For all the times the Rockets wanted to just forget everything and take a swing at Karl Malone, here was their chance.

Tackle him. Push him. Get in a three-point stance, rush him and sack dance over him. As much as the Rockets have yearned to do it all these years, this one time, it was just what was needed.

Instead, Yao Ming and Terence Morris, a pair of Rockets too young to have felt the pain Malone had inflicted over the years, let him go. Malone passed to Matt Harpring. Harpring launched a 3-pointer that barely touched the last twines of net with a tenth of a second left in regulation to tie the game at 95. And when the Rockets could not get their last-second shot in overtime to fall, the Jazz had a 103-101 win in their last game at Compaq Center.