Down and almost out

I had a good piece about the NBA playoffs ready to be posted, when I suddenly realised that my favourite team is on the verge of being knocked out of the first round.

Not that there's anything new with that, since the Rockets with Tracy McGrady have never make it pass the first round before. Come to think of it, McGrady has never made it to the second round in his 10 years playing in the NBA. He was knocked out when he was playing for the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and now, I think he has jinxed the Houston Rockets as well.

What more can I say?

Rockets managed to finish a respectable fifth in the highly competitive Western Conference and managed to grab homecourt advantage against their first round opponent - Utah Jazz. Being eliminated by Jazz last year in 7 games, I'm sure revenge must be in some of the senior players mind, especially McGrady. But they fall in the first game, trailing throughout the whole game and shooting at a miserable 37% from the field. The main culprit: McGrady and Bobby Jackson, who is starting in the absence of point guard Rafer Alston.

And if I thought the first game was just a minor hiccup, they proved me wrong by losing the second game. So there goes the homecourt advantage. There goes the whole season just like that, and suddenly, 22 games winning streak seems like an eternity away. What's good is a streak if you can't just hold it up long enough to get you far in the playoffs?

Not that there is no chance for a comeback. There is still 5 games left in the series, and anything can happen. But statistically, it's a bit far-fetched. The Jazz is 37-4 during the regular season playing in Salt Lake City. That means they only lost 4 times, and that is indeed an impressive record. The only bright side about this is one of the losses is to the Rockets, so maybe there is still hope.

But in order for that to happen, they need to shoot better, distribute the ball more and one thing for sure, McGrady needs to step up and carry the team on his shoulder.

That, in my opinion, is the only way they can break the jinx.