Rockets: Summed up in a Word "Medic!" <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">They've got ice packs and elastic bandages and stitches. They've got dead legs and flat shots. Give the Rockets credit for refusing to buy into a single excuse even when they're offered. And legitimate. "We can't pity ourselves," coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "We've got guys hurt? So what? We've got enough to win with." Maybe. Van Gundy is running short on sympathy after hacking and wheezing his way through Sunday night's 91-78 loss to Phoenix. He could use two weeks of R&R instead of a four-game, seven-day trip through the NBA's Western Conference. That trip begins Tuesday at Golden State. All of a sudden, the walls are closing in on these unpredictable Rockets. With eight games remaining, they have a five-game cushion on Minnesota, the team pursuing the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot. Miss-and-miss approach Yet the shots aren't falling, and the psyche is starting to notice. The Rockets had a second straight terrible shooting night Sunday, making just 34 percent of their field-goal attempts. They were 5-for-23 from 3-point land. Worse than the misses is the uncertainty that has crept into their shot selection. At one point, Van Gundy virtually ordered Ryan Bowen to stop passing up open jumpers. To Van Gundy, the problem is larger than a shooting slump. It goes back to Friday's dismal loss to New Orleans. Even as he prepared for the Suns on Sunday, he was bothered by what he saw as a lack off effort against the Hornets on Friday. "I don't know what that loss to New Orleans is going to cost us," Van Gundy said. "But it'll cost us something. It might be a playoff spot. It may be respect with our fans. But it will cost us something. And it's not the first time. We've done it several times. "The challenge now is mental. That's what happens when you don't put enough into one night and then you don't make your shots."</div> Source
