McGrady Makes Return
December 16, 2009
Tracy McGrady will make his season debut Tuesday night against the Detroit Pistons, almost nine months after undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee. Houston Rockets head coach Rick Adelman announced the decision to play McGrady about an hour before the game. He said McGrady will play about seven minutes, all in the first half.
McGrady said he was “extremely nervous” to play for the first time since Feb. 9. McGrady was in and out of the lineup all of last season and played in only 35 games. He averaged 15.6 points, his lowest total in a decade and admitted that he was playing in constant pain.
The Rockets tried limiting his practice time, keeping him out of the second games of back-to-back sets and resting him for two weeks in January, but the knee didn’t improve. He opted for the high-risk procedure and doctors set his recovery time at six to 12 months. McGrady said in September that he was “far ahead of schedule.” He returned to practice on Nov. 23 and Adelman and general manager Daryl Morey have faced daily questions about when McGrady would return.
Adelman said Monday he did not consider McGrady an option to fill in for Trevor Ariza, who’s taken McGrady’s role in the lineup this season. Adelman said he reconsidered on Tuesday, and told McGrady less than 90 minutes before the game that he was activated.
Adelman said he and McGrady have been discussing for “a while” the right situation for his return. Adelman added that he’s keeping McGrady on a cautious schedule for now. He’s only going to play for short minutes at the start of it and will take the time from here until Christmas to evaluate how he feels.
The Rockets acquired McGrady in 2004, and his stay in Houston has been marked more by injuries than team success. He hurt his left knee in 2007-08, and missed time in 2006-07 with back issues.
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