On this day 15 years ago, Rockets star and future Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady dropped 44 points on 15-of-21 shooting (71.4%) in Salt Lake City. It all led to a 99-85 Houston win (box score) on March 28, 2005.
The victory improved the Rockets to 43-28. Houston ultimately finished the season at 51-31 and as the Western Conference’s No. 5 playoff seed before losing in the first round to No. 4 Dallas (58-24) in seven games.
On that March 28 night in Utah, with the Rockets in the middle of a playoff push late in the regular season, McGrady scored an astonishing 30 points during the first half alone on 11-of-13 shooting (84.6%).
The Houston Chronicle‘s Jonathan Feigen sets the scene:
When he nailed his last shot of the first half from deep in the corner, with Gordan Giricek close enough to smell McGrady’s antiperspirant, the Jazz fans could not help but cheer.
“How often do they see something like that?” McGrady said. “Not saying that their guys don’t do that, but it’s very rare that a guy comes in and puts up 22 points in a quarter. Ever since I had the game (against) Cleveland (scoring 31 last week), I’ve been in a zone like I was when I averaged 32 points in this league. I just felt like everything is just clicking for me offensively. My overall game is there for me.
“I don’t know what sparked that, but I’m to that point right now. It’s probably just confidence, but I feel like I’m in that zone. My defender is basically at my mercy all night.”
Then 25 years old, the Rockets had acquired McGrady before the 2004-05 season as part of a blockbuster trade with the Orlando Magic. That initial year was McGrady’s best as a scorer over his six seasons in Houston, with per-game averages of 25.7 points on 43.1% shooting.
