Do you long for some great throwback NBA footage of superstars of the past featuring some of the game’s players? Do you miss watching games in which the jump shot was an art form and not an afterthought? Longing to see some of the NBA’s greatest grudge matches of teams wearing some of the league’s ugliest uniforms? If you are a fan of the game from back in the day, this is the series for you. Welcome to Vintage Video.
With all of the recent rumors about where Tracy McGrady may wind up for the remainder of this season and the rest of his career, what better time to relive T-Mac’s signature moment in the NBA.
Back on December 9th, 2004, McGrady’s Houston Rockets trailed the San Antonio Spurs 74-64 with just over a minute remaining. Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili thought they had another win in the bag.
Until Tracy McGrady had other ideas.
In one of the best comebacks in recent memory, T-Mac almost single-handedly helped the Rockets erase the 10 point deficit by nailing 4 three point shots, including a game winning dagger with 1.7 seconds remaining to seal Houston’s 81-80 victory, which has to go down as one of the top individual performances of the decade.
Even though the Rockets may have won the 1 game battle, the Spurs won the war by winning the 3rd of 4 NBA Titles at season’s end. T-Mac went on to average 25.7 ppg. 6.2 rebs, and 5.7 assists and earned his 5th of his 7 All-Star appearances in his first season with Houston.
Back then, McGrady could be considered a bargain considering he made only $14.4 million.
McGrady said it all in the post-game press conference:
“For all those fans who left the game early………….ya’ll missed a great game.”
Check out the video:
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
