Alston pushes toward Game 3 return
Rockets fans have found the first two games of the first-round Western Conference series against the Utah Jazz hard to watch, imagine how the view has been for Rafer Alston.It has been absolutely painful, and that’s not a reference to the strained hamstring that has kept the Rockets’ starting point guard on the bench, where he has an excellent view of his team’s plunge into a 2-0 deficit in the best-of-seven series.
“We fought hard together in the regular season to get to this point, so to have to sit out and watch the team drop a couple of games, it hurts,” Alston said. “I’d rather sit out and watch our team win.”
Or better yet, help them win.
As the Rockets prepare for Thursday’s Game 3 at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Alston thinks there’s a good chance he’ll finally be on the court passing the ball rather than on the bench passing time.
“I’m pushing hard,” Alston said of his rehab work. “I’m closer than I was two days ago. I’m doing things that I would have to do — slash, cut, being able to slide. Right now I’m pushing for Game 3.”
The reasons for the Rockets’ first two losses are many, but the biggest is that the team has been shorthanded, forced to play without starters Alston and Yao Ming.
Forced to carry more of the offensive burden, Tracy McGrady produced 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists in Monday’s 90-84 loss. But he scored only one point in the fourth quarter, which is one more than he scored in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
“Now he has to play point guard rather than just being himself,” Alston said. “I think him having to do so much is causing these performances in the fourth quarter.”
Losing Alston means more than having McGrady try to take over too many aspects of the game. It also means going without Alston’s averages of 13.1 points and 5.3 assists. And by moving Bobby Jackson into the starting lineup, the Rockets lose Jackson’s vital contributions off the bench.
“I get to go back to the bench (when Alston returns), and our bench has been struggling to score points,” said Jackson, who is averaging 12.5 points in the first two games but shooting only 31 percent from the floor. “Their bench is outscoring our bench (54-32 in the first two games).
“I think the benches are going to play a big, big part of who wins this series. Hopefully I can be that guy who can put energy into the game and provide some scoring.”
But will Alston be ready to contribute? Nobody knows for sure, but with the Rockets in all-hands-on-deck mode, they certainly could use a steady hand like him.
“It would really help us,” said coach Rick Adelman. “It gives us more depth again. Then again, he’s been sitting around for a week. How sharp is he going to be? … We’ll just have to take it day by day.”