Rockets 100 - Thunder 89

I was expecting a football score in this one, but both teams showed up with their offenses and managed to put together a near-watchable game...for the first half. Then Houston put the clamps down on defense and maintained a double digit lead without Tracy McGrady in the second half. The good news is that we won the game pretty handily. The bad news is that we may not have McGrady, Yao, or Artest for a few days as all three left the game early with injuries. However, in Yao or Artest's case, had the game been closer, they probably would have stayed in. Keep an update on them, though. Recap:

Three Up:
Luis Scola -- It's about time Luis came through with a big game. He dropped 23 on the Thunder, and he also grabbed nine rebounds and led the team in shots with 20. Good showing from My Friend From Argentina.

Ron Artest -- Another good game from Artest. He's starting to shoot it better, and he's looking much more comfortable in the offense. But once again, he needs to stay out of the stands...ha.

Yao Ming -- The Yao Punch was in full effect on Monday night. It's how Yao keeps the ball alive. Johan Petro caught an offensive rebound, but before he could bring it down to his chest, Yao punched it towards the lane and we came up with it. He also had a solid statistical game, netting 17 points with 12 boards and 3 blocks. Fantasy party!

Three Down:
Health -- Health wasn't in the building. The Big Three, for now, are The Injured Three.

Chuck Hayes Layups -- He air-balled one and missed another on a pass from Bones Barry. At some point, if you're Chuck, you have to realize that the backboard is meant to help, not harshly reject your putrid free throws. And to make matters worse, Chuck was forced to take a shot from the Biggens Abyss as the shot clock wound down. Fortunately for his self-esteem, it was blocked.

Three Pointers -- The Rockets went 1-8 from three in a game that we scored 100 points. You won't see that again this season. The Thunder weren't much better, going 3-8. Still, the worst three point shooting team in the league made more than us. But we got the W, which is nice.

Stats of the Night:
Number of Total Threes Made by Both Teams-- 4.

Number of Threes the Rockets Average Per Game -- 6.2

Number of Minutes Played By Robert Swift -- 25:01.

Number of Tattoos Sported By Robert Swift -- 26.

Rockets Free Throw Percentage -- .938

Thunder Free Throw Percentage -- .667

Number of Minutes Played by Joey Dorsey -- Zero. COME ON ADELMAN!!

Actual Injury of the Night: Tracy McGrady came out after bumping into Earl Watson before halftime.  He's out for a while, saying his injury "is back to square one."  Which means he's going back to the couch for coffee and video games.

Almost-Injuries of the Night: Oh boy. This was bad. Yao started wincing again. But something happened that we never thought possible: Rawn went down. Ran straight into the cameraman and hurt his ankle. However, I don't consider these injuries seeing as all three could possibly play Wednesday against Dallas. Is that likely? Of course not, we're the Rockets. So, come Wednesday, you could be looking at a starting lineup of:

PG: Rafer Alston
SG: Brent Barry
SF: Von Wafer
PF: Luis Scola
C: Carl Landry

But chances are, Adelman would start Hayes at center just because he's a hustler.

Classy Broadcaster of the Night: The one and only Matt Bullard.

First, he steals the nickname given to the New York Giants backfield: Earth, Wind, and Fire. He then uses that on the Rockets and takes credit for it. And then he took this little jab at The Benefactor.

Bill Worrell: "I'm not sure what time the game is Wednesday night."
Matt Bullard: "I bet Mark Cuban has some insider information on what time the game starts Wednesday night."

Oooooooohhhhhhh.

Tracy McGrady = Ewing Theory...?: Ok, fine, fine. I won't say anything more. Forget I even brought it up.

73-9 Update: 7-4. Just Gotta Believe.