Carl "The Tooth" Landry, Houston's Newest Hero

It was, quite simply, awesome. The Rockets had all but put it away, then inexplicably did everything in their power to give it back to the Jazz. Enter Houston's newest no. 1 son... Carl "The Tooth" Landry. With seconds left and clinging to a 1-pt advantage, the Utah Jazz patiently ran their sets, just waiting for the right point of attack. You almost have to marvel at Deron Williams' patience and composure for finding just the right timing and angle to attack. Except that instead of dumping it down low to an open Carlos Boozer, he decided to take the shot. And instead of charging the rim, he decided to fadeaway. Both those decisions put Landry in a position to change the face of this series. The block, the rebound and the save from out of bounds with only 0.2 seconds remaining. Heroic.

And we can all thank Rafer Alston for getting the Rockets in position. The often maligned point is finally the guard that, at least the collective consciousness of New York City's finest playgrounds knew that he could be. He did exactly what Houston needed. Skip set the tempo, directed traffic, handled the rock, attacked the rim and gave the Rockets another bona fide scorer. And best of all, his play in the 1st half gave Adelman a chance to rest McGrady. T-Mac's legs were noticeably more spry in the 4th as a result of it. Utah has still only lost to four teams at home this season. Houston's just the only team that's done it twice. They'll need to do it a third time no matter what, but if they can pull it off back-to-back, it changes the entire complexion of this series. There is suddenly new optimism for all but the most delusional of Rockets fans (who never had a doubt).

Oh and T-Mac, for making my friends and I trample the local diner like we won the national championship, for making me repeatedly spill things around me at the bar and for making me lose my voice today... yes, I blame you.

Originally posted at Yao Central on April 25, 2008 07:49 PM