McGrady's 47 points quiets hostile Salt Lake crowd

Tracy McGrady scored 26 points on the Utah Jazz Thursday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

And then the second half began.

The Houston Rockets star shooting guard added "only" 21 more after halftime for 47 points total.

In other words, the Jazz — no matter which player or players tried to guard McGrady — couldn't handle him during the 106-95 Rockets win.

"Obviously, Tracy was just unbelievable," said new Rockets coach Rick Adelman. "I'm just glad he's playing for me. He makes me a lot better coach."

While it's just the second game of the season — the Rockets improved to 2-0 with the other win being against the Lakers in Los Angeles — McGrady says he's enjoying playing for his new coach. Adelman, the longtime Sacramento Kings coach, has brought a more up-tempo style to the Rockets after replacing Jeff Van Gundy.

"I'm just feeling good mentally and physically," said McGrady. "I'm having fun playing basketball with my new teammates and the new coaching staff."

McGrady had a fun time teasing Jazz fans, too. Twice after making long jumpers late in the fourth quarter to help stave off Utah rallies, McGrady wagged his finger at Jazz fans.

"This is a hostile environment," said McGrady of EnergySolutions Arena. "Those fans are heckling the heck out of me out there, so I'm just out there having fun with them."

The Jazz did a nice job defensively on Houston's other All-Star, center Yao Ming. Yao, thanks in part to foul trouble, scored only three points in the first half and had 11 for the game.

But McGrady more than made up for it.

"What I liked about it was that he had a really good mix," said Adelman. "He made jumpers. He attacked the basket and went to the free throw line. It was a really good mix."

Added Rockets forward Shane Battier, "Mac was spectacular. He lit a fire under us and really carried us."

McGrady, for his part, says Adelman's offense fits his game.

"It's more up-tempo," he said. "That creates more spacing for me out there. I seem to get a lot more easy buckets playing off the ball. There's a lot more movement ... I can adapt to any system, but this is fun. This is a fun system to play in, and I think we have the right talent to fit this system."

McGrady's first-half output bettered his seven-game scoring average during the Jazz's hard-fourth playoff series victory over the Rockets last spring. McGrady — who has never had one of his teams (the Raptors, Magic or Rockets) get to the second-round of the playoffs — averaged 25.3 points in the postseason against Utah last year.

(Beating the Jazz) "doesn't really mean anything," said McGrady. "It's only the second game of the season. Yeah, they beat us in the playoffs last year, but I don't hold a grudge."

Forty-seven points later, the Jazz may hold a grudge against McGrady, however.

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