McGrady, however, sat out anyway, believing that he was so sore and sometimes in so much pain that he was not playing well enough to play at all. After scoring six points, all in the opening minutes, on Monday, finishing with his fifth single-digit scoring game of the season, McGrady decided either that the Rockets would be better off without him or that he could not play at a level he would accept.

He sat out Wednesday's loss to the Pacers, predicting he would feel well enough to play well enough to play on Saturday.

"It's not being able to go out and play at a high level tonight because my knee is a lot sorer than normal," McGrady said. "It's being cautious. It's one game I'm sitting out and looking forward to coming back and playing the next game. It's all about being able to go out there and contribute and help my team win ballgames. I don't think I can be effective going out there tonight the way I feel so I'm going to take the route of not playing. I believe in my team that they can go out and win."

The Rockets had cut McGrady's playing time to roughly 30 minutes, hoping to reduce the fatigue that has made it difficult to finish games. The plan seemed to be working, with a very strong fourth quarter in Washington and a solid finish in Orlando. Against Miami, however, he had trouble moving all game and once out in the fourth quarter, he never returned.

"I'd rather be healthy later on in the season when we're making a playoff push," McGrady said. "Right now, it's not trying to be Superman and try to save the team. I just have to be smart about it for me personally and my future and also what's best for this team.

"The good thing about it is I can't hurt anything. I can't damage it. That's a nice thing. I can't make it worse."

He made sure of that by not playing at all. The question, however, seems to be not when he will be able to play, but when he will be able to play sufficiently well.

ROCKETS 90, PACERS 91: Things had been rocky much of the night, from Tracy McGrady skipping the game to Shane Battier coming back for the first time since his surgery to his left ankle only to sprain his right. The Rockets shot horribly, 33.3 percent, in the first half. Yao Ming had to leave the game to have a gash stitched closed. But with 6-1/2 minutes left, the Rockets led by 10 against a struggling team playing the second half of a road back-to-back. They figured that they had done enough. And so they did little else. The Rockets did not make another shot the rest of the way. They missed their last eight shots, including a Yao lay-up and Ron Artest jumper in the lane in the closing seconds as the Pacers rallied back for the win. Danny Granger tipped in his own miss with 13.6 seconds remaining to put Indiana out front, but it was at the other end that he had a strong night, blocking six shots, and that the Rockets collapsed.