Blackjack: Houston Rockets Win Again!

There were those who wrote off Houston after Yao Ming's injury. There were those who said that this was a fluke and it won't matter in a few months. To those who said that, Houston is again asking the question: HOW DO YOU LIKE 'DEM APPLES?

On Friday night, the Houston Rockets broke the tie with the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks to claim the second best winning streak in NBA history. It wasn't a decent team, but a win is a win in anybody's opinion. The Rocks knocked off the Charlotte Bobcats 89-80 to claim their 21st consecutive victory. In the process, it was the 8th victory without Yao in the paint, and now it sets up the showdown between the surging Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers, who lost to New Orleans and set up a first place showdown with Houston.

T-Mac scored 30 points in the victory that puts the Rockets in elite company. Regardless of Sunday's outcome, the Rockets are in the history books. But a victory over the Lakers will seal their fate as the top seed in the West heading into the painful stretch of their run with games against Boston, New Orleans, Golden State, Phoenix and San Antonio coming up. If the Sports Gods are feeling froggy, expect the Rockets to win their 22nd consecutive game after Sunday.

Now that that's over, let's look at this from the angles of the so called experts. Tim Legler didn't think that this would even be happening right now. Bill Plaschke is still determined to be skeptical and says that the Rockets are just lucky. How can you be lucky in the NBA? Were the Pistons and Spurs lucky when they won their NBA Championships? Was Michael Jordan lucky when he won six NBA Titles and multiple MVP Awards? I didn't think so. So when does the lucky start in the NBA?

Let's be realistic peeps. The Rockets have earned the respect of this writer and I bet a lot of you guys too. Houston deserves respect no matter what happens. They're in the same company right now with the 70-71 Bucks and 71-72 Lakers. That deserves respect. During this 21-game winning streak, the Bucks won eight of them without their big man. That deserves respect. They've beaten teams with winning records as well as playoff contenders. That deserves respect. What the &$%* more does this team have to do for people to start taking notice?

I'm keeping this one short for a number of reasons. For one, I shouldn't have to speak on Houston's behalf. Their numbers speak for themselves. The Rocks are right where they need to be, which is in the thick of the top seed hunt. If they can pull this off, expect whoever has the eighth seed to be nervous as hell when they play them.

So to the Houston Rockets, congratulations on achieving the unthinkable in the naysayers' eyes. Expect all of them to be giving you grief in their paragraphs of props because they won't have the stones to actually say that you guys are doing good. And Kobe, I suggest you start getting ready. Because when the smoke clears on Sunday, will your mad skills be enough to stop the surge of Houston? Hakeem Olajuwon is waiting for your answer. And so am I.

Good Morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to NBA Twilight Zone. Houston hits Blackjack, and I'm hitting snake eyes on the crap tables.