<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>HOUSTON -- Tracy McGrady didn't waver Friday afternoon when he was asked how his back was feeling after missing a game and taking a couple of days off."I'm fine," McGrady said. "Really."He's about to have a chance to make a much more compelling argument.Nearly 48 hours after being scratched from the lineup Wednesday night with a sore lower back, McGrady is expecting to be on the court Saturday night when the Rockets host the Denver Nuggets at Toyota Center.The Rockets are still listing the six-time All-Star as day-to-day and Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said after Friday's workout that he wouldn't determine McGrady's availability until Saturday.McGrady returned to practice Friday without further incident and continued to make the case that his latest back issue is nothing to get worked up about."I know the difference (from when my back is hurt badly and just stiff)," said McGrady, who is averaging 22.8 points and a team-leading 6.3 assists. "I didn't think this past siutation was, 'Oh, here we go again.' I was never concerned about that."McGrady's sore back didn't receive the same reaction from fans.Since the Rockets star has been dealing with lingering back problems for the past two seasons, fans have been in panic mode every time McGrady has missed time because of his back.McGrady acknowledged that he could miss more time in the future since his back can stiffen up or flare up at any time.But being out for long periods of time? He's not that worried.The star is confident that he could play through any stiffness in the postseason and that the monthly treatment he is receiving is helping him avoid missing significant time with spasms. McGrady has been visiting a specialist in Waco."I think in a temporary situation, such as the playoffs, I would be fine," McGrady said. "There are things you can do to go out and be healthy for the whole playoffs so I'm not concerned about that. But until that time, there might be some flare ups like I had the other night and I might have to sit out a game. Hopefully, that?s not the case, but that?s what I?m dealing with right now. I think I?ll be fine."The Rockets have sorely missed McGrady when he is out of the lineup.Despite winning nine of 13 games without injured star Yao Ming, the Rockets are just 2-6 without McGrady in the lineup.The Rockets have missed McGrady's scoring and playmaking ability when he's not on the floor."Tracy is sort of like Big Brother out there," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "When we need a bucket, he can create so many different things and when he's not out there, we have to rely on each other. We have to rely on sharp execution, cuts and passes and get down to the fundamentals of basketball."McGrady's back stiffened up in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's game in Dallas after going up for dunk. He tried stretching his back out on the sideline during the final three minutes of the game, but did not return.The Rockets star decided to sit out Wednesday's game against Phoenix as a precaution, allowing his back to rest for two full days. It was the eighth time this season that McGrady missed a game because of his back.Van Gundy is hopeful that his star won't miss his ninth against the Nuggets, but he wasn't ready to pencil McGrady in the lineup on Friday afternoon."When (trainer) Keith Jones and the doctors think he's ready to play, he'll play," Van Gundy said.The comforting news is that the swingman said the latest injury is nothing like the back spasms that caused him to miss seven games in December."It's not the problem I had when I went out in Washington," McGrady said. "(With the back spasms,) I was out for a while because it?s tough to extend my body all the way out and I?m in a great deal of pain. This is just a cautionary thing because my back tightened up. I needed a couple of days to rest and it worked out for the best."He's hoping to prove it against the Nuggets.</div>http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/McGrady_is...-205886-34.htmlRecords: Houston (25-15), Suns (18-17) Day/Time: Saturday, 7:30 PM CST<u>Projected Starting Lineups</u><span style="color:#FF0000"><u>Houston Rockets</u></span>PG: <span style="color:#FF0000">Rafer Alston</span>SG: <span style="color:#FF0000">Tracy McGrady</span>SF: <span style="color:#FF0000">Shane Battier</span>PF: <span style="color:#FF0000">Juwan Howard</span>C: <span style="color:#FF0000">Dikembe Mutombo</span><u>Injury Update</u>C Yao Ming (tibia) and G Bob Sura (knee/back) are out and G/F Tracy McGrady (back) is probable for the Rockets;<span style="color:#00BFFF"><u>Denver Nuggets</u></span>PG: <span style="color:#00BFFF">Allen Iverson</span>SG: <span style="color:#00BFFF">Steve Blake</span>SF: <span style="color:#00BFFF">Linas Kleiza</span>PF: <span style="color:#00BFFF">Reggie Evans</span>C: <span style="color:#00BFFF">Marcus Camby</span><u>Injury Update</u>F Carmelo Anthony (suspension) and F Kenyon Martin (knee) are out and C Nene (knee), G Allen Iverson (toe) and C Marcus Camby (finger) are probable for the Nuggets.LETS GO ROCKETS!!!!!!
I blame this loss on JVG, Rafer and T-Mac. JVG for his usual idiocity, Rafer for foing 5-18 and taking terrible shots which led to Denver fastbreaks, and T-Mac for going 0-5 in last few minutes or so in 4th and OT.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Jan 20 2007, 09:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I blame this loss on JVG, Rafer and T-Mac. JVG for his usual idiocity, Rafer for foing 5-18 and taking terrible shots which led to Denver fastbreaks, and T-Mac for going 0-5 in last few minutes or so in 4th and OT.</div>Rafer is the only person you should blame. In OT he took a horrible 3, Dikembe got the rebound, kicked it back to him and what did he do? Shoot and miss again. We got on a run after that.T-Mac was shut down in the last minutes of the 4th and OT by Diarawa. He tried to get off a good shot or drive to the lane and couldn't. He was forced to pass or take a bad shot.
Not to mention that stupid foul Rafer committed that gave Blake the four-point play. After that, the Rockets had absolutely no chance to win the game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BigMo763 @ Jan 20 2007, 10:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Not to mention that stupid foul Rafer committed that gave Blake the four-point play. After that, the Rockets had absolutely no chance to win the game.</div>Yeah, forgot about that. That was huge also, just wrapped it up.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Camby23Land @ Jan 21 2007, 12:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Rafer is the only person you should blame. In OT he took a horrible 3, Dikembe got the rebound, kicked it back to him and what did he do? Shoot and miss again. We got on a run after that.T-Mac was shut down in the last minutes of the 4th and OT by Diarawa. He tried to get off a good shot or drive to the lane and couldn't. He was forced to pass or take a bad shot.</div>T-Mac deserves a lot of blame as well. He should not be shut down by fu*king Diarawa. He has proven he can score and score at will against pretty much anyone in the league, he just choked lat ein the game.
wow. I stopped watching the game during 2nd quarter, dey wer ahead by like 13. now I see dey lost by, wat 8? man dea shootin (rafer and t-mac) was pretty terrible.rafer almost deserves 2 be the player in my horrible sig (6-18)!
Wow, I stopped watching after the 3rd and the Rockets were up by 10. I come back and they lost. McGrady had a bad shooting night and was too passive yesterday, he was also forcing a lot of jumpshots. He needed to take it in.
you guys think were startin 2 see how the houston club wud do without yao further down the season, or u think its just dis night. just like with phoenix (I think, or was it dalllas?), dey lead by double digits in the 2nd half of the game and ended up losin it.
Let's judge on that when a few more games go by. Phoenix was a automatic loss. We put up a great fight but we all knew we couldn't keep it up without TMac. Dallas was just too strong for us and no one else stepped up 'cept for TMac. I'd say we needed Yao for that game. Denver yesterday...I don't know about that, everyone played pretty poor during the 4th, TMac was on a bad shooting night forcing shots and sh*t like that. Let's see how we do against the Spurs.
ya u right. man sumhow wen t-mac missd his 1st shot in the game, I knew he'd have a bad shootin night. I actually (seriously) thought rafer would shoot over 40% last night (he was 4-8/ 12-13 points wen I stopped watchin). I guess deres no such thing for skip..
Skip is so inconsistent it's funny. He'll have a good shooting night then he'll have 4 bad shooting nights then the pattern continues. That's why I want him gone before the deadline, his decision making is terrible too.
After reading a bunch of stuff on ClutchFans and some recaps, Rafer Alston totally blew this for us. On the ClutchFans"The Rockets had this one in their grasp, but they let it slip away as Allen Iverson and the Nuggets escaped Houston with a 121-113 overtime win in the Toyota Center, the Rockets' third straight loss. It was unbelievable watching Rafer Alston try to take over the game at the end of the fourth and overtime as he missed 7 straight shots over a 9+ minute span and made two costly fouls on three-point shooters -- including a 4-point play by Steve Blake in overtime that sealed the outcome. Alston started the game 4-6 from the field and finished the game 5-18."
