http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl...kn/4584522.html<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">Celtics turn Rockets green</span>With T-Mac out sick, worst team in NBA rallies for winBy JONATHAN FEIGENCopyright 2007 Houston Chronicle More than the scoring, more than the passing, beyond the decision-making that has guided the Rockets through more than two months without Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady looked more irreplaceable the night the Rockets had to replace him.The Rockets never shot worse this season, never scored less, never took a more disheartening loss than Monday's 77-72 defeat at Toyota Center with McGrady out with flu-like symptoms.But all that the Rockets were missing only began with Yao and McGrady.For the second time in four days, they lost to one of the teams scraping the bottom of the Eastern Conference, bookending Friday's loss in Atlanta with a home loss to the Celtics, the team with the worst record in the NBA and losers of 12 consecutive road games and 22 of their previous 23."If you lose to Boston, lose to Atlanta, you'll end up eventually paying the price down the road for that," Rafer Alston said. "They are professional ballplayers, and they are going to win some games. You just don't want it to be against your team."I think what hurts the most is the effort. It's not hard to believe that we lost, but if you give a little bit more effort and dig a little deeper, you win those two games."But this was not a loss built on the lethargy of the loss in Atlanta. Most of the night, the Rockets did defend with the energy and tenacity they lacked against the Hawks.Bonzi Wells started with McGrady out and had 27 points, with nine rebounds. The Rockets led by as much as 14, and by 13 with 8:58 left.But down the stretch, they fell apart offensively and let the offensive struggles spread to everything else."It was disappointing the way we played," Shane Battier said. "We played poorly. We still had a shot to win, but we didn't show enough heart and determination when the game really mattered to pull it out. All things considered, as poorly as we played, we still had a shot to win. We didn't fight hard enough."Abysmal shootingThe Rockets made just 25 of 78 shots (32.1 percent). Battier was 1-of-12, Alston 1-of-11, Luther Head 3-of-11. They were 1-of-22 on 3-pointers. There were struggles that could be traced to McGrady's absence, especially down the stretch when even in close and ugly games he reliably makes sure the Rockets get good shots.But Monday everything fell apart in the final nine minutes.The Rockets led by 13 with 8:58 left when Jake Tsakalidis finished a three-point play. But the Rockets missed their next four shots, with turnovers by Head and Alston mixed in.The Rockets went 3 1/2 minutes without scoring in an 8-0 Boston run. But that was not the run that did the most damage.They had not done much, but with a Tsakalidis tip and a Wells jumper, the Rockets led 68-60 with 4:21 left.With that, they did little else right. Wells was hit with an offensive foul. Alston and Battier missed 3s. Head missed a jumper, and Alston turned it over.With 1:24 left, Boston's Sebastian Telfair came over defensively to help on a Juwan Howard drive, stuffed Howard and then beat the Rockets on the other end, finishing a break to give the Celtics their first lead of the game, 70-68.After Alston's turnover, Al Jefferson missed inside, but Delonte West and Wells each came away with the ball, with West winning the jump ball.Paul Pierce (28 points) then hit a turnaround jumper for a 3-pointer, just ahead of the shot-clock buzzer, to give Boston a 73-68 lead, completing a 13-0 Boston run with 25.9 seconds remaining."The first three quarters, we didn't play particularly well, but we competed hard," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I thought they got stronger in the fourth quarter, we got weaker both mentally and physically. Got beat in transition. Got beat on the boards."This isn't a one-shot deal here. We got beat up in the fourth quarter last night (in Orlando), too in transition and on the boards. We've been getting beat up on the boards. We've been getting beat back. It's been a source of concern."Head scored with 20.4 seconds left, but he sent West to the line, and West clinched it with 17.4 seconds left.A 'nasty game'"It was a nasty game all the way around," Battier said. "Games like this, it comes down to who wants it more and who is willing to get on the floor for loose balls and who is willing to make the physical play. "And that's the game. We didn't make those plays."Worse, they knew those were the plays they have to make no matter who plays ? or doesn't.</div>
That's why TMac should MVP candidate. Rockets can win without him. If we had yao, we'd prolly beat the celtics, but we still wouldnt win by a lot
