Sure, Yao Ming is good for a laugh or two in credit card commercials. But where was the Chinese giant when his team needed him most?

Or, maybe, Yao was just where he needed to be - safely injured on the sidelines - in order for the Rockets to find the inspiration to catapult to the top of the West.

A more superstitious man may call Yao’s injury good luck. With the smoke cleared and history the Rockets’ streak officially halted at 22-straight wins, second-best in NBA history, maybe the Rockets will admit the same - Yao’s injury was more of a blessing than a curse.

To the practical mind, no injury can be unlucky. But the superstitions mind works differently - bear in mind quite a few professional athletes are extremely superstitious - and they would be more eager to entertain and more than likely embrace the idea of a “fortunate injury” to a degree.

Take a look at the turn of events:

When Yao was around to help, Houston played fairly well, but remained outside of the playoff picture.

When the Chinese import fell to injury, the team proceeded to be great - at a level of historic proportions - and managed to obtain the top spot in the West.

Of course, like all good things, the streak eventually had to come to an end.

Houston’s cause wasn’t helped out by running into the “green monster” of the league, the Boston Celtics, even as they too were short-staffed.

(Side note: As if their 50-total-win mark did not make it clear enough, Boston made a statement last night by beating a very good team despite their best shooter, Ray Allen, sitting out with a minor injury. They are as deep a team as the league has.)

To be fair, the Rockets were assisted by many factors throughout their historic streak. They were fortunate enough to play Dallas while Dirk Nowitzki was sidelined; and the Lakers sans Paol Gasol. Ideally, Ray Allen missing from the Boston game would have been helpful, but at that point the streak had ran its course.

Retrospectively, Houston’s 22-game winning streak is as amazing as they come; maybe even more so than previous streaks, considering Houston’s largest piece (literally) was missing in action throughout the majority of the run.

The ‘72 Los Angeles Lakers rallied around one of the greatest centers ever, Wilt Chamberlain, en route to their record 33-game win streak.

Who, exactly, did the ‘08 Rockets have to rally around?

With most teams honing in on the Rockets’ lone superstar left standing, Tracy McGrady, offering double- and triple teams at times, the onus fell on Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Dikembe Mutombo and the rest of the gang to pick up the leftover slack needed to outlast their opponents.

No single player necessarily stood out as the catalyst of their historic streak. However, ESPN did a great job Sunday night, highlighting one of the major keys to the streak - Shane Battier’s lockdown defense. Against Kobe Bryant, literally, on nearly every shot, Battier conducted a game of “peek-a-boo” with #24.

Everyone who ever endured painfully long hoops practices has heard the term “get a hand in his face!” repeated on every level, from every coach. A longtime defensive guru, Battier actually listened and gave a perfect example of to execute the “hand in the face” effectively. The Houston team helped out when needed, but their defense proved to be their best asset.

Mind you, the “hand in the face” method will not always shut down the best shooter in the game; I am looking forward to the next time the Lakers take on the Rockets, and Kobe plays with an extra chip on his shoulder. But as was clear through the last seven weeks, the Rockets constantly had luck/karma/fresh h2o on their side.

And as each teammate picked up the slack from their missing-in-action anchor, playing great defense and finding good shooting fortune throughout, the feat became all the more spectacular.

Even as the Rockets remain atop the Western conference, no one knows their true identity. Are they the Houston team before the streak, who stood on the outside of playoff contention looking in? Or are they the Houston team that won 22-straight games, managing to win even as they were under-staffed and under-appreciated?

This Houston team has the resolve to succeed without their anchor; they just need to keep the faith.