Rockets on a Roll

First of all, everything positive that I am about to say is contingent on whether the Rockets organization and Yao Ming himself are telling the truth about his foot injury. Both say that it is very minor and just needs a couple of days' rest. If that is true (or if they just put that story out so they could keep him out of Friday's game to rest him), then things are looking pretty good for the home team.

A week ago, both Phoenix and the Lakers put successive beatings on our boys and the Rockets limped home, appearing demoralized. But looks were deceiving, and that is why I am slightly optimistic for the playoffs. They picked themselves up and showed some stubborn resiliency by winning an important conference game against Portland, then soundly defeated an outstanding Orlando Magic team. They followed those with road wins against the (Sad) Sacramento Kings and the crippled Golden Sate Warriors, though they didn't really dominate either team. There was no good reason that the Rockets should not have won either game, but Houston has always had trouble adjusting to west coast time and were playing back-to-back games. Had the Rockets not needed those games for a favorable playoff seeding, they could have easily mailed it in - but they didn't. They took care of business and it showed a toughness and determination that has sometimes been missing this year. It bodes well for getting past the first round for a change.

That's the greatest thing about sports. You can realize that the chances are slim for the your favorite team to win it all, but you can still have hope. After all, someone in Sacramento thought that trading away Ron Artest for Donte Greene, Houston's first draft pick, and Bobby Jackson would put them over the top. A full season and sixteen wins later...