Tracy McGrady

Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady out indefinitely with back problems

Rockets star Tracy McGrady is out indefinitely with back spasms and was scratched from Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The six-foot-eight forward missed 35 games last season with back problems and coach Jeff Van Gundy said Tuesday he did not know how long McGrady will be sidelined this time.

Luther Head will make his first start of the season in McGrady's place, Van Gundy said. Head is averaging 9.8 points and is Houston's most accurate three-point shooter (50.5 per cent).

McGrady, a six-time all-star, hurt his back midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against Washington. He scored 28 points before leaving the court and limping to the locker-room.

Van Gundy said Bonzi Wells might play Tuesday night after sitting out the last month. Wells signed a US$5-million, two-year contract, but Van Gundy acknowledged Monday the two have ``struggled to find common ground'' since Wells arrived at training camp.

Van Gundy said Wells would play against the Lakers ``if I think it's in the best interest of the team.''

``I'm not going to focus a lot of my attention on his situation,'' Van Gundy said. ``If it works, it works, it's going to be great. If it doesn't, it doesn't.''

McGrady and Yao combine for 58 points, spark Rockets 118 90 win over Warriors

The game in hand, Tracy McGrady used the third quarter against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night to polish his repertoire.

McGrady scored 13 of his 31 points in the quarter as the Houston Rockets routed the Warriors 118-90.

``I was trying to do some explosive things that I haven't been doing all year,'' said McGrady, who hit 13-of-25 shots and dished out seven assists. ``This was a great opportunity to go out and try that because we had a comfortable lead.

``I'm just trying to take it to another level now.''

McGrady showed no effects from the concussion he suffered after taking an elbow from teammate Dikembe Mutombo in Saturday's win over Cleveland. In a 30-second sequence in the third, McGrady picked off a steal, drove for a breakaway layup, then hit a three-pointer from the top of the key.

``I surprised myself tonight with some of the things I did,'' he said.

Yao Ming added 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Rockets, who've won six of seven games and six straight at the Toyota Center.

Chuck Hayes grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and Juwan Howard added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who shot 54 per cent (45-of-84) against the NBA's worst defence.

Yao manhandled Golden State's big men, making 12-of-17 shots, most of them dunks and layups.

``This is my job, man,'' Yao said. ``They put single coverage on me.

``So all I had to do was catch the ball and go.''

Houston was the fourth straight opponent to reach at least 108 points against Golden State. The Warriors came in allowing an NBA-worst 106 points per game.

Monta Ellis scored 19 points and Baron Davis added 18 points for the Warriors, who've lost four in a row since coach Don Nelson earned his 1,199th career victory. Nelson is trying to join Lenny Wilkens as the only coaches to reach the 1,200-win plateau.

Nelson was in no mood to talk about the elusive milestone after the game.

``We didn't play well offensively or pass or move the ball or execute our game plan,'' he said. ``We proved we are not ready to play the best teams in the NBA.''

The Rockets led by 15 points after the first, by 21 points at the break and 93-68 heading to the fourth. Yao and McGrady sat out nearly all of the final quarter.

The Warriors, the league's best shooting team, shot 39 per cent (32-of-82) against Houston's league-leading scoring defence.

``We just don't have it,'' Davis said. ``We haven't been playing with any passion.

``We have to be a hard-nosed team and that is not happening. We're not a team right now and that has to change.''

Guarded futilely at the start by six-foot-11 Andris Biedrins, Yao scored the Rockets' first 11 points, the last six on easy layups.

Troy Murphy, also six-foot-11, replaced Biedrins with 6:53 left in the first, but Yao promptly rebounded a McGrady miss and threw down a one-handed dunk.

The Warriors, averaging 105 points per game, missed 12 of their first 15 shots and trailed 26-7 eight minutes into the game.

Murphy hit a jumper from the free-throw line to end Golden State's three-minute scoring drought, but Yao answered with an easy baseline jumper. He got a standing ovation as Howard replaced him with 3:23 left in the quarter.

With Yao out, McGrady carried the Rockets' scoring, finishing the quarter with 11 points. The Rockets led 35-20 after one, their highest-scoring quarter of the season.

Notes: G Anthony Roberson replaced Murphy in the lineup and made his first start of the season. Murphy scored one point and grabbed one rebound in 14 minutes in Monday's 129-89 loss to San Antonio. ... The Rockets topped 100 points for only the fourth time this season. Their point total was a season high ... Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy continues to be vague about the status of off-season pickup Bonzi Wells, who's been inactive for the last 14 games. Van Gundy said Wells had a recent hamstring injury, but gave little more explanation why Wells hasn't been playing. ``The less I say, the more likely it is to come to a positive conclusion,'' he said.

Rockets star McGrady leaves game with concussion after taking elbow in face

Rockets star Tracy McGrady left Saturday night's game against Cleveland with a mild concussion.

McGrady had seven points and three assists when he got hit in the face with an inadvertent elbow by teammate Dikembe Mutombo with 1:13 left in the first quarter. McGrady was running to help Mutombo guard LeBron James, who drove to the basket and got fouled after McGrady went down.

McGrady laid still on the floor for a minute, then got up with his hand over his face and walked to the bench.

During a play stoppage, James walked toward the Rockets bench and asked Houston trainer Keith Jones about McGrady's condition.

A few minutes later, McGrady tried to walk to the locker room, but seemed dizzy and disoriented and staggered back to the bench. Rockets forward Steve Novak and Jones eventually helped McGrady slowly walk to the locker room.

The Rockets said McGrady suffered a Grade 1 concussion and was out for the rest of the game.