He has done the rehab. He has regained the strength. He is not injured. But the stamina is not there, and the knee weakens as the games progress. There is pain, sometimes bad enough that he does not move.

McGrady could not abide playing that way, so he has sat out the Rockets' last three games and visited Dr. James Andrews on Monday. The new plan: He will sit out at least a week and then play reduced minutes when he does return.

McGrady said early last week that he did not believe he would be risking injury by continuing to play and did not think sitting out would improve his condition. After scoring six points in Miami, his fifth game this season scoring in single digits, he said he just could not accept his poor play, forced by his condition.

"I'm just not ready to play," McGrady said. "With the limping and everything, I'm not healthy enough to play anymore. It's good that I'm going to see the doctor Monday and get a second opinion, and then we'll make a decision on the future."

?? NUGGETS 104, ROCKETS 94: The Rockets were short-handed and short but had overcome that. Playing without Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier and Brent Barry, they went with a small backcourt, and that caused them problems as the Nuggets built their lead to as much as 14. But with 7 1/2 minutes remaining, the Rockets had come back to within five and even had an open Luther Head 3-pointer that could have brought them to within two. Head missed, and the Rockets kept on missing until it was too late. Denver scored on its next four possessions. Chauncey Billups, who scored 24 of his season-high 28 points in the second half, set up or scored six of the next eight points after the Rockets' fourth-quarter run. And with Ron Artest misfiring, Yao Ming not scoring in the second half and other key scorers not there at all, the Rockets could not keep up.