Print
McGrady registers triple-double in rout of Grizzlies
Houston 105, Memphis 92
Video Recap
Box Score
Print
RSS Feed
Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- Before leaving the arena on Wednesday night, Tracy McGrady acknowleged it was nice to finally register his first triple-double with the Rockets.
He was, however, far more impressed with what his team did.
Behind a much-needed boost from the bench and a balanced scoring attack, the Rockets
snapped out of their cold shooting spell Wednesday night to thump the Memphis Grizzlies 105-92 in front of 17,723 fans at Toyota Center.
The Rockets (10-9) canned 50.6 percent of their shots as five players finished in double figures.
McGrady, of course, had the most impressive stat line of all. The Rockets seven-time All-Star collected his third career triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. He became the first Houston player since Steve Francis in March 2003 to collect a triple-double.
Still, with all the struggles the Rockets have had getting someone other than their two All-Stars involved in the offense, McGrady was far more interested in talking about what his teammates did against the Grizzlies.
"If we can continue to have that type of balance throughout the season, it makes us a great team," McGrady said. "We really don't have to rely on me and
The Rockets didn't have much confidence shooting the ball heading into Wednesday night's game.
Despite getting the usual production from McGrady and Yao, Houston was shooting a collective 44 percent -- a rate good enough for only 21st in the NBA prior to Wednesday night's action. On top of that, the Rockets were swishing a mere 31.1 percent from three-point range.
The poor shooting had caused Houston's role players to lean heavily on McGrady and Yao over the past few weeks. But with Memphis forced to go small because Darko Milicic (sprained left ankle) and Stromile Swift (stomach flu) were out of the lineup, the Rockets finally snapped out of their shooting funk and got others involved in the offense.
Wells, who made 11 of 14 shots, had a season-high 24 points off the bench. Luis Scola knocked down six of eight shots for 16 points. And Battier, who had been struggling to hit shots from long range, canned a trio of three-pointers on his way a 13-point effort.
The Rockets were more balanced than they've been in weeks.
"We've talked among ourselves that we have to help (Yao and McGrady)," Wells said. "Those guys have really had to pull a lot of weight and we haven't been consistent like we need to be. We just made an effort to relieve some of the pressure for them. We understand they're still our big two, but we got to help them out anyway we can."
McGrady and Yao still did their part.
Yao had little trouble finding his shot over Memphis' undersized lineup, collecting 24 points and 13 rebounds. McGrady, meanwhile, struggled to find his rhythm, but managed to contribute in other areas. He created shots for his teammates by attacking the bucket and was aggressive on the defensive glass from start to finish.
The result: His first triple-double since 2003.
"I've been flirting with them enough and it's good to finally get one," McGrady said. "It doesn't really mean anything. It is definitely an accomplishment. Those things are hard to come by. I definitely have to credit my teammates for knocking down shots. Finally, we made shots."
Behind that hot shooting, the Rockets took control
of the game in the second quarter and never allowed the Grizzlies to pull closer than eight points in the second half. Houston's balanced attack ended up producing 25 assists and 58 points in the paint.
Now, the trick is building off that performance.
"We haven't been able to do it consistently," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "That's been the biggest problem. We've been up and down. I thought we were a little better at doing things offensively tonight and we did some things we've been practicing. But now, we're going back on the road. You really need it on the road. You need someone to come in and give you a spark off the bench. You need consistency from our starters. We have to have more balance if we're going to start winning more consistently."
