17 years ago, Tracy McGrady scored 13 points in the last 35 seconds over the San Antonio Spurs on December 9, 2004, in a regular-season match
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Tracy McGrady was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. Tracy was one of the most prolific scorers in the early 2000’s. He has won the scoring title twice (2003,2004).
Tmac is a 7-time All-Star and 2 time All-NBA First Team selection. But probably the most memorable moment in his career was when he scored 13 points in the last 35 seconds against the Spurs in 2004.
Spurs were leading the scoreboard by 10 with only 49 seconds on the game clock. Some fans already left the Houston Rockets arena assuming the obvious conclusion. But what happened next can only be summed up by that match’s commentator’s quote “I do not believe this!”
Tracy McGrady was a force to be reckoned with, even during his Houston Rockets injury-riddled time
And just be clear, T-Mac was scoring one of the best defensive teams of that time. He scored 4 consecutive 3-pointers against defenders like Bruce Bowen (4 times All-NBA defender at that time) and Tim Duncan. Spurs contained T-Mac well up until last the minute.
Remembering this incident, Jeff Van Gundy (that time coach of the Rockets) said “We played such a horrible game, up until that point.” In a typical van Gundy fashion, there was no celebration post-game due to poor team performance.
That year T-Mac was traded to the Rockets after 4 seasons in Orlando Magic, where he had an early exit in the playoffs every year. They had a rough start in that season but ended up 3rd in the Western Conference.
Tracy McGrady averaged 25.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game that season. But Rockets fell shot against Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the first round. And after that season, T-Mac career took a hit due to injuries.
If anything that comeback match shows is the competing spirit of Tracy McGrady even to the last minute.
