SpaceCity

In a stunning move, the Houston Rockets have set up a trade for Ron Artest of the Sacramento Kings. While the deal cannot be officially made until August 14 (Rookie Donte Greene was signed on 7/14. NBA rules state that you have to wait 1 month after signing a draft pick before he can be traded.), the details has been announced.

The Rockets will send Bobby Jackson, this year’s 1st round pick Donte Greene, next year’s 1st round pick, and about $1 million in cash.

I personally am thrilled about the potential of a Ming/McGrady/Artest trio. That’s one powerful offensive force. Combine Artest’s amazing defensive skills with defensive madman Shane Battier, then we also have the potential for a devastating defensive unit. The Rockets finished last season as the second best defensive team in the league.

Here are some initial reactions from around the web about this deal:

With Yao, McGrady, Artest, Luis Scola and Rafer Alston, Houston now has one of the most formidable starting lineups in the West. If Yao can stay healthy, the Rockets have a legitimate chance to make a run for the conference title.
— Chris Mannix - Sports Illustrated

But ultimately, this deal is about Houston going all-in to get a ring from its McGrady-Yao nucleus while it still can. And if Artest can use his walk year as motivation to stay well-behaved for a year, the Rockets just might pull it off.
— John Hollinger - ESPN

I’ll be a kid in a candy store. I’ll be a kid in a store with a lot of candy. I’m going to dance with the stars.
— Ron Artest - (Soon-to-be) Houston Rocket

I couldn’t be more happy. Pleased at how the organization is trying to improve this team, get the help that Yao and myself really need to really get to where we want to be and that’s one of the elite teams in this league.
— Tracy McGrady - Houston Rocket

Let me start off by saying that if you are a superstitious person, you may want to stop reading now. I am going to be daring and look ahead a few games and speculate on the chances of making an already-historic run into a run that breaks a 37 year old record.

First of all, the all-time record for the longest winning streak in the NBA belongs to the 71-72 Los Angeles Lakers. This was a team featuring Wilt Chamberlaine and Jerry West. I don’t expect the Rockets, or any team for that matter, to challenge that record any time soon. That record is probably one of the safest records in sports. A run like that in this day and age of the NBA would be quite an amazing feat.

No, I want to speculate on the possibilities of capturing that number two spot. I want to talk about the chances of the Houston Rockets winning 20 games in a row.

The Rockets, as of March 7 2008, are on a 17 game winning streak. They are on a streak that only 12 other teams in the history of the NBA have experienced. In fact, 2 of those teams were from last year. Both the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks went on a 17 game winning streak last season.

Now here is where it starts to get fun. If the Rockets win 18 in a row, then they will join 6 other teams. Only 6 teams in the history of the NBA have ever won 18 or more games in a row. Every single one of those teams won the NBA championship the year that they made those runs. All of them. The Rockets will be facing a strong New Orleans team on Saturday in an attempt to reach that plateau of greatness.

Wanna keep going? Ok, check this out. Only 3 teams in the history of the NBA have ever won 19 or more games in a row. In the 99-00 season, the Los Angeles Lakers ran off 19 in a row on their way to the first of 3 Championships in a row. That is also the year that they acquired Shaquille O’Neal.

Now we have come to the mark that is both historic and attainable. The second best consecutive winning streak in the NBA’s history belongs to the Milwaukee Bucks. In the 1970-1971 season, on a team featuring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Bucks won 20 games in a row. At the time this was an all-time record, one that would not be broken until….. the very next year!

The following season, the Los Angeles ran off an incredible 33 games in a row.

It’s an exciting run that the Rockets are on right now. They have already busted their previous franchise record of 15 consecutive wins. They are currently on a streak of 11 road wins which is also a franchise record. In addition to that, the Rockets have also set a new franchise record by winning 8 games in a row by double digits. Of course, both of these streaks are still ongoing.

Being an avid Rockets fan for 23 years now, I am really enjoying what is going with this team right now. Considering all of the changes from last season and our rough start of the season, it’s pretty incredible watching this team dominate the way it has been. Crushing Dallas was a wonderful feeling. Beating New Orleans next will be a challenge. But if we get that 18th win, then the next 3 games will be against the weaker New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and Charlotte Bobcats.

Even if the Rockets somehow manage to take this streak to 21, things get real difficult on the schedule. Beginning on March 16, the Rockets will begin a run of games against some of the best in the league. This stretch will include games against The Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, and the defending Champion San Antonio Spurs.

Here’s hoping that Houston can at least win 3 more games. 20 is my magic number. It will be a proud day for the Rockets and Houston if they manage to do something that has not been done in over 37 years. Great work guys. Keep it up!

** Update #1:
03/08/08 - The Rocket beat the New Orleans Hornets to extend their winning streak to 18. As mentioned above, only six other teams in NBA history have every won 18 or more games consecutively. Next up for the Rockets will be the New Jersey Nets, the Atlanta Hawks, then the Charlotte Bobcats. Let’s just say that the odds of surpassing the 20 game winning streak set by the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks just got a lot better!

**Update #2:
03/10/08 - 19 in a row! The Rockets defeated the New Jersey Nets by 18 points to extend their streak to 19 and also to tie an NBA record for most consecutive wins by double-digits. That streak is at 10. By winning 19 in a row, the Rockets become 1 of 4 teams to ever win 19 or more games in a row. Next up is Atlanta.

**Update #3:
03/12/08 - 20!! The Rockets defeated the Atlanta Hawks to tie the 1970-1971 Milwaukee Bucks team for the second best winning streak in the history of the NBA. The Rockets won by 8 points, which ended the run of 10 games in a row won by 10 or more points. We tied the record. However, the franchise consecutive road wins streak is still alive and well. This win may have been the best of the streak. The Rockets played horribly. They couldn’t hit a basket to save their lives, at least for most of the game. Defense won this one. The Rockets face the Charlotte Bobcats at home on Friday. If we get that win then the streak will be 21 and counting.

**Update #4:
03/14/08 - 21 and counting…. The Rockets had another horrible shooting game and yet again managed to find the a way to keep the streak alive. Next up…. the Lakers!

**Update #5:
03/16/08 - 22 baby! The Rockets took care of business against the Los Angeles Lakers. With this win the Rockets not only keep the streak alive at 22 wins in a row, they now exclusively own the #1 spot in the Western Conference. Now having beaten the top team in the West, the Rockets get ready to take on the best team from the East, the Boston Celtics. Boston also owns the best record in the NBA. We have a tough week ahead of us. Getting a win against Boston would be huge. Put it this way, if they beat Boston then there is no reason to think that extending this streak to 33 or beyond is out of reach. I’m not saying it would be easy, I’m just saying that suddenly it would actually seem possible. I’m just saying……

**Update #6:
03/18/08 - The Streak is dead. Boston came to town and stopped the streak at 22. No shame in losing to the best team in the NBA. They really worked us over! Now with the burden of The Streak over it’s back to positioning ourselves for the playoffs.

Well, I guess no one is surprised that the Houston Texans fell to the reigning SuperBowl champs, the Indianapolis Colts, in week three. However, some may be surprised how close it ended up being. The Colts defeated the Texans 30-24. The surprising aspect of it is that we only lost by 6 without our two best running backs and best wide receiver. The injuries didn’t stop there. Here’s a quick rundown of the carnage:

• Andre Johnson; sprained knee from last week
• Ron Dayne was inactive due to bruised ribs
• Ahman Green; knee injury in second quarter
• Jacoby Jones left in the third quarter with a separated shoulder
• Steve McKinney suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the fourth quarter and will be out for the rest of the season
• Cedric Killings was taken off the field on a stretcher after a headfirst collision

”They played most of the game without their two best backs and then their best receiver, and they continued to fight back,” said Colts coach Tony Dungy.

Highlights of the game:

• Matt Schaub was 27/33 for 236 yards, 1 TD, and 2 interceptions
• Texans only had a total of 40 yards rushing.
• Samkon Gado scores TD on a 1 yard run in 4th quarter
• Vonta Leach scores TD on a 1 yard pass
• Kris Brown scores 3 points an a 33 yard field goal
• DeMeco Ryans had 13 tackles
• Amobi Okoye had 1 sack

Next up: the Texans go to Atlanta and take on Matt Schaub’s old team, the 0-3 Falcons.

For the first time in franchise history, the Texans are undefeated two games into the season. After going down 14-0, the Texans storm back for a 34-21 win against the Carolina Panthers. This all goes down while former Texan QB, David Carr, sits on the Panther sideline and watches current Texans QB Matt Schaub go 20-28 for 227 yards and 2 TDs and NO SACKS!

One concern is sprained knee by Andre Johnson. An MRI is being held today to check for the extent of damage. Johnson hopes to play this Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, the reigning Super Bowl champions. Let’s hope for the best.

Some game highlights:

• Ahman Green runs for 71 yards and 1 TD
• Andre Johnson catches for 120 yards and 2 TDs
• Von Hutchins has 11 solo tackles
• Amobi Okoye has 2 of the 3 sacks for Houston
• Texan’s defense forces 3 second half turnovers

UPDATE:
According to the Houston Chronicle, Andre Johnson is doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts. The MRI done on his knee revealed a sprain. If Johnson does not play this Sunday then Andre Davis will be activated.

From coach Kubiak:
“I would say that he is doubtful for that football game. We’ll know more in the next couple of days. There was no swelling, but there’s definitely a sprain there. It’s a concern right now.”

“He has a knee sprain. That’s the good news and the bad news. We feel fortunate. Andre is going to be fine. Is he going to be fine in one week? Or is he going to be fine in four weeks? We’re still in the evaluation stage. We don’t know.”

Rockets.com released this nice little countdown widget. Now I can say that I am literally counting down the seconds until our season gets underway!