Thank you, T-Mac

The "Basketball for Thought" is a commentary by Kris Gardner.

December 10, 2004

Mere words simply cannot describe the events which took place Thursday, December 9th, at Toyota Center. For roughly 47 minutes, a game, which even San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich described as "boring", became a legendary tale with a miraculous finish thanks to Houston Rockets swingman Tracy McGrady. McGrady scored 13 points in the game's final 35 seconds to turn a certain Spurs' victory into a tremendous comeback win for the Rockets 81 to 80.

The game was not pretty. The halftime score was 38 to 34, Rockets. Fans weren't happy with either team's performance and neither was the media. In the third quarter, the Rockets continued their collective funk; and, the Spurs took a 58-54 lead into the fourth quarter. Then, the Spurs began to pull away from the Rockets and the lead grew to 73-62 with 2:54 left in the game.

Fans began leaving the game.

Yao Ming scored to cut San Antonio's lead to 9 with 2:38 left. After two blocked shots, the Spurs committed a 24-second violation; but, the Rockets would get no closer as they missed 5 straight shots. Tim Duncan made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Spurs a 74-64 lead with 62 seconds remaining.

Little did anyone know a miracle was about to happen.

McGrady missed a lay-up; but, Yao Ming rebounded the miss and dunked.

74-66, Spurs.

Rockets' forward Scott Padgett stole the inbound pass and dunked.

74-68, Spurs.

47.3 seconds to go.

Spurs guard Devin Brown is fouled; and, he hits both free throws.

76-68, Spurs.

McGrady hits a 26-foot three-pointer with 35 seconds remaining. (A friend sitting says to me: "Could it be a Reggie Miller?" I said, "Nah."

(On May 7, 1995, Indiana's Reggie Miller scored eight points (two three-pointers, two game--winning free throws) over the final 16.4 seconds of the game, helping lead the Pacers to a shocking 107-105 come-from-behind win over host New York in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series.)

76-71, Spurs.

Brown is fouled again and hits two more free throws.

78-71, Spurs.

McGrady draws a foul on Duncan as T-Mac hits a three. And 1.

78-75, Spurs with 24.3 seconds remaining.

With 16.2 seconds left, Duncan is fouled; and, Tim hits both free throws.

80-75, Spurs. Timeout Rockets.

McGrady hits another tough three-pointer.

80-78, Spurs.

11.2 seconds to go.

Timeout Spurs.

The Spurs inbound the ball to Brown; and, to my surprise, the Rockets decided to trap the ball instead of foul immediately. Brown stumbled and lost the ball with 7.9 seconds to go. McGrady picked up the ball underneath the basket; raced up the court; crossed half-court; dribbled to his left; pulled up from behind the three-point arc; and, with Spurs' guard Brent Barry's left hand in his face, Tracy jumped and launched a 26-foot jump shot...

Swish!

81-80, Rockets. 1.7 seconds to go.

The crowd went absolutely nuts!

The Spurs quickly inbounded to Tony Parker; but, Parker's desperation heave was off the mark.

The Rockets won the game with the most improbable come from behind victory in team history!

I couldn't believe what I just saw. No one could. Everyone was walking around in complete disbelief. The Rockets' locker room was abuzz after the game. Dikembe Mutombo was wondering "Where is Reggie Miller?" Maurice Taylor called McGrady, "The new Reggie Miller."

McGrady said what he did "still hasn't hit me, yet."

The win was such a miracle Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy, Mr. Negative, didn't want to talk about any negatives in the post-game interview session.

JVG said, "No negatives tonight. You beat the San Antonio Spurs there's no negatives. I don't want to hear it."

That indeed is a miracle.

Thank you, T-Mac.