break, beginning with the one that looks like the toughest of the lot.
"The schedule left before the break should have our attention, obviously," Van Gundy said. "I don't think we've come back home for the second half of a back-to-back and won, and we play the (Charlotte) Bobcats — a young, athletic team — on Saturday.
"And obviously, Sacramento is a good team playing well now. It should be easy to have our attention, but so should Phoenix last year, game before the break when we lost by 44."
This season, when the rest of the league arrives in Las Vegas for the All-Star break, the Rockets will play Dallas at Toyota Center. But first, they will play the Mavericks in Dallas, with the upgrade in competition so obvious it will not need Van Gundy's powers of reinforcement.
"Whenever you play such a fine team that's been dominant, you have to play a really good game," Van Gundy said. "I think we know that. We have great respect for them without having any less confidence in ourselves."
Next Games
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Last edited by Cornholio : 02-08-2007 at 07:59 PM.
Re: Regular Season Game 49 Thread: Houston Rockets @ Dallas Mavericks
Quote:
Wells on the mend
Rockets guard/forward Bonzi Wells stepped up his workout Wednesday and will try to do more shooting and at least practice some today.
Wells bruised his lower back on a fall against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday and did not play Tuesday in Memphis.
"I'd still say he's 50/50 (to play on Friday)," Rockets athletic trainer Keith Jones said
Bonzi Wells is out tonight. He went through shootaround, which is generally not demanding enough to work up a sweat. But he was moving too poorly to be considered ready to play. As for tomorrow, Rockets trainer Keith Jones said he'd still say 50/50.
Regular Season Game 49 Thread: Houston Rockets @ Dallas Mavericks
