The Houston Rockets have easily established themselves as one of the greatest regular season teams of this decade by winning 20 straight games and counting. The last teams to do this were the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers who won 33 consecutive and the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks who won 20 in a row.

Winning two or three in a row is challenging enough, however, to get 20 is an impressive feat. The Rockets have outdone the NFL’s New England Patriots who failed to win 19 straight.

Even more impressive, they have won eight of those games without All-Star center Yao Ming, who was averaging 22 points and close to 11 rebounds before a stress fracture in his foot ended his season.

Their success makes me wonder if they can duplicate it in the playoffs.

Winning this much takes its toll. Tracy McGrady is definitely the leader on this team and one of the top players in the league, yet he has never made it out of the first round in the playoffs.

One man should not be blamed for his team’s downfall during the postseason unless he is the absolute reason for the loss. For example, if his shots were not falling or he was not passing the ball to open teammates.

However, McGrady always does his part. His teammates have usually been the absent players on the court. The Rockets’ organization has done a decent job of surrounding him with help this season.

Two rookies are making noise during this streak for the Rockets.

Forwards Luis Scola and Carl Landry have stepped up in the absence of Ming. On paper, their numbers are not great although they have their moments. There have been some nights this season when Landry outscored T-Mac and Scola out rebounded Ming.

Houston has defensive-minded players in Shane Battier and Dikembe Mutombo now in the starting line-up and making a big difference.

Battier will guard the opponent’s best player and if you let him set his feet, he can knock down the open three-pointer, reminding me of the San Antonio Spurs’ Bruce Bowen.

Mutombo only played in 14 games this season before Yao went down. He has now started eight since the injury.

He has always been known as a shot-blocker and will let you know you were wrong for entering the paint when he wags his index finger after he rejects your shot. He has fresh legs since he hasn't played much this year, although I wonder how long he can keep it up at his age of 41.

We will find out how legit this Houston team really is as the season enters the final month. With McGrady’s past playoff failures, the Lakers current frontcourt versatility and the Spurs experience, it is hard for me to see them as champions in June.

During this streak, Houston has only beaten three teams that are serious contenders for the Larry O’Brien trophy. They beat Cleveland and New Orleans twice and the Dallas Mavericks once.

I am not taking anything away from Houston; I am just stating the facts.

They did beat Golden State, Denver and Portland, but two of those teams will miss the playoffs. The rest of their wins came against bottom feeders in the league.

T-Mac is one of the players who I feel most deserves a ring. If he wants that ring, the Rockets are going to have to duplicate this success this summer against the Spurs and the Lakers.

We get a preview of a potential playoff match up Sunday when Houston faces off against the Lakers on ABC. A possible NBA Finals match up can also be seen when the Rockets host the Boston Celtics Tuesday on TNT.

MVP Race

Kobe Bryant

LeBron James

Chris Paul

Kevin Garnett

Tracy McGrady

As I mentioned last week, the race for the MVP trophy will most likely come down between Kobe and LBJ. Paul is still impressive and McGrady has been amazing leading his team to 20 straight victories.