Rocket Men

It's the longest winning streak in 35 years of NBA basketball.

The streak was at 21 as of last weekend. Blackjack. End of story if you're playing cards. Twenty-two now.

The only NBA team to win more consecutive games lays claim to the longest unbeaten stretch in the history of pro sports. That team, the 1971-72 Lakers, won 33 straight, 69 regular season games total (then a record), and an NBA title.

And yet how many of you really have Houston as the favorite even to emerge from the West? Let's be honest with ourselves. This streak has been fun and cute, but may in the long run be dismissed as a scheduling anomaly; an inexplicable run of execution over weaker teams or decent teams with injuries to their stars (even as the Rockets have suffered a season-ending injury to one of their own). We remain in denial of a new legitimate power in the West.

We deny this because their star from the East, Yao Ming, went down for the season. The critics say a big man is crucial for a playoff run, especially in the stacked Western Conference. We deny this because Tracy McGrady has never led any team he played for past round one, squandering away two Game 7s and a 3-1 series lead.

Not to mention that fate has not been kind to teams with big winning streaks in recent times. The Patriots won 18 straight just a month and a half ago. Then they won infamy.

The Colorado Rockies, much more like the Rockets, were a seemingly mediocre team that suddenly reeled off 21 straight last September and October. They were then humiliated in the World Series by Boston, with all their weaknesses and shortcomings revealed. While they did reach the season's final stanza, they buzzed through two National League playoff opponents that could hardly be called imposing. The Rockets, being in the NBA's Western Conference, have no such luck.

And yet the whispers are spreading. 45-20. Tied for the best record in the vaunted west. Beat the Gasol-less Lakers on Sunday and they stand alone. Could it be?

The Spurs and Lakers still loom just as menacingly as they have all year, the Hornets are an intriguing x-factor with an emerging young superstar, and the Suns may be in the process of turning their ship back around after a rousing victory over San Antonio. Utah can beat teams just by power of their home building alone, much like the Metrodome could for baseball's Minnesota Twins in the '80s and '90s. With any of these teams, the phrase "four out of seven" should bring much fear.

At 24-20, the Rockets were 10th in the West, a game out of playoff contention just behind Utah and Golden State. The Jazz had just silenced the Toyota Center once again, beating the Rockets in their January 27th rematch of the Game 7 home playoff loss that has haunted the Rockets and their star guard all offseason.

Improbably, Game 1 of this turnaround happened with their de facto savior sitting out with flu-like symptoms. Yao Ming stepped up in his absence with 36 points and the Rockets pulled out a 117-110 home win over the Warriors.

Since then, the Rockets have flattened the Cavaliers twice, once by 15, the other by 8; then did likewise to Chris Paul's emerging Hornets, winning by 20 and 10, respectively. Throw in a convincing 15-point win in Dallas and a 25-point crushing of the Wizards by Team T-Mac in which Agent Zero's squad was held to a season-low 69 points.

And yet critics can still point out that only five of those 22 straight wins came against teams currently in the Western playoff picture. Five more were against East playoff teams, but out of that group, only the Cavaliers are over .500.

By the numbers, the Rockets are alarmingly plain. McGrady has only averaged 22.2 points a game this season. During the streak, he has averaged 22.6. Only one game in the streak has T-Mac had double-digit assist numbers, and only one game has he had double-digit rebound numbers. Only Yao Ming averages over 20 ppg this season besides McGrady. This does not help matters much as Yao is now merely a 7'6" paperweight. Injured with a stress fracture in his left foot 10 games ago, Yao leaves the Rockets without a scoring center for the rest of the season.

There is, in fact, no truth to the rumor that Dikembe Mutombo was found in an ancient African tomb last offseason, de-mummified, resurrected via a magical elixir, and signed to a short-term contract so the Rockets could have a center just in case such a crisis should occur. And after the Rockets' win over the Bobcats on Friday night, no truth to the rumor that Mutombo is too old to humiliate young high-flyers at the rim and wag the eternal index finger. This generation's sultan of swat managed 4 critical blocks, three of them down the stretch in a close game against the Bobcats. But questions remain about his ability to fill in adequately at center (especially on the offensive end) for the remainder of the season and playoffs.

Even if McGrady's numbers have not been great this season (certainly not MVP caliber as some have claimed), he has managed to get his new supporting cast involved more than in the past. The play of point guard Rafer Alston and forwards Shane Battier and Luis Scola have meshed well around McGrady and may even be part of the reason for the lower scoring average. T-Mac may finally have some teammates he can trust.

Many say the regular season means nothing in the NBA. They may be right. But for what its worth, if the Rockets continue their streak through this coming week, many of their critics who say that the Houston Rockets are not for real may have to change their tunes. The Rockets play in succession the Lakers, Celtics, Hornets, Warriors, and Suns, all in a calendar week.

Whatever doubts you may still have now, we will see if the Rockets truly belong in the rarefied air of the NBA's elite within the next seven days.