And now, McGrady is even blaming himself. Well, not really.

In the ultimate show of sarcasm, McGrady went off on himself on Wednesday, blaming himself for everything short of the rise in gas prices. According to a story in the Houston Chronicle, McGrady is now Mr. Sarcasm. From the article:

“It’s my fault,” McGrady said. “It’s my fault we missed free throws. It’s my fault we lost both games. Blame me. It’s my fault we fouled to tie the game up. That’s my fault. It’s my fault they get easy layups. It’s my fault we’re not executing well on the offensive end. It’s my fault a couple people in the stands ordered Heinekens and they got Budweiser. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

Really? That’s the point we’ve gotten to now? We’re going to act like we’re 16 years old? And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the man the Rockets are hoping can lead them deep into the playoffs?

Wait, there’s more…

“I am serious,” he said. “It’s my fault. Everything is my fault. It’s my fault. It’s T-Mac’s fault.

“Everybody’s blaming me. The Suns (for being down 2-0 to the Spurs). I mean, everybody. That’s what it seems like. It’s my fault. I’m out there by myself.”

And just when you thought he was finished…

“That’s another one of my faults: that Rafer got hurt and Yao got hurt,” McGrady said. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.

“Even some of the guys can’t even believe it. I was talking to one of the guys, and he was like, ‘I would hate to be you. I really can’t believe what some of the people say about you, especially after playing the game you played the other night.’ They can’t believe it.”

So that’s the point we’ve arrived to everyone. The Rockets are down 2-0 in their first-round playoff series to the Utah Jazz. Is their fearless leader worrying about how to right the ship and pull out a victory in this series? Of course not. He’s busy getting his feelings hurt.

Could you ever imagine these words coming out of the mouth of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson? Absolutely not. They were too busy trying to win. Same goes for Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. They’re too busy trying to win championships to worry about what people write, say or think about them.

There is one good thing about all this. At least we’ve found a new nickname for McGrady. T-Mac? Try T-Fault.

After limping out to a 6-12 start, the Astros have won three-in-a-row now after Tuesday’s 11-7 win over the San Diego Padres, giving them their first series sweep of the season and marking the third consecutive game in which they’ve scored six runs or more.

Early on this season, the offense was anemic outside of Lance Berkman. On Tuesday, several players got it going, most notably shortstop Miguel Tejada, who was 4-for-5 with a double and 2 RBIs.

Every hitter in the lineup except catcher J.R. Towles and pinch-hitter Jose Cruz Jr. recorded a hit. This, on a night when the Astros were facing All-Star righthander Jake Peavy, who has given the Astros their fair share of fits over the years.

Not all was perfect – Doug Brocail came in with a four-run lead and promptly blew it, giving all four runs back in the eighth. The last one gave Jose Valverde a hard-luck blown save, as he gave up an RBI-sacrifice fly that tied the game at 7-7.

But he looked good for his 1 1/3 innings and maybe it could be a sign of things to come.

Regardless, Astros fans should be at least a little happy. The offense is rolling, and the Astros have put together their first three-game win-streak of the year.

First, the good guys had offseason acquisition Kaz Matsui miss much of spring training after having to undergo surgery for an anal fissure. I mean, that has to be one of the most unique and strangest conditions any Astro (or any baseball player for that matter) has had to miss time for. According to Eamonn Brennan, it’s just as bad as it sounds.

Shortly after Matsui’s return to the lineup comes word of another Houston injury, to another offseason acquisition, center fielder Michael Bourn. His is the more customary “sore groin,” according to the Houston Chronicle, and he’ll only miss a few days.

Still, the Astros seem to be having problems with injuries to their “sensitive” areas.

Which is right in line with what I said – that means McGrady is not a superstar.

Tim Pollock of the Bleacher Report had a great analysis of McGrady’s postgame comments.

Michael Murphy of the Houston Chronicle take a look at the tough way in which McGrady is being evaluated.

Steve Greenberg of the Sporting News compares McGrady’s failure to step up with LeBron’s ability to do so. He’s right – at some point, you have to stop making excuses and rise to the occasion.

For all intensive purposes, the Western Conference first-round playoff series between the Rockets and the Utah Jazz is done.

Yes, they still have to play until the Jazz win two more times. But nobody outside that locker room really believes the Rockets can beat the Jazz four times in the next five games, right?

The Jazz are 37-4 at EnergySolutions Arena. Yes, one of those losses came at the hands of the Rockets, but that was early in the season, when Yao Ming was healthy.

For Rockets fans, Monday night was a heartbreaker. The Rockets appeared as if they were doing everything they needed to do to put themselves in a position for a win. Unfortunately, some of the same problems from Game 1 creeped up in Game 2.

They missed free throws (16-of-26 – 61.5 percent).

They missed layups (17).

Tracy McGrady came up short in the fourth quarter (1 point).

Those were all issues in Game 1.

To McGrady’s credit, he had a great night before the fourth. He finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and two blocks. You can’t ask much more from him.

He was worn down in the fourth quarter. He tried to carry the Rockets and couldn’t. I’m not trying to bad-mouth him, but I think we learned something very important about McGrady on Monday. He’s a star. Not a superstar. Superstars rise above the fatigue and extenuating circumstances to elevate their team to victory.

It’s not all on him. But if you want to be a superstar, that’s what you have to do. He didn’t. Deron Williams hurt his tailbone, but came back in the game and hit crucial shots and made crucial plays. He’ll be a superstar before long.

So now the Rockets are headed for another first-round exit. I can’t say I’m that surprised. It’s extremely hard to lose your best player and expect to have playoff success, especially against a team as deep, well-coached and hungry as the Jazz are.

Now the question is, how long do the Rockets last? I think they pull one out in Salt Lake City and go out in five. What say you?

The Rockets missed layups (19 according to the NBA.com play-by-play), free throws (missed 11 of 29 attempts, hitting at a 62 percent clip) and were dominated on the boards when it counted (even though the teams ended up with 41 boards apiece).

Tracy McGrady was absent in the fourth quarter – of his 21 points on the night, zero of them came in the fourth quarter (he only took three shots). McGrady finished 7-for-21 shooting and never looked comfortable.

Meanwhile, the Utah tandem of Carlos Boozer (20 points, 16 rebounds) and Deron Williams (20 points, 11 assists) looked as if they were in the comfy confines of EnergySoultions arena, each going for double-doubles. Andrei Kirilenko (team-high 21 points) and 3-point specialist Kyle Korver (11 points off the bench) had their way with the Rockets, who didn’t play their trademark tough defense in crunch time.

Gut check time for McGrady and the Rox

Yes, the Rockets are without Rafer Alston. Yes, they’re without Yao Ming, as they have been the last part of the season. Still, does that mean they should lie down and die a quick death? Or more importantly, will they?

With the Jazz sporting a 37-4 record this season at home, the Rockets have no choice but to win Game 2 on Monday as well as steal a game in Salt Lake City at some point. Can they do it?

Last season, the Rockets looked like a team poised to make a run deep into the Western Conference playoffs. They fought tooth-and-nail with the Utah Jazz, only to come up short in Game 7 and go home wondering what could have been.

Fast forward a year and a lot has changed. There’s a new coach (Rick Adelman replaced Jeff Van Gundy) and several new players, although there are some key pieces missing. For starters, All-Star center Yao Ming is on the shelf, thanks to a broken foot. Also missing for the first two games of the series, point guard Rafer Alston will be missing, pressing the 34-year-old Bobby Jackson into starting duty.

When Yao went down midway through the regular season, everyone seemed to write the Rockets off, and understandably so. Despite the fact that they were in the middle of a winning streak, it didn’t look like they would be able to continue their success without their best player.

Against all odds, they continued that winning streak and turned it into a history-making streak – a 22-game winning streak, the second-longest in NBA history.

While that was all nice and dandy, I’m here to deliver some bad news. That streak? It means squat right now.

When it became apparent that the Rockets would draw the Jazz in the first round, I got scared. Why? Because the Rockets don’t match up well with Utah, especially without Yao.

You can say what you want about the Rockets playing like “they have something to prove” or with “a chip on their shoulder” but that means beans if you can’t get a rebound.

Rebounds. That was something they had trouble with last season – with a healthy Yao – and it ended up costing them Game 7. If you remember correctly, the Jazz picked up several offensive rebounds in the closing minutes that led to second-chance points and ultimately, the victory.

There are other big issues. One of them is – who’s going to stop Deron Williams? This guy is the best point guard not named Chris Paul or Steve Nash. He and running mate Carlos Boozer, who are looking more and more like a modern-day John Stockton and Karl Malone, tore the Rockets to pieces last season. I don’t see how it will be any different this time around.

The other big question is what will become of Tracy McGrady. Last year he said it was “on him.” Now he says it’s not (which is probably true). Still, the onus and focus will be on him to lead this team like he did during that 22-game winning streak. He’s 0-for-6 in his career in the first round of the playoffs and I’m sure he doesn’t want to go into the summer with another postseason failure on his shoulders. It seems like that’s all people talk about these days when they bring up his name.

Here’s the deal. With Yao, this Rockets team might have been a Western Conference title contender. Without him, they aren’t. It’s that simple. It was that way two months ago and it’s that way right now.

As a diehard Rockets fan, I’m sad to say, I think this is another early exit for the boys in red. Jazz in 6. What say you?