Post by knickman2 on Apr 26, 2005 15:58:14 GMT -5
NBA.com
McGrady scored 34 points in Houston's 98-86 victory in Game 1 and was at it again in this one. In the first quarter, he had a thunderous driving dunk over 7-6 Shawn Bradley that had his teammates howling.
"That's a poster for my kids," McGrady said. "I was hoping he was going to jump. I didn't care what kind of contact I was going to get because I knew those guys were going to get physical tonight if I brought the ball to the hole."
But McGrady's biggest basket came in the game's biggest moment. After Dirk Nowitzki sank a jumper that tied it at 111-111 with 10 seconds left, the Rockets opted not to call timeout and McGrady dribbled upcourt.
Yao set a screen at the 3-point arc and McGrady dribbled right. Keith Van Horn inexplicably stepped back instead of forward, giving McGrady room to sink the shot.
"When the game was tight and we were up by two, coach asked me in the huddle, if (Dallas) scored what did I want to do, call a timeout or just take the ball out," McGrady said. "I told him, 'Let's not call timeout.' He told me to tell Yao to set a high screen, so I went over and told Yao that if they score we have the ball out. The only thing I was thinking about was winning the game. Yao set it great for me. I came off and knocked the shot for the game-winner."
"I was really up on him," said Van Horn, who was about five feet away as McGrady went into his shot. "I almost thought I fouled him. I contested the shot. He hit a tough shot from about 22 feet out. We would have liked to have seen that ball miss, but there's a lot of other possessions where we needed to play much better."
Van Horn was surprised the Rockets did not call timeout.
"In those situations you expect a timeout to be called," Van Horn said. "But obviously they were feeling good about how they were running the pick-and-roll with Tracy and Yao and thought they could get a good shot from there."
Michael Finley's jumper missed at the buzzer, leaving the fourth-seeded Mavericks -- who began the postseason with dreams of an NBA championship -- staring a sweep in the face as they head to Houston for two games.
In NBA history, only the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969 and Houston Rockets in 1994 have erased an 0-2 deficit and won a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home.
Both teams played extremely well. Houston shot 55 percent (40-of-73) from the field, including 9-of-18 from the arc, and committed just 12 turnovers. Dallas shot 50 percent (41-of-82), including 10-of-15 on 3-pointers, and had 14 giveaways.
McGrady had plenty of help. Yao scored 17 points in the first quarter and was unstoppable throughout, making 13-of-14 shots and 7-of-7 free throws. Guards Jon Barry (16 points), Bob Sura (14) and Mike James (10) combined for 40 points, including 15 in the last 8½ minutes.
"I didn't think I would shoot this well today, but all the shots that I got were shots that I am accustomed to," Yao said. "I could have missed a few of them, but most of them are shots that I am comfortable with."
Despite enduring another poor shooting game by Nowitzki, the Mavericks led by eight points early in the final period. When the Rockets rallied within 96-95, Nowitzki came alive with two jumpers and a feed to Erick Dampier for a dunk and a 102-95 bulge with 5:41 to go.
"We got what we wanted offensively in the fourth quarter," Nowitzki said. "We just have to find a way to get things done defensively."
Nowitzki, who scored 26 points on 8-of-21 shooting, made two free throws for a 105-101 advantage with 4:05 remaining. But Sura sank two 3-pointers to give Houston a 109-107 lead with 2:15 to play.
McGrady scored 34 points in Houston's 98-86 victory in Game 1 and was at it again in this one. In the first quarter, he had a thunderous driving dunk over 7-6 Shawn Bradley that had his teammates howling.
"That's a poster for my kids," McGrady said. "I was hoping he was going to jump. I didn't care what kind of contact I was going to get because I knew those guys were going to get physical tonight if I brought the ball to the hole."
But McGrady's biggest basket came in the game's biggest moment. After Dirk Nowitzki sank a jumper that tied it at 111-111 with 10 seconds left, the Rockets opted not to call timeout and McGrady dribbled upcourt.
Yao set a screen at the 3-point arc and McGrady dribbled right. Keith Van Horn inexplicably stepped back instead of forward, giving McGrady room to sink the shot.
"When the game was tight and we were up by two, coach asked me in the huddle, if (Dallas) scored what did I want to do, call a timeout or just take the ball out," McGrady said. "I told him, 'Let's not call timeout.' He told me to tell Yao to set a high screen, so I went over and told Yao that if they score we have the ball out. The only thing I was thinking about was winning the game. Yao set it great for me. I came off and knocked the shot for the game-winner."
"I was really up on him," said Van Horn, who was about five feet away as McGrady went into his shot. "I almost thought I fouled him. I contested the shot. He hit a tough shot from about 22 feet out. We would have liked to have seen that ball miss, but there's a lot of other possessions where we needed to play much better."
Van Horn was surprised the Rockets did not call timeout.
"In those situations you expect a timeout to be called," Van Horn said. "But obviously they were feeling good about how they were running the pick-and-roll with Tracy and Yao and thought they could get a good shot from there."
Michael Finley's jumper missed at the buzzer, leaving the fourth-seeded Mavericks -- who began the postseason with dreams of an NBA championship -- staring a sweep in the face as they head to Houston for two games.
In NBA history, only the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969 and Houston Rockets in 1994 have erased an 0-2 deficit and won a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home.
Both teams played extremely well. Houston shot 55 percent (40-of-73) from the field, including 9-of-18 from the arc, and committed just 12 turnovers. Dallas shot 50 percent (41-of-82), including 10-of-15 on 3-pointers, and had 14 giveaways.
McGrady had plenty of help. Yao scored 17 points in the first quarter and was unstoppable throughout, making 13-of-14 shots and 7-of-7 free throws. Guards Jon Barry (16 points), Bob Sura (14) and Mike James (10) combined for 40 points, including 15 in the last 8½ minutes.
"I didn't think I would shoot this well today, but all the shots that I got were shots that I am accustomed to," Yao said. "I could have missed a few of them, but most of them are shots that I am comfortable with."
Despite enduring another poor shooting game by Nowitzki, the Mavericks led by eight points early in the final period. When the Rockets rallied within 96-95, Nowitzki came alive with two jumpers and a feed to Erick Dampier for a dunk and a 102-95 bulge with 5:41 to go.
"We got what we wanted offensively in the fourth quarter," Nowitzki said. "We just have to find a way to get things done defensively."
Nowitzki, who scored 26 points on 8-of-21 shooting, made two free throws for a 105-101 advantage with 4:05 remaining. But Sura sank two 3-pointers to give Houston a 109-107 lead with 2:15 to play.