Tracy McGrady is Down With The Sickness

When Tracy McGrady said he "exorcized the demons" the bad side of the Houston Rockets' first half of the season, if not the damage they caused, seemed gone, too.

"Me shooting poorly was because I was dealing with some personal things," McGrady said after scoring 28 points in 29 minutes on Tuesday.

"I guess it's safe to say I wasn't myself out there. Basketball was the last thing on my mind and it was showing. But when you're struggling, you just have to keep playing. It's a long season. You just have to continue to have confidence and continue to play.

"Coming from a scorer, you don't ever stop shooting. To get yourself going, if you're struggling with your shot, try to get to the free throw line, try to get easy baskets. That's builds up the confidence and that opens up the outside game."

McGrady did not say what those personal problems were. He did say they are not over but that he has been able to keep them from haunting him on the court.

"We're playing with a great deal of confidence right now," McGrady said. "We're just believing in one another. We realize we're not too far away. Whatever happens toward the end of the season, we're going to compete no matter what's at stake. But we understand that we're not too far out."

There is recent precedent to offer hope. The Rockets never reached this season's depths last season, but they hit the break on a roll, winning eight consecutive games.

That gave them a 32-21 record at the break. The Rockets head into tonight's game 22-30.

When they first sank to eight games under .500, McGrady said the Rockets were not just in a hole, they were in the Grand Canyon. It is still a long way to ground level, but they go into the last game before the break heading in the right direction.

"I don't think we had problems last year with expecting to win," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I think we started playing well enough to win consistently and doing the things it takes to win.

"This year is very similar. I dont think it's about us not expecting enough of ourselves, I think it's about playing well enough to win consistently. It starts with our best two players, we know that; them playing consistently well, and when playing around them, (we have to play) a hard enough game, a smart enough game and a together enough game that can sustain you.''

On Thursday, Jeff Van Gundy hopes that the supporting cast will ''play a hard enough game'' to help Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady when the Houston Rockets face the red-hot Phoenix Suns. If McGrady has indeed beaten his ineer demons, then the Rockets' sudden surge will continue.