Pressure Isn't Letting Up On T-Mac

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jeff Van Gundy kept clapping his hands into calls for timeouts, bringing Tracy McGrady back to the Rockets' bench and his elevated, back-supporting seat for some gulps of oxygen.

McGrady has been many things since Yao Ming went out with a fractured right leg last month. He has carried much of the Rockets' offense, topping 30 points in six consecutive games, his longest such streak in three seasons with the Rockets.

He has helped key six wins in eight games without Yao, has triggered much of the scoring around him and drove the Rockets' comeback against the Bulls on Monday.

But of all the things he has had to be, there was one he felt more than the others.

"I was tired," he said. "That's why we kept calling timeout. I was just really tired."

Placing his team on his temperamental back will do that. But with Yao likely out until well into February, McGrady will be charged with carrying a team again. A few months after he said he felt old, he has been asked to be the old McGrady, or as Yao said, better.

"T-Mac is a lot better than the old T-Mac," Yao said. "He can not only score a lot, but can make the other players a lot better."

But the Rockets believe this is not just a good stretch, but an indication of what he and they have become.

"He's McGrady, doing McGrady things," Rockets guard Luther Head said. "That's why we're winning."</div>

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