5 greatest moments in Tracy McGrady’s Hall of Fame career

13 points, 35 seconds

The Houston Rockets trailed the San Antonio Spurs by 10 points with less than a minute left in what seemed like another ho-hum regular season game. The national television audience saw the star power from Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming go up against the vaunted Spurs. But it was a typical regular season matchup.

But this is Tracy McGrady. Nothing ever seems settled. Not completely. Not when he gets himself going and gets into that zone and his “sleepy” face suddenly furrows and the fire burns in his eye.

McGrady definitely had a bit of an unfair reputation of being a lazy player — likely because of his laid back, effortless demeanor on the court. But it was games like this that showed his killer instinct and immense talent.

Perhaps his most famous moment and a series of plays that would have crashed early YouTube — let alone early versions of Vine. McGrady led a comeback from down 10 points with a scoring onslaught the league had rarely seen.

Tracy McGrady made Reggie Miller’s eight points, nine seconds look like child’s play. He scored 13 points in 35 seconds for an 81-80 win. The run included three 3-pointers, a four-point play and a steal as the Rockets made mincemeat of the Spurs. McGrady finished with 33 points and eight rebounds as he introduced himself as a Houston Rocket in this early season game in 2004.

And this all came with legendary defender Bruce Bowen trying to keep up with McGrady. It was proof no one could. When McGrady hit that zone and started getting into his scoring groove, there was no one in the league who could keep up with his size and strength. And even in watching the tape of the game again, McGrady was clearly acting like this is a normal thing to do.