[Chron] McGrady, Rockets topple Dallas in Game 1

McGrady, Rockets topple Dallas in Game 1
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle


DALLAS - No surprise, the Rockets insisted. No big deal, they shrugged.

The Mavericks were making their move and things were getting tense. So Tracy McGrady nailed a pair of ridiculously tough shots through fouls, because that's what he does.

The game was still to be decided in the last minute, the Mavericks back within six, the 20,768 in American Airlines Center brought back to life. So Jon Barry fired a bullet to Dikembe Mutombo, then did that little skip-dance thing of his, because that's who Jon Barry is.

The Mavericks seemed like a monster waiting at the Dallas end of I-45. So the Rockets found open shooters, took away the lane and threw all kinds of defense at Dirk Nowitzki, because that's the kind of team the Rockets have become.

The Mavericks might have been stunned by a 98-86 loss in the first game of the Western Conference playoffs on Saturday, the first time Dallas has ever opened the postseason with a home loss.

But the Rockets followed their familiar formula.

McGrady did anything and everything needed to win, scoring 34 points, collecting six assists and taking his turn annoying Nowitzki. Mike James' 16 points led a charge off the bench. And with a taut, intense defense, the Rockets limited Dallas to just 35.3 percent shooting to upset the Mavericks without seeming the least bit surprised.

"This is us," said Mike James, his enormous Pistons championship ring shining for the first time this season in a Rockets locker room. "We didn't feel like we played that well. If you don't know us, we're just going to come out and play hard, play defense and play aggressive for 48 minutes. That's what we do. That's what we did."

That was enough for the Rockets to stagger Dallas with a spectacular first half, building a 19-point lead. It was also enough for the Rockets to weather another test when the Mavericks climbed back within range.

"We were able to maintain our composure, remain calm, don't panic, and do what we were able to do from the beginning," Mutombo said. "That's how we won.

"We stuck with the game plan. That was the key. Coach was telling us, 'We know what they do, they know what we do. We're just going to play our game.' We didn't need an adjustment even when they made that run. We just kept running the same plays over and over."

Those plays, the curl-around screens that almost every team uses, and the Rockets' favorite center high screen, put the ball in McGrady's hands and let him choose what to do with it. He shot over double teams or drove around helping Dallas big men well enough to make 14 of his 27 shots. But he also found the Rockets' open shooters, some left open with one more pass.

"Either I was getting wide-open looks or I was finding open guys on the weak side," McGrady said. "That's going to be key. When (the Mavericks) double-team me and double team Yao (Ming), we have to do the right thing and make our teammates better. And they have to be confident enough to knock down shots."

That too, however, was no new wrinkle. McGrady just has done more with the standard plays.

"Drive right, go in the air, fire it on the money crosscourt to Barry," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "Yeah, that's my system."

But if that was not a full enough day, McGrady volunteered to match up with Nowitzki, offering to go 40-plus minutes against the NBA's fourth-leading scorer. He did not have to because Ryan Bowen started at power forward and did what he could to harass Nowitzki. Then McGrady moved over, spending most of the second half on Nowitzki, who had averaged 34.3 points in three games against the Rockets this season.

Whether it was the Rockets' defense or his own off-shooting night, Finley made just five of 19 shots en route to his quiet 21 points.

After 42 minutes, 41 on the court, McGrady took over one last time. He made his drive and pass to Barry, then scored on a tough drive. With Dallas still in range with a late run, down 86-76, McGrady drove and scored through a Howard foul, then nailed a turnaround, fadeaway jumper through another Howard foul with three minutes left.

"It's amazing a guy can raise his level from where he was in the regular season because the guy had an unbelievable regular season," Barry said.