In Toronto, Artest said McGrady needs to be "more of a dog." In Boston, he said McGrady tends to cruise and rely on his talent.

This week, he said the Rockets' pursuit of a more consistent defense needs to start with McGrady.

He softened the comment considerably, but he did begin by pointing at McGrady.

"Tracy has to step it up on defense too," Artest said. "He's very inconsistent on defense, so he has to get better. I'm sure he'll get better with his knee getting more healthy. This was the best I've seen him, today.

"It's going to start with Tracy. It's going to start with guys like Michael Jordan, Kobe (Bryant), LeBron (James). When I was in Sacramento, it started with me. It will start with your leaders. It will start with him, and also Yao (Ming). Then it filters down to the other guys."

A day later, McGrady said that Artest might not have been wrong about what he said but was wrong to say it.

"We're doing too much talking," McGrady said on Saturday. "We have to play some basketball and get some wins. This is not the time to point a finger here and there on what somebody needs to do. No. We all need to step it up.

"It starts with everybody," McGrady said. "I understand what he was saying and I think if he had a chance to word it again he would have said it in a different way. It starts with Rafer (Alston), myself, Yao (Ming). It starts with all of us. You don't just call one guy out. I understand what he was saying, though.

"We're doing too much talking. When things are not going well, everybody wants to say things they normally don't say and that's what's happening now. We have to win and stop doing too much damn talking."

ROCKETS 107, TIMBERWOLVES 90: For a quarter, Al Jefferson tormented the Rockets as if he was taking his turn dominating in Madison Square Garden. He had 17 points and rebounds in the first quarter, and less than four minutes into the second quarter, the Timberwolves led by as much as 15. On the other end, the Rockets had made two early 3's and then missed 11 consecutive shots from inside the arc. That was enough for the Rockets to do what they had intended all along. After a brief Dikembe Mutombo cameo, Yao Ming came back in to challenge Jefferson as he could not early, answering with 30 points, as the Rockets turned around the game to win going away. Jefferson had 36 points and 22 rebounds, but got little help. When they missed their first seven shots of the fourth quarter, the Rockets easily pulled away for their sixth consecutive victory against the Timberwolves.