Just one player came back from injury, but several Rockets looked very different.
With Ron Artest back after sitting out two games to rest his sprained right ankle, the Rockets had Shane Battier, Tracy McGrady and Artest healthy at the same time for the first time this season. Artest came off the bench, the role the Rockets envisioned when they traded for him, and the Rockets seemed much more than one player deeper. With Artest off the bench, the Rockets still have a focal point for their offense when Yao Ming and McGrady were out.
With he and Shane Battier taking turns on Denver's Carmelo Anthony, the Rockets' defense looked much stronger when finally being able to keep a fresh defender on a top scorer. And with more depth at the position (even with Brent Barry and Von Wafer out), McGrady could break up his 37 minutes on the floor, seeming stronger in the fourth quarter.
The size also helped get Yao Ming the ball with deep touches. While McGrady and Battier have long been the Rockets' best passers in to Yao in the post (and they have only played three games together this season), Artest was improving rapidly at feeding Yao. Then Artest had to miss time and the Rockets returned to their inconsistent ways while running their offense through the low post.
With Artest, Battier and McGrady all playing, the Rockets had two wing players able to get the ball to Yao at all times.
Finally, with the game on the line, Artest shifted over to power forward and all three played together, making the Rockets more versatile offensively and better defensively down the stretch.
All that came together with one player coming back, but he was the one player the Rockets had waited since July to see in this role.
ROCKETS 108, NUGGETS 96: The Rockets had most everything they tried working offensively. For the first time this season, their presumed "Big Three" -- Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest -- all topped 20 points. They made a season-best 55.3 percent of their shots. Guard Aaron Brooks, stepping in for the injured Rafer Alston, outscored the Nuggets' Chauncey Billups, 18-8. But they could not get a win until they brought the one thing they always rely upon, their defense. That came in the third quarter. After the Nuggets made 57.5 percent of their shots and scored 61 points in the first half, the most in a half against the Rockets this season, the Nuggets made just 31.8 percent of their shots in the third quarter, just 33.3 percent in the second half as the Rockets took command and pulled away.
