Marc Gasol posted an impressive 26-point, five-rebound, six-assist, three-steal and three-block line against the Clippers on Sunday. Perhaps most amazing of all, Gasol’s 13-of-18 shooting today brings him to 59-of-76 (78%) over his last eight games. Gasol is emerging into a potential NBA all-star and a very efficient, effective player. His hot stretch shooting will end sooner than later, but ride the wave while you can.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Houston: Houston Rockets F Luis Scola left Sunday’s game 22 seconds into the first quarter after getting poked in the eye by the Thunder’s Etan Thomas. Expect Scola to be day-to-day.

Boston: Kevin Garnett shot a near-perfect 11-of-12 from the field to score 24 points with eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in the Boston Celtics’ 92-85 win over the Heat on Sunday. At times, Garnett still appears to be struggling with injuries but the big-ticket is still better than most.

Philadelphia: Eddie Jordan admitted that the Sixers have held conversations about Allen Iverson, and other free agents, just an hour after saying certainly that “he had not talked to anyone about Allen Iverson.” We all know that coaches bend the truth, but it’s always nice to see it happen on an hour-by-hour basis.

Detroit: Charlie Villanueva announced Sunday on his Twitter account that he will have surgery on his broken nose Monday, and we’re calling his status for Wednesday’s game “questionable.”

Detroit: Ben Wallace grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds on Sunday, and added 10 points to go with two steals and two assists.

San Antonio: Manu Ginobili (groin) will play Sunday against the Sixers, but Roger Mason (hamstring) will not. “If he got over 20 minutes, I’d be very surprised,” coach Gregg Popovich said.

Phoenix: The Associated Press updated a post-game report identifying that Leandro Barbosa left Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury, not Amare Stoudemire.

New Orleans: Peja Stojakovic will not play against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday due to personal reasons.
Peja was also suffering from an illness, but this adds a new wrinkle to his situation as he hasn’t even made the trip to Sacramento. It’s unclear at this time whether he’ll be able to meet the team in Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Tuesday. The Nets have just two games next week, and Peja belongs on the bench.

Gilbert Arenas accused his teammates of having “hidden agendas” after Saturday’s loss, which dropped the Wizards to 3-9. Arenas mentioned that eight of his teammates will be free agents this summer. “I converted my game to try to get people involved, but at the end of the day, to be honest, this is the same team since three years ago,” he said. “Do I have to go in attack mode like I was two years ago to get us over this hump? I hope not…I think the only person who actually had to sacrifice is me. Everybody else can just play their game.” Is Arenas trying to be the team captain or does is he complaining about not scoring enough? It remains to be seen whether this diatribe awakens the Wizards or makes things even worse.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Houston: Houston Rockets swingman Tracy McGrady did not attend Saturday’s game or go through his customary pregame workout because of a sore back. Rather than have an MRI on Monday for his knee, it appears he’s having one Sunday for his back and his knee. It remains to be seen if McGrady will ever play in the NBA again.

Los Angelas: Lakers C Andrew Bynum (ankle) returned to action Sunday against the Thunder, scoring 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting (7-of-7 from the foul line) with nine rebounds, one steal and two blocks. Bynum only played 28 minutes because the Los Angelas Lakers had such a big lead.

Los Angelas: Lakers F Lamar Odom scored just two points in the Lakers’ blowout win over the Thunder on Sunday, and added five rebounds and two assists. Another victom of the Lakers great play: Odem only played 19 minutes due to the blowout.

Atlanta: Hawks PG Mike Bibby’s sprained left ankle is “very sore”, but he is still listed as “day-to-day” according to the Atlanta Hawks‘ team spokesperson. It appears that Bibby’s injury is not a high ankle sprain so he could see the court relatively quickly.

Oakland: Oakland Warriors G Stephen Curry is being more aggressive offensively according to assistant coach Keith Smart. “He’s coming down and taking a shot without worrying if he should have taken the shot,” said Smart. As expected, the trade of Stephen Jackson is opening things up for Curry, who is a nice, albeit risky buy low target right now.

Phoenix: Phoenix Suns PG Steve Nash scored 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting (including a three) with zero rebounds and nine assists in 28 minutes of action Sunday. Nash and the rest of the starters sat for most of the fourth quarter as the Suns were in the midst of a blowout.

Houston Rockets SG/SF Tracy McGrady and Head Coach Rick Adelman on Friday both denied a Yahoo! Sports report that the two had engaged in a heated argument behind closed doors on Wednesday.

McGrady said he put on his game uniform Wednesday, despite having no targeted date to return from a knee injury, because “I was excited. I put it on, like a little kid. It felt refreshing to put it on because it was in sight.” Adelman said he simply reminded McGrady that he wouldn’t play, at the earliest, until after his Nov. 23 MRI, and that “We haven’t had any arguments. He wants to know what we’re going to do.” Check back after Nov. 23 for updates. It has long been rumored that the Rockets would like to trade McGrady, but there have been not takers.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Toronto: Toronto Raptors C Andrea Bargnani hit 9-of-14 shots and two 3-pointers on his way to 24 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks on Friday. Bargnani, who is starting to live up to his talent, is averaging nearly 18 points, six boards, two threes and more than a block per game thus far in 2009.

Miami: Heat G Mario Chalmers hit 9-of-15 shots and five 3-pointers to score a career-high 30 points in Friday’s loss to the Raptors. Chalmers also added three assists and three steals on the nigh.

Philadelphia 76ers: Lou Williams hit 12-of-16 shots and four 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 31 points to go along with two rebounds, five assists and six steals. Even with the steller performance, Williams and his team lost to Memphis at home.

Indiana: Pacers F/C Troy Murphy returned from a six-game absence with a back injury and had 12 points, 10 boards, on three pointer and two steals in 24 minutes. Barring a setback, Murphy should see steady minutes in Indiana.

Minnesota: An X-Ray revealed that Kevin Love’s broken hand is progressing, but he’s still about two weeks from practicing and three weeks from playing in a game. Love did some outside shooting Friday, and though he says he feels almost no pain in his hand, he is unable to do anything physical. If he returns Dec. 11 against the Los Angeles Lakers, that would put him right in the 6-to-8 week recovery time originally reported when he broke his hand Oct. 16

Washington: Wizards C Brendan Haywood had 14 points and 16 rebounds in Friday’s loss to the Thunder.
Haywood has play great thus far this season, averaging 11 points, 11 boards and 2.5 blocks.

Boston: Celtics F/C Rasheed Wallace hit just 4-of-16 shots and was 0-for-8 from downtown for nine points, 13 boards, three steals and a block in Friday’s loss to Orlando.

Nets G/F Chris Douglas-Roberts had career highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday’s loss to the Pacers, dropping the Nets to 0-11 on the season. CDR had been out with the flu but is back and appears to be developing into a very good player.

Elsewhere around the NBA:

Houston: Houston Rockets F Carl Landry got hot on Tuesday, hitting 13-of-18 shots for a career-high 27 points to go along with nine rebounds in a loss to the Suns. The Suns are notorious for not playing defense, but Landry’s play has been impressive as of late.

Denver: J.R. Smith came off the bench and hit five 3-pointers to finish with a season-high 29 points in Tuesday’s win. He hit 11-of-17 shots, and even though he won’t start many games he plays starter’s minutes and is primed for a big season as long as he can stay out of trouble.

Phoenix: Suns PF/C Amare Stoudemire hit 8-of-14 shots on his way to 23 points, six rebounds and four assists as the Phoenix Suns beat the Rockets in Houston on Tuesday to improve their record to 10-2. Steve Nash hit just 2-of-10 shots, but finished with 12 points and 16 assists, while Jason Richardson chipped in with 20 points, five boards, two blocks and two 3-pointers in the win. The Suns are a very tough team to beat when Stoudemire, Richardson and Nash are playing well.

Milwaukee: Bucks SG Michael Redd went through non-contact drills at practice Tuesday and said he hopes to practice fully Thursday and play in Friday’s game against the Bobcats. “They’re throwing me to the wolves Thursday,” he said. Redd has been out since Oct. 31 with a left patella tendon strain, but hasn’t suffered any recent setbacks and appears on track to return very soon.

Los Angeles: Los Angeles Clippers G Kareem Rush suffered a torn ACL in his right knee Tuesday, ending his season.
He’ll have surgery soon and Ricky Davis will see more minutes in the short term as a result.

Los Angeles: Clippers C Al Thornton got hot and hit 12-of-17 shots for a season-high 30 points to go along with four boards and an assist in Tuesday’s loss. Thornton has been playing very good in the absence of Eric Gordon.

Indiana: Pacers F Tyler Hansbrough played just 16 minutes Tuesday and missed all five of his shots, failing to score. Hansbrough currently has a limit on the amount of minutes he can play due to a shin injury.

Indiana: Pacers C Roy Hibbert tied a career high with 19 points and added 10 rebounds and three blocks in Tuesday’s win. Hibbert is actually starting to play good basketball, although he appears to be playing in slow motion.

The Houston Rockets got their start in 1967, when they joined the NBA as an expansion team. The club was originally based in San Diego, Calif., but moved to Houston in 1971. The team’s first coach was Jack McMahon, and the team’s first draft pick, in 1967, was Pat Riley (who went on to play for the L.A. Lakers before enjoying a Hall of Fame career as a coach).

The Rockets’ first playoff appearance came in 1969. Led by Elvin Hayes, the team made it to the Western Conference semifinals before being eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in six games. The following year, the team drafted Calvin Hayes and Rudy Tomjanovich (who would later coach the team).

The Early Years

The 1970s started off roughly for the Rockets, perhaps because they were essentially homeless during their early years in Houston. They had no home arena, so they played in the Astrodome and other venues.
In 1975 the team moved to The Summit. Having their own home court may have helped the team’s cohesiveness; in the 1975-76 season, the Rockets made the playoffs for the first time since moving to Houston. They made it to the semifinals before losing to the Boston Celtics.

The Rockets didn’t make the playoffs in 1975-76, but their fortunes took a turn for the better when they acquired former ABA star Moses Malone. Malone led the team in rebounding and led the league in offensive rebounds as the Rockets posted a franchise-high 49 wins and made the playoffs. This time they made it to the conference final before falling to the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

Championships

The Rockets were the beneficiaries of Michael Jordan’s first retirement, in 1993. Led by center Hakeem Olajuwon (and coach Rudy Tomjanovich), Houston won its first 15 games on their way to a playoff appearance and a championship showdown with the Patrick Ewing-led New York Knicks. The Rockets came back from a 3-2 deficit to win the NBA title in seven games.

The following year, the team acquired shooting guard Clyde Drexler. Drexler, who was Olajuwon’s college teammate at University of Houston, had reached the NBA Finals with the Portland Trail Blazers, but never got over the hump. Houston was Drexler’s last and best shot at a title.

After playing their way to a sixth seed in the playoffs, the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs to earn a Finals appearance against the Orlando Magic. The Magic were led by center Shaquille O’Neal and point guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, and they were expected to give the Rockets a run for their money. But the Rockets won four consecutive games and swept the Magic for a second straight title.

2007-2008 season

This past season, the Rockets were expected to make a deep run in the playoffs. An injury to their star center, Yao Ming, appeared to derail those hopes. Without their best player, the team turned to shooting guard Tracy McGrady to help salvage the season. He did more than that. The team ripped off a 22-game winning streak (12 of which were won with Yao Ming), the second-longest in NBA history, and finished the season with a 55-27 record.

The Rockets lost in the first round of the 2007-08 playoffs, four games to two, to the Utah Jazz.

2008-2009 Outlook
Assuming Yao Ming fully recovers, things look good for the Rockets. Steve Francis returns after an injury-plagued season, and the Rockets acquired Ron Artest from the Sacramento Kings. If McGrady and Yao can stay healthy, and Artest can blend into the team’s framework, the Rockets could be a threat to the Western Conference champion L.A. Lakers.