The Regular Season in Your Words

It's been a pretty spectacular season, so I wrote a little something (well it's actually ridiculously long) about how this season played out. I ask you guys to do the same, so we can see put this regular season in perspective before the playoffs begin.

It's been a storied regular season for the Rockets, one of expectation and heartbreak and magic, one that will be remembered by fans for a long time. When the season started, Houston was brimmed with excitement for the potent roster that had been assembled. Brilliant offseason management and a major coaching change made the Rockets ready to roll. With Luis Scola and Steve Francis headlining the hype in Houston, the team began its journey. 7 games into the season, the Rockets were 6-1 and at the top of the West. Solid wins over elite teams bolstered the intrigue. Then, a sobering reality of the major changes set in. The next two months were filled with injuries, and moreso, struggles with a completely new system. The team quickly dipped below .500 and stayed there. There were talks of trading Tracy McGrady. The vile and depressing word "rebuilding" was uttered. To make matters worse, Tracy McGrady was sidelined with injuries. But then something happened. A few personnel changes were made. The offense opened up, and the defense locked down. It was finally working. McGrady returned, and it worked even better. The Rockets pulled their heads from under the water, and climbed over .500 on January 8. But oh, how a week can change things. The Rockets lost their touch, lost their drive. It got so bad that Yao expressed rage because of his frustration with the Rockets' play. On January 15, the Rockets hit what they say was an absolute team low: a loss to the then-terrible Philadelphia 76ers. It wasn't just the fact of the loss; it was how it was played. There was a lack of energy, a lack of attention and focus. It was a complete meltdown. Then Chuck Hayes stepped up. His words woke the team up. The Rockets beat the Spurs by 2. They rolled off three more wins. Things were looking up. On January 27, the team suffered a loss to Utah. But that would matter little (unless we lose home court to them). What ensued in the next two months was unprecedented, unpredictable, and simply unbelievable.

Nobody saw it coming. Nobody saw this team, 24-20 and 10th in the West, winning 22 games in a row.

The Warriors, Pacers, Bucks, Wolves, Cavs, Hawks, and Blazers first felt the wrath. It was a respectable 7-game winning streak. The Rockets felt better than they had all season, finally smelling a playoff seed. One final game remained before the All-Star Break. It was at home against the Sacramento Kings. At the time, the Rockets just wanted to go into the break with a good feeling, with a winning streak. 8 games sounded nice. But the game was tough. The Kings were a freak team, losing to the worst and taking the likes of San Antonio and New Orleans down to the wire. So this was no exception. They fought the Rockets, they put down big shots. Rockets fans watched on, not wanting this nice streak to end. It came down to one play. Rockets ball, down 86-87, with 14.2 seconds left. Tracy tries to find a hole, but he can't. 7 seconds, he penetrates. 6 seconds, he pushes in. 5 seconds, out to Steve Novak at the three-point line. Novak launches it. It sank right in, and the crowd went ballistic.

Little did Steve Novak know then that he saved the Rockets' season. Perhaps no shot in this regular season was bigger than that one. It saved the streak from dying young. It led to some of the greatest weeks of basketball in Rockets history. It gave the team the momentum to put up 22 wins and launch to the top of the West. Without it, the Rockets might have been fighting Denver and Golden State for a playoff spot. They might have been looking to the lottery. But instead, they are in the jungle, poised and ready. Thanks, Steve Novak.

And so the story continues. Win after win, the Rockets reached 12 wins. It was the first double-digit streak for the franchise in years, and people started to take notice of these Rockets. Fans had already noticed. They were more excited than they had ever been since Hakeem led the team. There was legitimate championship talk. The team was deeper than ever at all positions, well-rounded and well-balanced. Compared to the thin team from last year, these Rockets could score in huge spurts when necessary, and still knew how to shut down opponents. This was the best basketball Houston had seen in a long time. Fans were giddy, literally giddy. There's a time in the history of a sports franchise when the fans reach a level of hype that is almost euphoric, because it is based off of real results and still has a sense of magic about what is to come. This was one of those times. Being a Rockets fan was amazing. Being a player was even more amazing, as the team had reached a high level of chemistry and comradarie that they say had never been experienced. Everyone was working very hard and taking the season one game at a time. All of this, the 12-game winning streak, the focus, the team play, the hard work, the competitive fire, the excitement...it was all embodied in one player. And with him, all the euphoria, all the joy, all the hope, all the dreams of championships, came crashing down on a defining February afternoon.

February 27: Yao Ming is out for the season.

This was the stunner of all stunners for the Rockets' season. It was not supposed to happen. Not at that moment, not then, not when everything seemed perfect. After 10 years of almosts and near-misses, this was finally coming together like it never had. Every fan will tell you, there was something different about it. After 10 years, the Rockets had reached a new high, so it was not supposed to happen. But it did. Que sera, sera.

It was heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking. Yao Ming, the soul of this team in every way, would not be on the court anymore. To think about how Yao must have felt was horrible. He gave himself to the team and to the game in a way nobody had. For every free throw he missed in a game, he would shoot 100 in practice. He described the scene when coach Adelman broke the news to the team. Yao and Adelman sat down with the team. Adelman told them Yao was done for the season. And Yao said "It was silent. The kind of silence that makes you feel like you're alone." And so the Rockets nation was dealt a monumental blow, ripped from its high ride and brought back down again. It didn't last long.

Critics were everywhere, understandably so. First, the Rockets' streak would end immediately, they said. It didn't. The Rockets would lose to Denver, they said. The Rockets didn't. The Rockets would not be contending for a playoff spot, they said. They would. Fine, they might contend, but they won't get in the thick of the western hunt. They did. But surely, they won't rise to the top of the West. They did.

The Rockets showed a resilience and tenacity rarely seen in sports, as they mounted a monumental series of wins that culminated in the biggest story in sports for two solid weeks. How were they doing it? Hustle and focus. One game at a time. Chuck Hayes, some said, showed what this streak was built from. Every single play mattered. It's a tough thing to have in sports, to give everything on every play. But the Rockets did it. Win 18. Win 19. Win 20, and the tie for the second longest winning streak of all time. And then Win 21, claiming it for themselves. And then the Lakers, the pinnacle. Coming into the game, the teams were tied for first, but the Lakers had the tiebreaker. And in a streak when each night brought a different hero, a different guy to hail, this day it was Rafer Alston and Shane Battier. Toyota Center was in a fanatic frenzy as the Rockets hit big shots and stopped Kobe Bryant down the stretch. The bench never seemed to sit down for the entire streak, going crazy on every play in support for the team. The seconds ticked away to 0, and the crowd roared, roared, roared with appreciation for this feat for the ages. "How sweet it is!", yelled Gene Peterson for the 22nd time in a row. The ageless Dikembe Mutombo, a beautiful human being and a stifling inside defender, jumped and laughed, waving 2s with his fingers instead of ones.

22 wins. There it was. How did these players do it? This team put together a run that can't be explained. With only one discernable star, the team certainly had a solid bench, but could that win 22 games? It must be emphasized: every play was important. Every player was important. This was a team in every sense of the word. They knew how to play with each other, how to push each other, how to defend and how to read and how to flow. They knew how to take control, play with passion, and find fire. If one player showed immense energy, the rest of the team drew from it, showed it themselves. So the team never stopped playing.

The emergence of youth in Carl Landry was something special. And on the other end, the resilience of age in Dikembe Mutombo was inspiring. It reminded us that the heart is where we get our spirit, the mind is where we get our will, and from there, we can overcome what seemed insurmountable.

It will always be a remarkable memory for Rockets fans. No matter what the final chapter of this story is, the 22-game winning streak will make this season completely worth it. Nothing will take it away. Nothing at all.

With the loss to Boston the next night, there was a bitter taste, but it had to end. The crowd stood and cheered for what its team had done, and the season's final weeks had to take place. The rest of the season played out like it did for any other elite Western team. Tough match-ups, solid play, and a good record. Any given night, a team could drop from first to fifth. It wasn't a playoff race. It was a playoff puzzle. A race implied that finishing ahead of someone necessarily was a good thing, or that it meant something. In this case, nothing was a sure good thing. It was a playoff puzzle, and as the final weeks of the season carried itself out, the puzzle actually broke apart and got harder to figure out. One week, some teams looked like they'd take the best record, and the next week, it was three other teams. The first spot was clinched with only two weeks left. Even on the second to last night, not one spot in the Western Conference was decided. Not one matchup was determined. It was chaotic, and the Rockets were a part of the pandemonium. They were part of this elite company of teams that defined a unique and brilliant season of basketball unlike any that preceded it. As the season winded down, the teams in the West still fought for position, always looking at each other, watching each other's moves. But out of the corner of their eyes, they saw men in Irish green and solid blue, standing silently and watching.

In the final week, it was revealed that Hakeem Olajuwon would enter the basketball Hall-of-Fame. A monument in his honor was unveiled in front of the Toyota Center. He is the Rockets' greatest player, one of the best ever to play the game. And as we remember the great players who gave us Houston's only two championships and gave us hope when many said we shouldn't have it, we look to the playoffs this year, and again we hope.

It must be said that this season is especially poignant because it will be the final one for the classic Rockets voices Gene Peterson and Jim Foley. They have been the radio voices of the Rockets for over 30 years, and many grew up with them. Many have their voices imprinted in them, so vivid and exciting and comforting. There really is not much more comforting than turning on the radio and hearing their voices. That must be part of the story of this season, if not the biggest part.

So here's to a spectacular ride of downs and ups, with arguably more ups than downs. What a fantastic regular season, one of the greatest in Rockets history. How sweet it has been.​