(And by the way, nobody loves basketball more than me. I mean, NOBODY. But when an NBA player with two years remaining on his contract for a total of $44 million shows up for the season out of shape, complains most of the year, lets down his teammates and fans again and again, lands in some trade rumors and decides, "Instead of getting traded to a team I don't like, I'm going to announce that I'm getting microfracture surgery four days before the trade deadline and kill any potential trade, and even better, I'll be healed by next spring, just in time to showcase myself for another contract," and successfully pulls this off -- with no repercussions from anybody -- then yes, the system is broken and needs to be fixed. Because that was disgusting. Tracy McGrady, you are officially indefensible for the rest of eternity. Even your cousin Vince wouldn't have done that. And that's saying something.)

The Rockets defeated the Warriors by 22 points on Tuesday night, ending Houston's streak of 16 consecutive games played that were decided by fewer than 10 points. That was the longest single-season streak of its kind in 27 years. Prior to Houston, the last team to play at least 16 straight games that were decided by fewer than 10 points in a single season was the Indiana Pacers during the 1982-83 campaign (20-straight games).

You don't have perspective at this point. When you go through a tough stretch of basketball, you don't have the opportunity to have perspective of the entire year because you're in the middle of it. If you're a Martian and you're visiting Earth for the first time, and you look at the Western Conference standings and saw where we were and looked at our schedule and the our circumstances, in a Martian voice you might say, 'not bad.' But as humans, we're in the middle of it, so our perspective is a little different.

The Rockets keep winning, because they want it more than you.

The Rockets are in discussions with several clubs about McGrady, and sources say two of the teams near the top of their wish list are Washington and Chicago.

Nothing is imminent with either team, but there are potential deals with both clubs that Houston would be interested in pulling off.

Washington, which league executives believe is in cost-cutting mode after the Gilbert Arenas disaster, could have McGrady for a deal featuring Caron Butler and some expiring contracts, perhaps Mike Miller and Randy Foye.

As Wiz move to demolish roster, front office is seriously exploring a deal for T-Mac's expiring deal, sources say. [Caron] Butler likely bait.

--TOMORROW'S GAME NIGHT--
C'mon Houston Rockets beat those Dallas Mavericks...T-mac get in the game,show em what u got. LET'S GO ROCKETS...LET'S GO!!!!

"He loves Houston and he's very loyal,'' Morey said. "He's coming back.''

The Rockets played with their usual heart, energy and unselfishness. Those things may be their trademark.

They can beat almost any team when they're perfect. That is, when the perimeter shots are falling, everyone contributes and the lack of size isn't exposed.

This was one of those nights that reminded the Rockets what they don't have and that there are going to be occasions when teamwork and passion can't overcome size and strength.

We Are Red Nation