Rockets make all the right moves to extend streak

What the Rockets did

In extending their second-best-ever winning streak to 22 games, the Rockets had several heroes — both major and minor.

Alston was certainly one of the former — 10-for-22 (including an amazing 8-for-11 treys), 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 31 big points. It was Alston's long-distance dialing that fueled the Rockets takeoff. Another flurry of 3-balls by Alston roused Houston from their third-quarter doldrums.

Battier was another prime-time hero — 5-for-16, two assists, one block, zero turnovers, and 14 points. It was Battier's adhesive defense on Bryant that made shambles of the Lakers' offensive game plan.

After starting out 0-for-9, Tracy McGrady shot 4-for-7. Overall, he distributed a game-high six assists while tallying 11 points. Credit the individual efforts of Vladimir Radmanovic and (especially) Kobe, along with a collapsing defense, for McGrady's shooting woes.

T-Mac got plenty of help from Rafer Alson and Luis Scola. (David J. Phillip / Associated Press)

At the same time, L.A.'s determination to jam T-Mac left Houston's perimeter shooters with too much time and space. An unselfish performance coupled with a pair of critical makes in the end-game transformed T-Mac from being a potential goat to being a minor hero.

The other part-time hero was Bobby Jackson, who scored 19 points in 20 minutes — 7-for-9 with 6 rebounds and one assist.

In the end-game, Rick Adelman went small with Jackson and Alston in the backcourt, Battier and T-Mac at the forwards, and Luis Scola at center. That's four 3-point specialists plus one plugger. As a result, some snappy pass-work created clean looks from just about everywhere in addition to unattended driving lanes.

Give Adelman the biggest gold star. Much has been made of the lack of top-flight teams that the Rockets have beaten during their streak. But hey, a team can only play the ball clubs that are on its schedule.

Besides, during the Lakers' record-setting 33-game streak in 1971-72, they defeated Buffalo and Cleveland twice each and Portland three times — and none of those games were closer than 10 points. These seven victories were significant because the Braves, the Cavaliers and the Trail Blazers had all been expansion teams in 1970-71 and were still weak sisters.

In that Lakers' streak season, their 69 wins eclipsed the combined total of wins by the expansionist Braves (22), Cavs (23) and Blazers (18). Still, the Lakers reaffirmed their claim to greatness that year by eventually winning the championship.

Meanwhile, for the Rockets, it's 22 down and 11 to go.

Straight Shooting

There's no question that the battle for the top seed in the Western Conference is exciting. Only five games separate the current top dogs (Rockets) and the eighth seed (Warriors).

The rewards for finishing with the best record include the home-court advantage and the opportunity to face lesser opponents.

Tim Duncan and the Spurs won it last season as a No. 4 seed. (Lisa Blumenfeld / Getty Images)

However, history proves that this edge neither guarantees a championship nor even a place in the finals. Here are some pertinent numbers regarding the rankings of teams that have appeared in championship series:

All-told, NBA championships have been contested between two No. 1 seeds only 23 times.

Here's the data on championship-winning ball clubs:

What does all of this mean? Primarily, that veteran teams that have already won the gold are only slightly disadvantaged by having a lesser seed.

However, all the numbers are just about meaningless this season, simply because of the unusual number of excellent teams in the West.

So regardless of their final placement, the Western Conference teams that are peaking in April will have the advantage.

Vox Populi

"Charley, I appreciate the way you break down games and individual players' performances, as do many of your readers. What about letting your readers know, every so often, which upcoming games and/or individual players you'll be scouting for your columns? This would allow your readers to do our own scouting, and then compare our conclusions to your published ones." — Gord Bruyere, Couchiching First Nation, Ontario, Canada

I usually confer with an editor at FOXSports.com on Fridays to discuss what my assignments will be for the following weeks. Of course, any late-breaking news (trades, firings, injuries, arrests) have to be covered ASAP. Sometimes the sudden emergence of a particular game or individual necessitates a change of plans — as does an injury to a proposed featured player. Also, since I live in a rural area in upstate New York, periodic power outages are also a factor.

That said, here are my upcoming assignments:

Travels with Charley

Here's the best advice I ever gave to one of my CBA players: The Rockford Lightning were in Rapid City, S.D., and scheduled to play a nationally televised game on Thanksgiving Day 1987. In an attempt to attract the largest-possible audience, the game was played at 11:00 a.m. local time.

Pete Myers was Rockford's shooting guard — actually a misnomer since he had a chicken-wing release and was primarily a penetrator and a defender. Then, as now, Myers was a bright, friendly, all-around nice guy. He had spent the previous season with the Chicago Bulls, primarily serving as MJ's punching bag during practice.

On the night before the game, I told Pete this:

"The Thrillers are the home team on Thanksgiving, so they're looking forward to a big post-game meal with their teammates, their friends, whomever. Some of them will also be a little distressed at spending the holiday away from their families, as we all are. Because of all that, and because of the early starting time, it'll be difficult for anybody to be in top form. What you could do, Pete, is to get to bed early tonight, and really get yourself psyched for the game. Because it's on national TV, you know that NBA coaches and scouts will be tuned in. Here's your chance to have a bust-out game and get back into The League where you belong."

He agreed.

Turned out that we won the game 114-94, and none of the Thrillers could come close to matching Pete's intensity. He wound up with 11 steals and a few weeks later — as soon as the 10-day contracts went into effect — Pete was signed by San Antonio.

He eventually played in the NBA for nine seasons (with Chicago, San Antonio, Philadelphia, New York, Miami and Charlotte), averaging 4.8 ppg, playing in 377 games, starting in 100.

A lanky 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, Pete had the size and the speed to be able to consistently stay in front of Allen Iverson — the only defender I've ever seen who could do this.

These days, Pete is an assistant coach with the Bulls. His defensive expertise is widely renown, but I expect he's not giving jump-shooting lessons to anybody.