Tracy McGrady Archives December 2007 Tracy McGrady Archives December 2007   TRACY MCGRADY IS NOW DAY TO DAY WITH HIS KNEE INJURY December 30, 2007 - Yao Ming didn't feel his best Saturday night, but wouldn't let that stop him in the fourth quarter. Yao scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to a 91-79 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Yao has been battling flu-like symptoms recently and though it showed much of the game, as he had a season-high eight turnovers. Seven of those through the first three quarters. "I had some problems breathing,'' Yao said. "I felt like I had a lot of fluid in my lungs and in my nose. "But I know in the fourth quarter you can't make mistakes. I had seven turnovers and I didn't want to get any more. I just wanted to put the ball in the hoop and get the lead and go home and sleep.'' HOUSTON ROCKETS VS. TORONTO RAPTORS GAME HIGHLIGHTS Coach Rick Adelman praised his team's perseverance. "It was a tough game for both teams,'' Adelman said. "But our guys stayed with it defensively and in the fourth quarter we just tried to go through Yao.'' Tracy McGrady missed his second straight game with left knee tendinitis. He is day-to-day. "We talked about a way to win without one of our key players,'' said Rafer Alston, who had 18 points and five assists. "We haven't done that this year when Tracy or I were out. So we just want to finally show we have some depth.'' - NBA.com   TRACY MCGRADY STILL SITTING OUT AFTER INJURING HIS KNEE December 29, 2007 - Even without Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets were able to easily take care of the struggling Memphis Grizzlies. For the first time this season, the Rockets won without having one of their regular starters in the lineup as Yao scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked five shots, and Luis Scola scored a career-high 22 points in a 103-83 victory over Memphis on Friday night. "I think we need to build a solid team, and be able to win with whatever we have,'' Scola said of playing without McGrady, the league's 10th-best scorer at 22.8 a game. "If we want to do something big, we need to be solid. We need to have four or five people step up.'' McGrady is sitting out about a week to rest his sore left knee, and entering Friday night's game, the Rockets were 0-6 when a starter was missing, including 0-3 without McGrady. HOUSTON ROCKETS VS. MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES GAME HIGHLIGHTS Shane Battier scored 18 points, going 3-for-4 from outside the 3-point arc for Houston. Scola, the 6-foot-9 rookie out of Argentina, was 11-for-17 from the floor. The Rockets made up for the loss of McGrady's offense with balanced scoring as six players finished in double figures. Bonzi Wells, Rafer Alston and Aaron Brooks added 10 points each. Yao said a win without McGrady may help turn around the struggling team. Houston entered having lost four of five. "(McGrady) is hurt some days, and we have to know how to win without him,'' Yao said. "I think everybody played with their full effort and played with discipline and with a passion.'' - NBA.com   TRACY MCGRADY REINJURES HIS KNEE & SITS THE SECOND HALF December 25, 2007 - The Houston Rockets were running on fumes Sunday night, then lost their two best players while playing the NBA's hottest team. The result wasn't a surprise. "You have to take this game with a grain of salt,'' said Detroit native Shane Battier. "This was our fourth game in five nights in four different cities. Obviously, we would like to play better, but Detroit took care of business.'' To make matters worse for the Rockets, Tracy McGrady didn't come out for the second half after aggravating a sore knee, and Yao Ming sat out the last 15 minutes after needing four stitches to close a facial cut. Rockets coach Rick Adelman said McGrady aggravated an ongoing knee problem on a dunk late in the second quarter. He missed Wednesday's loss, but played 30 minutes against Chicago on Friday. HOUSTON ROCKETS VS. DETROIT PISTONS GAME HIGHLIGHTS "He was moving around pretty well at the beginning of the game, but after that dunk, he started limping again,'' Adelman said. "You have to be concerned at this point. We'll have to look at it when we get back to Houston.'' With McGrady and Yao sidelined in the third, McDyess and Hamilton took over the game. Richard Hamilton scored 17 points and Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace added double-doubles, helping the Detroit Pistons beat the shorthanded Rockets 94-82. Detroit (20-7) has won five straight and 12 of 14, and joins Boston as the only teams with 20 victories. Houston has lost four of its last five. - NBA.com