Tracy McGrady believes he was “mistreated” by the Rockets. Today in a Garden matinee, he gets a chance to mistreat the Rockets.
McGrady’s first match against Houston since the Feb. 18 blockbuster trade will be emotional, though T-Mac admits that he physically may not be up to getting his revenge.
Rockets coach Rick Adelman felt a rehabbing McGrady would hurt their playoff drive. The divorce was messy and protracted. Adelman’s staff, according to a league source, grew to detest McGrady.
“My competitive nature in me wants to go out and compete and show I still got it,” McGrady said. “[But] I’m not going to go out and dominate the ball. I’ll do the same things I’ve been doing. I’m still recovering. I’m not fully healed.”
McGrady has played mostly a complementary role, mostly a role-playing ball distributor. He is not the Knicks’ go-to guy, rarely plays the fourth quarter and no longer soars to the hoop for dunks as in his superstar days. He has soreness in his left knee, and he experiences sharp pains at least once a game.
In Friday’s 92-88 win over the 76ers, McGrady did not gain any momentum or confidence entering today’s 1 p.m. showdown. McGrady was scoreless — 0-for-7 shooting — and did not play the fourth quarter.
Knicks team president Donnie Walsh probably will have to see more across the final 13 games before evaluating whether to resign McGrady, but at least they can bring him back on the cheap.
“I’m not trying to go out and score 30 or 40. That’s not what I’m about right now,” McGrady said. “I’m moving well on the basketball court and doing some things I’ve done in the past. I’m not worried about my numbers right now.”
McGrady won’t sugarcoat his feelings that the Rockets did him wrong, were dishonest and didn’t treat him with the dignity afforded a perennial All-Star with five years of Rockets service.
“I felt, for what I did, I felt I was mistreated,” McGrady said. “I moved on from that. But I felt I deserved better.”
When he had microfracture surgery last February, the Rockets pretended he did it on his own.
“I kind of got thrown under the bus,” McGrady said. “Not having the franchise protect me from things said in the media, nobody came out and told the truth. Like when I had my surgery, I notified the team. But in the media, they said I didn’t say anything to the team.”
When McGrady made it back in December, Adelman limited him to seven minutes per game. McGrady felt lied to.
“What was confusing about it was why it didn’t increase when I was told it would increase,” McGrady said of his playing time. “Once it didn’t increase, nobody really told me why. It was time for them to make a move, time for me to make a move. I would have liked for it to go more smoothly. It’s a bittersweet moment.”
McGrady’s Knicks debut was spectacular — 24 points — but his knee couldn’t handle the heavy minutes early on. Coach Mike D’Antoni and McGrady now have an agreement to stick to the 25-minute range, but D’Antoni admitted it could go higher today if T-Mac wants to push it.
“I’m a player who plays out of instincts,” McGrady said. “Having that confidence of going to the basket, where I used to have no hesitation jumping over my opponents. Right now there’s a bit of hesitation. I have to go back playing on instincts.”
McGrady said he is not surprised he’s still not 100 percent healthy.
“Considering where I’ve been the last two years, I expect to be where I am,” McGrady said. “It was two years of hell. Being away from the team rehabbing, working out, it was miserable. A lot of days and nights I felt I couldn’t do it anymore. It’s not even worth it. But I wasn’t going to allow myself to go out that way.”
And today could make it all worth it.