<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Rockets get what they needSweet shooting by Battier helps apply the brakes to two-game skidBy JONATHAN FEIGENCopyright 2006 Houston Chronicle TOOLSEmail Get section feed Print Subscribe NOW RESOURCES DAVID J. PHILLIP: APSpeak up in the Rockets forum Feigen on NBA Yao Central with fan blogger Ren Hsieh Complete Rockets coverage EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Rockets needed a win, but then, who doesn't?The Rockets needed more. They needed the sort of win that salves the pain of injuries, the kind of rout that reminds of possibilities thought lost.The Rockets needed to complete their December run of road games with a feel-good romp, the sort of win that seemed far out of reach until they suffocated the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night to roll to a 96-71 blowout that dramatically changed the mood of a team that had been reeling from its misfortune."We just really needed to bounce back and have a good performance," guard Rafer Alston said. "We really needed it. We got a lead early and never looked back."The Rockets, playing their second game since Yao Ming fractured his right leg and left them to stagger through the second half of Saturday's loss to the Clippers and Tuesday's at Indiana, never trailed. They led by as many as 27 points before the Nets cleared their bench with six minutes left and many of the 18,373 in Continental Airlines Arena booing.The Rockets took away the lane, leaving New Jersey to fling outside shots. Willing accomplices, the Nets made just 24 of 73 (32.9 percent) of their shots in their lowest-scoring game of the season.The Nets' Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson combined to make just 11 of 40 shots.Disruptive force"We did a great job getting them out of their comfort zone, making everything tough, especially for their big three," Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said. "Vince had a tough night. Shane (Battier) did a great job, and I think we did a great job as a team helping him out. J-Kidd, we slowed him up a bit. We got on the boards. "We're a small team right now with Yao out. We got a collective effort getting on the boards, getting out in transition and spreading the love on the offensive end."Much of that love found Battier, who made a career-high seven 3-pointers (on 12 attempts) to finish with 23 points. The Rockets made 12 of 25 treys to drive their offense on a night they were so dominant, they committed 24 turnovers and still won going away.Asked the key to the win, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said, "We kept our turnovers under 25."But when they were not booting the ball around the gym, they also rolled up 96 points while making just 33 shots."You don't see too many times you turn the ball over 24 times and win by 18, 19 points," Battier said. "We created opportunities for ourselves on the boards, outrebounded them by 20, took high-percentage shots and made 48 percent of our 3s."Without the big fella down there, there's a lot more opportunities for everybody. I'm not happy about that. I'd much rather have the big fella down there. We all have to do our part and run good offense."Including the game in which Yao was hurt, Battier has averaged 21.7 points and 8.3 rebounds since the Rockets lost their leading scorer and rebounder. But rather than looking to score more, noted Van Gundy, Battier is doing what is needed."I just really think it's more about he'll try to do whatever it takes to try to win that particular game," Van Gundy said. "You get the same thing from him every night. Some nights, more shot opportunities present themselves. Some nights he makes more. But you always get the same effort."T-Mac does enoughIn his second game back after missing seven because of back spasms, McGrady was still not sharp, but he helped trigger the Rockets' offense. He made just four of 16 shots for his 17 points, and had five turnovers. But he also had six assists. "I thought he was pretty good last night until the fourth quarter," Van Gundy said. "He is giving us what he can right now."He can get you two (players) on the ball, which puts you in a good position, playing four on three on the weak side."Even with their turnovers, the Rockets' spacing and ball movement was much better than in their ragged performance against the Pacers. But the biggest difference was on the other end, where they shut down the lane and then took care of the boards. A night after the Rockets were outrebounded 53-48, they outrebounded the Nets 54-32.Even with the Nets getting so many layups off the Rockets' turnovers, they scored just 20 points in the paint, the second-fewest against the Rockets this season."I thought Deke (Dikembe Mutombo) and Juwan (Howard) set a great tone," Van Gundy said. "Battier obviously gives you a great effort every night."Before long, an early lead turned into a rout. And with one win, the Rockets returned home feeling far better than when they left.</div>http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports...kn/4429853.htmlMcGrady 4-17 shooting But he got to the line 8 times yesterday night and sunk all his shots, That's a good sign. A few more games he's gonna get that touch back.
Yeah, I was just gonna say T-Mac needs to step up. Hopefully its just rust, but 4-17 shooting and five turnovers isn't something the Rockets exactly need right now.
