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Friday April 3, 2009 2:26 PM

Rockets Come Full Circle

Team returns to Los Angeles having finally found its identity

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Los Angeles - It seems counterintuitive to take a stroll down memory lane this late in the NBA’s regular season. If anything, now is the time to be looking forward – to the playoffs, the matchups, the excitement – or, at the very least, to remain focused on the task at hand to ensure one is in the best position possible when the future finally becomes the present. And yet there is a simple sort of symmetry which exists within the Rockets latest visit to Los Angeles to play the mighty Lakers; one which almost demands a bit of reminiscing.

The last time these two clubs faced off at Staples Center, Houston’s season was just seven games old and both teams were being touted as contenders for the Western Conference throne. Tonight, they reconvene on the Lakers’ home floor with just seven games remaining until the playoffs begin; L.A. now draped in the robes of the Favorite, having earned the No. 1 seed in the conference, while Houston lurks as more of an enigma or X-factor – a team repeatedly dismissed and disregarded, yet one which has overcome so much adversity and collected enough signature wins (and, to be fair, crushing losses as well) that almost any possible playoff outcome seems well within its scope.

The story of how the Rockets arrived where they are – on the cusp of another 50-win season and homecourt advantage in the first round – isn’t defined by what happened the evening of November 9, but it seems as good a place as any to begin. The Lakers made an emphatic statement of their supremacy that night, storming back from an early 16-point deficit to annihilate the Rockets by 29. Ever since, they’ve enjoyed a relatively smooth ride to the West’s top seed. Conversely, while there are many words one could use to describe the Rockets’ season to date, “smooth” certainly would not be among them.

For starters, 60 percent of Houston’s starting lineup that evening has either been replaced or reshuffled. Tracy McGrady was lost for the season due to a bum knee, forcing Ron Artest, who started at small forward against the Lakers that evening, into the starting two guard spot. Shane Battier returned from injury to man the three. And Rafer Alston was traded to Orlando at the deadline, promoting Aaron Brooks to the starting point guard position.

The immediate results of such drastic upheaval were predictable. During the season’s first three and a half months – when the vast majority of the turmoil took place - Houston’s play was spotty, inconsistent and disappointing. Yet just as predictable was the Rockets’ response upon finally being blessed with a period of calm and continuity. Since the trade that brought Kyle Lowry and Brian Cook to Houston, the Rockets have gone 15-6 while boasting the league’s second-best defense, giving up just 101.7 points per 100 possessions (Orlando is percentage points ahead, surrendering 101.4 since Feb. 20).

“Some of the days I really felt like I was at a dead end right there,” Yao Ming now admits. “I didn’t see any hope. I felt like, ‘How can we turn this around?’ I didn’t see a way.

“But now we’re sitting here and are still in the playoffs and also have a pretty good place for the playoffs – we’re not safe yet – but we fought for that. We still have a chance because we fight as a group. We have that attitude that everybody stayed together as a team and that’s very positive. This is not about talent or how good you are, it’s about how much you want to play. It makes you feel very good about your season, your team and your career.”

Of course, Yao wasn’t the only Rockets player who struggled to fight off the doubt during those dark days. Even the ever-optimistic Battier confesses that he, too, went through periods when he wondered if the club would ever turn things around. That they did, he says, is a testament to his teammates’ resiliency and refusal to give up.

“We’re not the most conventional team or the most conventional guys, but we have guys who play hard every single night. When you have that attitude, you can overcome a lot. With that said, we had a lot of challenges facing us early. It just seemed like we kept making the same mistakes over and over and over, and there were times when you would wonder if we would ever figure it out.

“This team had to find its own identity, and the journey that we took to find our identity – and we’re still shaping it right now – that’s what life is about and that’s what’s so great about this game. There’s no clear path for any team or individual. You have to figure it out along the way. It’s forged by adversity and challenges, successes and defeats, and so I take great satisfaction out of this year. We’re right around 50 wins right now despite all of our injuries to key personnel in a buzzsaw of a division and a buzzsaw of a conference – that’s an amazing thing.

“People love to harp on what we aren’t and what we haven’t done, but I am happy with this team and excited to fight on with them.”

The battle immediately before the Rockets now – and potentially in the future as well should they meet in the postseason – is in proving they are indeed capable of knocking off the Lakers. While their first meeting was no contest, the last two – both at Toyota Center – were tooth and nail affairs which came down to the final minute, with Kobe Bryant delivering the decisive daggers each time. So while the Rockets know they can compete with the best the Western Conference has to offer, they’re also well aware of what a win would mean; especially given the path they’ve taken to get here.

“The Lakers are a team that the championship is going to go through,” says Yao. “That’s the best test for you. Nothing else.”

Then one final memory makes its way into Yao’s mind: “The last time here, we had a bad loss against the Lakers before going on to (a big win against) Phoenix. Now it’s the other way – we had a loss in Phoenix and come here to play Lakers. Hopefully, it’s our turn (to turn the tables), you know?”

If so, it would not only provide yet another signature win for the resurgent Rockets, but also add yet another bit of symmetry to a season which has been at times trying and difficult, yet supremely satisfying in its own unique way as well.

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