Editing Houston Rockets (section)

====2004-2009: McGrady and Ming duo====
[[File:TracyMcGrady.jpg|upright|thumb|Houston acquired [[Tracy McGrady]] in 2004.]]
In the off-season, Houston saw major changes in the roster as the Rockets acquired [[Tracy McGrady]] in a seven-player deal with the Orlando Magic Including three time Rockets All-Star Steve Francis.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2004_3777107 |title=T-Mac comes to H-Town |last=Feigen |first=Jonathan |date=June 30, 2004 |work=Houston Chronicle |access-date=February 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012171454/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2004_3777107 |archive-date=October 12, 2012}}</ref> The scoring champion McGrady and the strong rebounder Yao formed a well-regarded pair that helped the Rockets win 22 consecutive games in the [[2007–08 NBA season|2007–08 season]], which was at the time the 3rd [[List of National Basketball Association longest winning streaks|longest winning streak in NBA history]]. Still, the duo was plagued with injuries – of the 463 regular season games for which they were teammates, Yao missed 146 and McGrady 160 – and did not win any playoff series, despite gathering leads over the [[Dallas Mavericks]] in [[2005 NBA playoffs|2005]] and the Jazz in [[2007 NBA playoffs|2007]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/fran_blinebury/12/08/tracy-mcgrady-houston-return/ |title=Failures, injuries mark T-Mac's memories of paring with Yao|date=December 8, 2010|work=NBA.com|author=Blinebury, Fran |access-date=February 23, 2016}}</ref> Despite this, Yao was selected to carry his home country's [[Flag of China|Five-star Red Flag]] at the Summer Olympics opening ceremony held [[China at the 2008 Summer Olympics|at home in 2008]]. After the 2007 elimination, Van Gundy was fired,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/Van-Gundy-dismissed-as-Rockets-coach-1837998.php |title=Van Gundy dismissed as Rockets coach |last=Feigen |first=Jonathan |date=May 18, 2007 |work=Houston Chronicle |access-date=February 23, 2009}}</ref> and the Rockets hired [[Rick Adelman]] to replace him.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/Adelman-reaches-deal-to-coach-Rockets-1629681.php |title=Adelman reaches deal to coach Rockets |last=Feigen |first=Jonathan |date=May 21, 2008 |work=Houston Chronicle |access-date=February 23, 2009}}</ref>

For the 2008–09 season, the Rockets signed forward [[Ron Artest]]. While McGrady wound up playing only half the games before enduring a season-ending [[microfracture surgery]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=3914888|title=McGrady says he will have surgery|work=ESPN|date=February 2, 2008|access-date=June 30, 2015}}</ref> the Rockets ended the season 53–29, enough for the Western Conference's fifth seed. During the playoffs, the Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers four games to two, winning their first playoff round since 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs/2009/matchup/_/teams/rockets-trailblazers|title=2009 NBA Playoffs - First Round - Rockets vs. Trailblazers|work=ESPN|access-date=February 23, 2009}}</ref> During the series, [[Dikembe Mutombo]] injured his knee, which forced him to retire after 18 seasons in the NBA.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2008_4561020 |title=Salt Lake heartache |last=Feigen |first=Jonathan |date=May 3, 2008 |work=Houston Chronicle |access-date=February 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012171517/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2008_4561020 |archive-date=October 12, 2012}}</ref> However, the second round against the Lakers had the Rockets losing 4–3 and Yao Ming suffering yet another season-ending injury, this time a hairline fracture in his left foot.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/lakers/playoffs2009_b.html|title=NBA Playoffs 2009- Western Conference - Los Angeles vs Houston|work=NBA.com|access-date=February 23, 2015}}</ref>