When McGrady's shot is falling, he is the closest thing the league has to unstoppable. I liked that they were switching defenders late in the game to give him different looks -- Sheed one time, Evans the next.

Object lesson:

* Detroit made a rookie take the last shot instead of McGrady, which is why the Pistons win games.

* Rafer Alston gave up six foul shots to Chauncey by fouling him twice on three-point attempts, which is why other teams lose games. He lets Billups make one of two, the Rockets win.

Lee, I think your summary is on the mark. A win is a win, but to me it wasn't a very inspired peformance by the Pistons. Chauncey's shot selection (I believe it was Chauncey) in one of the last possessions for the Pistons (when a two-point bucket would have put the Pistons up by six) was questionable. If I recall correctly, he attempted a shot from 3-point land that missed badly. But then again, I didn't think it made sense for Houston to attempt a three on their last possession either.

some more comments later but phew, still undefeated when i go to games this year!! knock on wood it was weird having a close one for once, but fun to actually have your heart racing at the palace instead of the usual blowout

I love the fact that we have a wing player off the bench that is stepping up game after game. We have now had double digit points from at least one of them in each of the last 5 games. Mo Evans was fantastic today. He was aggressive in the paint, hit a three, and was easily our best T-Mac defender on night. Delfino's foul trouble was the story of his game, but I hope he stays aggressive on D. You're never going to get the calls against a guy like T-Mac. He will learn how much contact the refs allow with time.

It's also great to see Tayshaun getting some serious rest. Only 25 minutes again tonight. Gets our bench players some more experience, and Tayshaun more rest, so he'll be good to go for the playoffs.

However, don't get carried away just yet. Wait until he has a good game against an above .500 team.

Before tonight, the Rockets were 10-6 with T-mac on the road. They are 0-16 without T-Mac, so they were really 13-9 overall with T-Mac playing. I'd consider them at least a .500 team.

Besides, I don't care if the team we're playing is 0-40. We didn't have ANYONE at the 2/3 last year who could take the pressure off the starters against even the worst of teams.

You love to discredit everything Evans does against lesser teams, but let's be honest... as much as I am a Delfino fan, he has done even less against good teams. And he has really only had 1 game where he had a big impact on the outcome. Evans has had numerous. Today he even played in crunch time against a top 5 player in the game.

Hey, its not limited to Evans. I mentioned that Arroyo's best game recently was against Atlanta. Delfino has absolutely helped us in some big games. SA, Cleveland, and Miami to name a few recently. And Arroyo has done well all season long, good teams or bad. Dyess is there game after game spelling our bigs.

What matters is the playoffs. Until Evans shows he can have a good game against a playoff caliber team, I will not get to thrilled about his performances.

All this is nothing to argue about really. Its just something to discuss, and track. We have games against Milwaukee, Minny, and then Memphis this week, all playoff bound teams. Lets see who does what in those games.

And to put a capper on it, San Antonio LOST today.

I consider us fortunate to have won that game. Houston definetly played well enough to win. Only thing that saved us was T-Mac's 2-8 in the 4th. Kind of looked like he tweaked his back which seemed to have limited his mobility just enough to start missing.

I cannot understand why Sheed was not posting up that game. With what Houston had inside Sheed could have had a monster game. Same theme in many games as to why Sheed is not utilized more. Wasn't Sheed rolling over Howard in the previous Houston game?