If you missed last night’s Rockets-Suns beatdown, you missed a scuffle involving Matt Barnes, Rafer Alston and just about everyone in uniform. The highlight, undoubtably, was Shaquille O’Neal running to shove Tracy McGrady, knocking down three or four other players in the process. Unfortunately for the Rockets, they didn’t have the intimidating presence of Clutch, the Rockets’ lovable mascot. Thanks to Deadspin, we’ve found a hilarious video involving said mascot, scaring the bejesus out of little kids. Enjoy. 

I honestly can’t believe what I just saw in Houston this afternoon. The Rockets just got done giving a beatdown on a Laker team without Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and it was like Hakeem “The Dream” and Clyde won another championship! While I give them props on the victory and the 22 game win streak, I would like to question the ovation that was delivered inside the Compaq Center today.

First off, who gave the the go-ahead to drop streamers and confetti from the rafters? This was a regular season game, not game seven of the Western Conference Finals. Seriously people, this was unbelievable. Again, I would like to dish out some credit to the Rockets, but this streak doesn’t mean you should start turning your arena into a scene from Cirque De Soleil.

I am honestly puzzled. Did the Rockets watch what happened to the Patriots in the NFL Playoffs? Yes this winning streak is awesome, unreal for that matter. But until you bring home the hardware, keep your party gear inside the cupboard. Without Yao in the playoffs this Spring, I doubt the Rockets can get past the Lakers, Spurs, Suns and Mavs in a 7 game series.

Again, I’ll give Houston what it deserves, but don’t think this is going to be an easy road because you guys have won 22 in a row. The Western Conference gets its rep because it is so hard to play night in and night out against such elite teams. Enjoy the winning streak, Houston. But please, save the streamers for June.

After suffering three first round playoff exits under Jeff Van Gundy, the Houston Rockets decided it was time for a change. Their search for a new coach didn’t last long, as the Rockets announced the hiring of former Kings coach Rick Adelman. If Adelman’s stint in Sacramento is any indication, the Rockets will soon be trading in first round exits for even more painful losses in the Western Conference Semifinals and Finals.

Houston television station KRIV first reported on Monday night, citing unidentified league sources, Adelman and the Rockets have reached a preliminary agreement and his hiring will be announced in a news conference Wednesday.

When Adelman was fired unceremoniously by the Kings, I didn’t expect him to be out of work very long. His impact in the Kings’ locker room was clear when Eric Musselman quickly hit the bottle and drove soon after being hired. Things got worse for the Kings when they sputtered to their worst record in eight years. Adelman inherited a bad situation in Sac-Town. This one looks a lot better.

He’s responsible for ushering in an era of truly entertaining basketball with the Kings. He utilized Vlade Divac and made him one of the most versatile centers in the league. Look for Yao’s passing abilities and range to be a major focal point in the new Rockets. Then there’s Tracy McGrady, the talented go-to guy on the perimeter that the Kings lacked during Adelman’s tenure. Will he be able to usher in an era of success, similar to the one he built in Portland and Sacramento? We’ll soon find out.

Before last night’s game seven between the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, the home team had won all six games in the series. But in the biggest game of them all, the Houston Rockets choked. Despite a solid 28-13 home record and three wins in Houston during the series, the Rockets fell to the Jazz 103-99.

Much of the hype before the series was centered around Tracy McGrady. T-Mac has been one of the league’s most prolific players but he’s been infamous for losing in the playoffs. That was supposed to change this series. It didn’t, leaving T-Mac’s playoff record at a dissappointing 0-6. But he’s not to blame here. He scored 29 points and dished out 13 assists last night. He averaged 25 points a game in the series. If you’re looking for people to blame here, it’s not Tracy McGrady.

I’m going to point a finger at Rockets freak Yao Ming. Despite developing a strong offensive(25 PPG in the series), the Rockets lost this series because Yao was abused like a stepchild inside. Despite having a good 9-10 inches on Carlos Boozer, Yao let the former Duke star drop 35 points and 14 rebounds on him. Duke stars are supposed to fade late, not come up huge in game sevens. When the game was on the line, Yao was outhustled by Boozer and outshot by Mehmet Okur. Unacceptable.

So now we have all four playoff semifinal matchups and without a doubt, the most intriguing and surprising is the matchup between Utah and Golden State. For once, there’s some parody in the NBA Playoffs and I’m happy to see it. Phoenix and San Antonio may have better teams, but this series has better stories. Under Jerry Sloan, the Jazz are showing signs of returning to past glory with another guard-forward combo: Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. And we shouldn’t have to mention the Warriors’ performance so far.

With the NBA Playoffs getting set to tip off this weekend (previews later today!), I thought it’d be suitable to find a video of an incredibly akward superstar: Yao Ming. He’s come into his own this season, averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds a game. But more importantly, he’s seemingly mastered the swagger that a dominant player needs in this league. Read Yao’s lips following some ownage of the Clippers earlier in the year: “Try to fu**ing stop me.”

It doesn’t matter that Yao is 7′6 and the product of a successful science experiment. He’s still hard to find intimidating. Besides, opponents don’t have to stop him. Yao’s bum feet will do that. The poor bastard may never live up to his potential because of chronic foot problems. If Yao’s feet don’t stop him, Nate Robinson will.

Houston Rockets guard Bonzi Wells didn’t show up to the Rockets game vs Seattle on Monday. Thats right, he didn’t show up.

Bonzi Wells, doing his best Barrett Robbins impression, called the team trainer and told him that he wasn’t going to show up for the game. Apparently Wells cited that he was “disrupting the team chemistry too much” and when head coach Jeff Van Gundy tried to get a hold of Wells, he was unable to.

This story is hilarious on multiple levels. First, the fact that Bonzi just didn’t show up. How does a relatively well known player such as Bonzi think he’s just not going to show up and nobody will notice. It’s the freaking NBA, it doesn’t work like that. The way it works is that the players show up, play basketball, and go home. Bonzi struck out on that one. Next, the idea that he’s disrupting team chemistry by being there. Oh, like not showing up to a game and screwing over your teammates doesn’t even further the disruption? Like bailing on your team to go M.I.A for a while doesn’t hurt your team morale. There’s just nothing like skipping work one day to really mess up that team chemistry.

Ive never known what to make of Bonzi Wells. He’s an average player with an average shot and average defensive abilities. His ability to make decisions regarding showing up to work, however, are apparently sub-par. Look, Bonzi, show up to work, play your 18 to 20 minutes, score some points, and go home. One way to not disrupt your “team chemistry” is to go about your business, actually show up to the game, and be done with it. Not showing up is only going to further the team’s ideas about you being an assclown and a cancer in the locker room.