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McGrady was out with a sore back, missing most of one game and all of another. He knew the problem was minor compared to his past problems. But when he returned, time was staring him in the face.

There were five games left in the regular season. The Rockets, heading into a three-game road trip, had lost three in a row. McGrady was struggling. The postseason was two weeks away.

A day later, on Sunday, McGrady dominated the Sacramento Kings and said, "It's that time. It's that time."

It was the reminder he repeated for himself and the message he had begun spreading as soon as he returned.

"He's said it to me a few times," guard Luther Head said. " 'It's time. It's time. This is the time.' That's the way he's playing, like he's going out there on a mission to try to lead us, and that's what he's doing. He's playing like he's ready."

On Monday, McGrady pounced on Seattle. Wednesday, he helped the Rockets roll up a 25-point lead in Portland, before he and the Rockets faded. But in the past three games since coming back from the sore back, McGrady has averaged 33 points, 7.3 assists and seven rebounds.

Starts with the stars

"Like I said, man, I got to let these guys know we got to be ready," McGrady said. "It's got to start with me. It's going to start with me and start with Yao (Ming). I'm just trying to go out and set an example and let these guys know there is no jive coming down the stretch with these games heading to the playoffs. I want to be playing and want us to be playing great basketball, with great intensity and pick it up a little bit."

The need for intensity became clear in the last game before McGrady's back tightened, the April 1 loss to the Utah Jazz, the Rockets' first-round opponent next weekend. The Rockets lost the game, but McGrady said they gained an understanding of what is waiting for them.

"Once we get to the playoffs, it's got to be all-out," McGrady said. "We're playing against a team that goes hard. We can't be one of those teams that the first couple games sits back and thinks, 'Damn, what just hit us?' We got to be ready for that."

Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said he has not seen a change in McGrady's style or attitude, but in the quality of his play.

"I don't see it as radically different," Van Gundy said. "I think he's playing better. ...

"I don't know if he's feeling better. He knows his body better than anybody. And yet, I think he can always do more and do better because I think he's that special and unique of a talent.

Unique talent

"I've told him many times, if he wanted to be first-team all-defense, he could do that. He could average eight rebounds a game. He could do a lot of things. I think he's that unique of a player. You can't do all those things at once. You'd have to have an unbelievable energy level. He's talented enough in all those areas to be a dominant player."

Citing Van Gundy's "seize the opportunity" speech, McGrady said it is time that he dominate.

That was not exactly Van Gundy's message.

"Mine is always that it's always time," Van Gundy said.

But after McGrady was out for most of two games, he felt time running out.

"I missed a week. I was out for a week," McGrady said. "I'm well-rested. I feel great. I'm just trying to get in playoff mode right away."

It is, he said, that time.