Small Brooks Plays Big For Houston Rockets, Lightens Life After Yao

Less than 24 hours after depressing news again punched the Houston Rockets in the collective gut, it was the team's littlest guy who made everyone forget about the big downer.

Yao Ming will miss the rest of the postseason with a broken left foot.

His second-consecutive season-ending injury could not break the spirit of his teammates, who delivered a heart-filled, unexpected 99-87 clubbing of the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday afternoon to even the series. As the Rockets lead swelled to 29 points, the Toyota Center roared as it rarely has.

The crowd erupted when a trey pushed the third quarter score to 67-40.

Some have already dubbed it "the Mother's Day Massacre."

The player at the center of this inspired display of grit wasn't a center or even an All-Star.

Ron Artest labored through a gruesome 4-of-17 shooting night. Saucy, crafty Argentine Luis Scola found the bottom of the net only 4-of-11 times.

No—this afternoon belonged to "0."

If Shane Battier provided the jet fuel for a rocking 12-4 launch in the opening minutes, Aaron Brooks ensured the Rockets ship never veered into serious trouble.

A day after bleak news seemed to again blast the 7-6 foundation on which this team is built, a youngster with more guts than muscle gave a reeling organization hope.

There are plenty of reasons to question whether management got 2002 and 2004 right. Yao and Tracy McGrady stay healthy about as often as Rob Schneider stars in Oscar-worthy pictures.

Hell, John Edwards and Bill Clinton can keep their pants zipped longer than these guys can stay in uniform.

As the buzzer sounded and the delirious crowd cheered the extension of a season marred by injuries and whack lineups, there was a feeling that maybe, just maybe, they got this one right.

General Manager Daryl Morey loved Brooks from the moment he drafted him late in the first round. He loved the Oregon product's blazing speed and his sweet shooting stroke.

When Brooks fell into the organization's lap two summers ago, visions of Tony Parker danced in Morey's head.

Sunday's 34-point outing did not put 24-year-old Brooks in the same class as the three-time champion and Finals MVP. It did, however, offer Rick Adelman and the front office another sign that he could get there.

The Rockets traded Rafer Alston and promoted Brooks for this kind of game. Morey had to pray when he sent his 10-year veteran packing to Orlando that his newest 6-foot starter would not fail him.

The reaction to Alston's departure was more, "um, what the hell are you doing" than "great job Daryl." Many, including this writer, wondered if the Rockets had just donated a chance at the playoffs and that elusive postseason series win.

What would the tiny, inexperienced Brooks and Kyle Lowry backcourt do against elite point guards? How would such untested players respond to pressure of the playoffs, if they could get there?

A season that began with repeated calls by fans for Brooks to start instead of Alston began anew when Morey and the rest of the brain trust opted for risk over complacency.

Rick Adelman knew what Alston would give him every night. He ran the offense efficiently and played a low-turnover game. He also shot erratically and found air as many times as the net.

His 1-for-11 and 4-for-13, dubious performances maddened fans who wanted more.

Alston was never going to get better.

A 33-year-old point guard with the head of a stubborn New Yorker is what he is.

Forgive the above cliche. The only new trick Alston could learn was putting on a different uniform.

If Alston's arrival in Orlando semi-sparked a Magic team dejected and leader-less after Jameer Nelson's shoulder setback, Brooks' development energized a sagging locker room with players who visit doctors as often as they sit at a podium to discuss big wins.

The Rockets needed Brooks sagacious, ballsy performance to offset more than just the devastation of Yao's continued battle with foot ailments.

The burden and bane of a dozen year's worth of playoff failures and colossal injury disappointments seemed to ease with each Brooks bucket.

He drained 12-of-20 shots, four of them from behind the arc. He finished three scintillating drives to the hole. He swooshed all six of his free throws.

He dove for a loose ball that set up his most dramatic shot of the afternoon.

There will be a time to rue his three turnovers, two of them during a monstrous Lakers' fourth quarter rally.

There will be a time to scold the Rockets for allowing a beaten opponent to outscore them 33-16 in the final frame and make things interesting.

There will be a time to panic about Pau Gasol's 18-point fourth period. Can anyone stop him?

There will be a time to face reality—that these resilient Rockets still need to beat a much deeper team twice.

There will be a time to realize that Brooks is a mere sophomore who needs refinement.

It would surprise no one if he scored three points and missed 8-of-9 shots with six turnovers Tuesday night at Staples Center.

There will also be a time to come to grips with the Lakers as the likely better team.

Maybe Monday afternoon, but not now.

Many analysts will spend the next 24 hours dissecting why the Lakers played with house money when they had a chance at the jackpot with their own. How could a championship hopeful get humiliated by the Yao-less Rockets?

What those analysts should do is talk about why the Yao-less Rockets evened the series.

Sunday afternoon should be about the Rockets' successes, not the Lakers shortcomings.

Maybe, for once, someone could throw this injured puppy a bone.

It would be more than the basketball gods or Lady Luck have given them this decade.

The Rockets deserved a break this postseason.

Maybe Sunday was it.

"Fortune and misfortune are two buckets in the same well," a German Proverb once said.

Charles Dickens also captured this sentiment.

"Reflect on your present blessings of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

So, regardless of the series outcome, the Rockets will face a torturous offseason in which they should at least entertain the idea of sending their Chinese star somewhere else.

They should discuss this prospect knowing that the center position is the hardest to fill in the NBA. A single digit number of players can do what Yao does.

They should also step back, smile and freeze that moment in the third quarter when Brooks fist-pumps in the crowd's direction after nailing his fourth three-pointer.

67-40, Rockets.

They should ignore, if only for a day, the incessant durability questions surrounding their center. 

Maybe they finally have a point guard.

After another gloomy prognosis, Sunday afternoon there was hope.

Small as it may seem, it's something.