Tracy McGrady Chalks up Rockets' Skid to Lack of Point Guard

On Tuesday night, the Houston Rockets ended their three-game losing streak against the Chicago Bulls, albeit in dramatic fashion.

But a win is a win.

Houston won 119-113, in large part because of big shots down the stretch by Jabari Smith Jr., who had been in a major shooting slump.

To the tune of 1-of-22 from long-range entering the fourth quarter of the contest. The Rockets closed the game with JD Davison in the lineup and ultimately turned to the two-way signee for 24 minutes – easily his most minutes of the season.

Houston has been bereft at the point guard spot, with Fred VanVleet out of commission, due to a torn ACL. Although he’s still been on the sidelines and traveling with the team, that’s quite significantly different than having him on the court.

Davison pushed the pace and orchestrated the offense under control, making the right plays and reads all the while. He presents the only option capable of running the pick-and-roll on the roster, at least at the guard position. He even nabbed seven rebounds, despite being fairly smaller for a point guard, at 6-foot-1.

All told, Davison had nine points, seven rebounds, four assists, a block and a plus/minus charting of +14.

And he went 3-of-6 from the floor and 1-of-2 from deep.

The Rockets’ 23-14 record is an extreme disappointment, especially when factoring in who all they’ve lost to.

The Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, LA Clippers (although they’ve been surging, they were 8-21 at the time).

The Rockets have lost three of their last four, heading into Thursday night’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

For Rockets legend and NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, the reasoning for the skid is simple.

“No point guard.”

McGrady stated on NBA Showtime Presented by State Farm.

"They definitely need a point guard.”

McGrady reiterated, before explaining why the positional shift for Amen Thompson from the wing to on-ball lead guard was unsuccessful.

“They were trying to use the twin, Amen, at the point guard position. He's tampered with it a little bit, but to lead a team with KD on there and you're losing your starting point guard. It's unchartered waters for a guy that's trying to lead a team that was second in the NBA in the Western Conference last year and you're coming back adding KD, it was just too much pressure and it just didn't work out."

Outside of a trade (which seems unlikely), Houston will have this problem for the rest of the way, until Fred VanVleet comes back.

If VanVleet comes back, that is.

(It would take a Herculean effort that not even NFL Hall of Famer Adrian Peterson was able to do, as it took him roughly nine months to return, whereas VanVleet is hoping to come back within six months).