Anyway, if Yao didn't play well, it certainly also meant that Amare was not going to play well. The important thing was that McGrady could open up the situation from the flanks.
As long as he could explode, then the Rockets would be able to win easily.
If they really knocked out the Phoenix Suns, that would be really interesting.
McGrady's 35 seconds 13 points had happened in December of last year, and by this time, he was like a dark cloud hanging over the Spurs.
Could it be that the Rockets' most promising year was not 2009, but 2005?
However, to tell the truth, according to the historical patterns in the NBA, any duo that doesn't perform well in their first year together tends to do worse in the following years. The most typical example would be Billups and Anthony later on.
They made it to the Western Conference Finals in their first year together and then never reached that height again.
It was the same for Yao Ming and McGrady.
