Houston, We Have A... 17 Game Winning Streak?

Um, will someone tell the Houston Rockets they can fall apart without Yao Ming already?

Tonight, the team that has no real point guard (unless you've got a jones for Rafer Alston), the starting center from before color television (WHO WANTS TO SEX MUTUMBO?), and a coach who is best known for perfecting playoff choke jobs (Rick Adelman)... won it's 17th straight game, and it's 5th without Yao, by 15 on the road in Dallas.

Along with furthering the idea that Dallas really isn't better with Jason Kidd, the win gave the Rockets the 7th-longest winning streak in NBA history. With a win over New Orleans on Saturday, they'd even have a top four slot in the West. Oh, and Dallas and Phoenix are now at the 6 and 7 seeds in the West, with Denver just 2 and 3.5 games away from bouncing their team from the 9 slot.

They're doing it with Tracy McGrady doing his Alpha Before Playoffs routine, very strong forward play from found money players like Luis Scola and Carl Landry, and even winning bench play from retread Bobby Jackson... which means that they're still likely to be a first-round loser. Heck, I'm not even sure that once they lose a game, they won't spiral all the way out of the playoffs. We are talking Mutumbo, Alston and Jackson, and even Luther Head, in the rotation. There's no earthly reason why they should be winning, let alone 17 in a row.

And when the story of the season is written, and people remember the Lakers going all the way, or the Spurs repeating, or LeBron and Kobe fighting for the position of best player alive... well, the only thing that will likely be remembered about this Rockets team is that Yao couldn't stay healthy again, and maybe never will. Which, given what they are doing in a hopelessly deep conference, is wrong and unfair.