Kevin Garnett played with a shrunken head while beating the Houston Rockets

Ouch.

Boston Celtics 94 Houston Rockets 74

Win streak stopped out at 22.

You lose 1 game and the talk comes out.

“See, told you so”.

Well, have to admit, the Houston Rocket fans almost had me. Your intrepid author was here to write that the Rockets were invincible. Hey, beat Boston, the best team in basketball this year, and add in the fact it would have been victory number 23 in a row and that makes you the best team, doesn’t it?

Ahh, you had me fooled. You guys aren’t that good. You just lost to the best team in basketball, come on.

Wait, aren’t you supposed to lose to the best team, even if you are the second best team? Uhh, hold on, your intrepid author is thinking.

The Rockets hadn’t lost since a 97-89 defeat to Utah on Jan. 27 and put together the NBA’s second-longest winning streak. It ended 11 victories shy of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row.

It was only Houston’s second loss in 28 games and its fourth since a 97-93 loss in Boston on Jan. 2, a game Tracy McGrady sat out with a knee injury. The Rockets also lost for the first time in 11 games since Yao Ming went out with a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 26. source

Hey, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce combined for 42 points and that was all she wrote. Tracy McGrady had an off night of 8 points and that did not help.

Win Streaks

Houston is not without their win streaks. Even after this loss.

The Rockets still have one more streak to protect – they’ll go for their 13th straight road win in New Orleans on Wednesday night.

And then there is the battle with the Los Angeles Kobe Bryant Lakers for first place in the Western Conference standings.

Houston beat the Lakers on Sunday to take over sole possession of first place in the Western Conference and set up Tuesday’s showdown between conference leaders.

It all came unraveled in the 3rd quarter of the game.

McGrady missed a jumper in the final seconds of the third quarter and Battier was there for the rebound, but tipped it right to James Posey, who started a fast break the other way.

The Celtics outscored Houston 32-16 in the third quarter and built a 72-56 lead, the largest deficit the Rockets had faced since Boston had them down 20 in their first meeting. Houston went 7-for-16 from the field with six turnovers in the decisive quarter.

Oh, well, maybe the Rockets can right the ship and start winning, who knows.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Isn’t the 22 game Houston win streak amazing?

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Tracy McGrady in his signature form, shooting the jump shot in Atlanta

It has to be smoke and mirrors.

How are they doing it? There is no Yao. The ultimate collapse was predicted.

Yet, the Houston Rockets rolled once again.

Houston 83 Atlanta 75

Ok, so the Hawks are not exactly prime time with Mike Bibby or not, it is still 20 in a row!

The Rockets tied the second longest win streak in NBA History and were led by Tracy McGrady.

The Rockets joined the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33 straight) and 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20) as the only teams to win 20 or more in a row.

“We did enough to win,” Adelman said.

Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half for Houston, which led only 71-70 with 5 minutes remaining. McGrady then scored five points in Houston’s 10-0 run to take control.
source

Now this gets complicated, because the number of non-contenders on the win streak schedule. Even when they faced the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki was serving a one game suspension for brutality. The experts will say that Houston has beaten no one and their playoff spot is still in jeopardy and there is some truth to that statement.

But come on, 20 in a row against Middleville Junior High would still be impressive. The NBA is a grind. You get any team at home and they are apt to shoot the lights out and beat you just for some momentary respect.

And give some credit to the players that have stepped up in Yao’s absence, like Battier, Alsten, Landry and others.

And defense, did anyone tell you, Houston is playing some fine defense.

Houston allowed only 89.3 points per game during its 19 straight wins and set a low scoring pace against the Hawks.

…Houston has held two straight opponents to 75 or fewer points, following a 91-73 win over New Jersey on Monday.

So there is Houston one game away from the Lakers and the best record in the Western Conference and still no respect for what they have accomplished.

“It’s unbelievable,” McGrady said. “For me to be on this team that has accomplished 20 straight wins, that has got to be right up there with the most gratifying things I’ve accomplished in this league. … You look at the Bulls that were 72-10, they didn’t even do it. So this is pretty remarkable.”

Added Adelman: “You could see the guys, it really means something to get this and just keep not only the streak going, but keep moving in the right direction.”

The Rockets are for real and seem to have rallied around Yao and the feeling of them against the world.

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Big Baby Glen Davis

No it was not Kevin Garnett. He sat for most of the first half.

No, it was not Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. It was Big Baby.

Get this; it was the first time all season that one of the Big Three did not lead the team in scoring. Big Baby was humble, just the same.

“It feels real good to contribute in a big game like this,” Davis said. “But we can’t get too excited. This isn’t the last time we’re going to see this team.” source

NBA Big Baby factoid - “The Notre Dame coach at the time came down to look at him,” Temple said of Tyrone Willingham. “Every football coach in the country wanted this boy. He was a freak. We’re talking about a senior in high school who weighed 340 pounds and could run a 4.9 40. He’s a freak, man.” source

Boston plays D

The bigger story tonight was the Celtics defense. This is an area that most of us thought the Celtics might struggle; instead it looks like they may be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. So how did that affect the Pistons?

This game looked a lot like some games we’ve seen the Pistons play in the last two postseasons. You know the ones. The Pistons get stagnant on offense. Billups misses shots and nobody else can drive to the basket consistently. An unsung opponent (in this case Glen Davis) scores a bunch of points. Rasheed Wallace lets a few bad calls drive him off a mental cliff. (Wallace, I’m told, left the arena in full uniform Saturday night.) source

Tayshaun ponders his lack of productivity

Tie in the fact that Tayshaun Prince struggled once again this season against the Celtics.

And one important Piston struggles mightily – in this case, as in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland, that Pistons was Tayshaun Prince. Prince is now 4 for 22 in two games against the Celtics. And at least twice in the final minutes, Pierce blew past Prince, leaving Prince with a befuddled look on his face, as though he expected Pierce to at least leave a forwarding address. Naturally, other Pistons had to help out on Pierce, and just as naturally, Pierce found teammates for easy scores.

Look to the playoffs

Boston is a gifted team on offense and defense and so is Detroit. These two early games that each team won on the other team’s court only go to show how good these teams can be.

Come playoff time, both of these teams will be better and most likely will meet in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. It is still a long grind of a season.

Boston felt this was an important victory just to prove they can win on Detroit’s court, but Chauncey Billups downplayed it.

“They’re a little more happy than we were when we won our game at their place,” Chauncey Billups said. “It was just a regular game for us with two good teams playing. They were kind of playing like it was the Super Bowl.

“There was probably a little more at stake for them and their psyche than it was for us.” source

That attitude is expected. Detroit is a veteran playoff team with years of experience with the same unit. Boston, on the other hand, is trying to fit together a new team loaded with talent.

It was Boston’s 9th win in a row, snapping Detroit’s 11 game win streak.

Can’t wait to see the next Detroit Pistons – Boston Celtics match-up.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can Boston continue to stay on this roll?

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Rip and Sheed get serious

The Pistons won their 11th game in a row. Only Portland with 13 wins in a row this season has a longer streak. Portland lost Monday to Utah to end their streak.

Saturday in a marquee matchup the Pistons face the Celtics in the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Richard Hamilton scored 22 points, Rasheed Wallace added 20 and the Detroit Pistons extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 101-85 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Chauncey Billups had 18 points for Detroit, which has not lost since an 80-77 defeat in Houston on Dec. 12 and owns the longest current run in the NBA.

The Pistons’ streak is their longest since winning 11 straight in January 2006. source

The Celtics will be looking for a little revenge after losing to the Pistons recently. The Pistons tagged Boston with their first home loss of the year.

Toronto

The Toronto team was overmatched by the Pistons, but Chris Bosh had a great game.

Chris Bosh had 23 points and 16 rebounds for Toronto, which has lost five of seven.

Chris has a shot at being a 20/10 guy this year. Right now he is averaging 20.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. 20/10 is an exclusive crowd.

Jose Calderon is close to averaging a double double an even more exclusive crowd. Jose had 15 points and 9 assists. He is averaging 11.2 points and 8.1 assists on the year.

Rip Hamilton

While Rip was in a slump early in the year and fighting minor injuries, lately he has been nye unstoppable.

Hamilton has averaged 21.6 points during the streak and has led the Pistons in scoring in the past seven games.

Should be a fantastic game with Boston on Saturday!

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Chauncey prefers to shoot not dunk

The Detroit Pistons won their ninth game in a row and did it in impressive fashion destroying the Milwaukee Bucks 114 to 69.

The Pistons suddenly aren’t content with simply beating teams; they are humiliating them. Here what was reported in the papers.

They made the Milwaukee Bucks look like a D-League team Monday, ending 2007 with a 114-69 romp before the 200th straight sellout crowd at The Palace.

“You get into a certain part of the season where things are getting comfortable for you and you just want to continue to ride that wave,” Tayshaun Prince said. “That’s what’s going on right now.” source

The Pistons ended up December 15 – 2. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Detroit!

As stated before, it is the young guys that are helping Detroit seem like a rejuvenated team.

Also reminiscent of that championship run is the way the Pistons’ bench is contributing. Jarvis Hayes contributed 14 points off the bench. He, Jason Maxiell, Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo helped the Pistons spread the lead in the second quarter and led the Pistons to a 28-12 advantage in the fourth.

“These are young guys and when they get into the game they are really taking advantage of their minutes,” Billups said. “They are so aggressive and so hungry when they get their chance. I’ve been calling them the Zoo Crew because they are like some caged animals when they get out there. I love watching them play.”

Chauncey dunks

In a wild move in the game, Chauncey Billups took a long pass from McDyess and dunked the ball. Chauncey rarely ever dunks. It seems Afflalo had been bragging about his vertical leap and Chauncey had to show him he could dunk. So far Afflalo has no dunks in the NBA.

Rip Hamilton could not resist commenting on the dunk.

“That dunk was so old-school,” said a non-impressed Hamilton. “He should have gotten a technical foul for hanging on the rim. But he said to me, ‘I had to let all the cameras get their snapshots in so everybody can see I can still dunk.’ “

The Pistons are winning and having fun. What could be better!

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