(4) Blazers Vs. (5) Rockets

[Lamrock]

Game 2 will be closer.

[Valor]

Yao owned them and just watched in the second half

[hova-]

Blazers in 7. These are probably going to be the most intense first round series this year and with the home court advantage and houston not having a go-to-guy, portland should win these in a tight battle.

Yao ?

[Modifly]

Impressive game 1 victory for the Rockets, I think game 2 will be much more competitive but last night's game proved something. Houston's backcourt rose up to the challenge. Aaron Brooks had 27 points, Artest had 17 and Battier did most of his damage on defense.

Imagine what T-MAC would feel like if his team managed to advance to the second round this year without him.

[FiZzO]

Blazers in 7. These are probably going to be the most intense first round series this year and with the home court advantage and houston not having a go-to-guy, portland should win these in a tight battle.

Yao ?

Sure, Yao is their best offensive player but can a center really be a go to guy ?! c'mon. He wont take over a close game in the final minutes.

[Stress Fracture]

Blazers in 7. These are probably going to be the most intense first round series this year and with the home court advantage and houston not having a go-to-guy, portland should win these in a tight battle.

Yao ?

Sure, Yao is their best offensive player but can a center really be a go to guy ?! c'mon. He wont take over a close game in the final minutes.

He can be. But with his teammate's performance in Game 1, Portland's defense will focus more on the other players.

Impressive game 1 victory for the Rockets, I think game 2 will be much more competitive but last night's game proved something. Houston's backcourt rose up to the challenge. Aaron Brooks had 27 points, Artest had 17 and Battier did most of his damage on defense.

Imagine what T-MAC would feel like if his team managed to advance to the second round this year without him.

T-MAC would feel a little sad and disappointed because he can't help the Rockets, but on the other side he would feel happy because his teammates are steeping up because of his loss.




Go Houston!!

[Fresh8]

I reckon Yao could take over a game in the dying stages as long as they got the ball to him.

[Modifly]

Blazers in 7. These are probably going to be the most intense first round series this year and with the home court advantage and houston not having a go-to-guy, portland should win these in a tight battle.

Yao ?

Sure, Yao is their best offensive player but can a center really be a go to guy ?! c'mon. He wont take over a close game in the final minutes.

Common, why cant a center be a go-to-guy? Hakeem Olajuwon was a go-to-guy, Kareem Abdul Jabbar was a go-to-guy, David Robinson was a go-to-guy, Wilt Chamberlain was a go-to-guy. Yao can be a go-to-guy as long as they can get the ball to him in crunch time.

[Jeffx]

Blazers in 7. These are probably going to be the most intense first round series this year and with the home court advantage and houston not having a go-to-guy, portland should win these in a tight battle.

Yao ?

Sure, Yao is their best offensive player but can a center really be a go to guy ?! c'mon. He wont take over a close game in the final minutes.

Dude, are you serious??? Look at NBA history - most of the time, the center WAS the focal point of the offense. Just because the game has changed doesn't mean it can't be done. The Rockets should have been doing this from jump street. Run the offense inside-out, through the big man.

[Oakrhum]

Blazers in 7. These are probably going to be the most intense first round series this year and with the home court advantage and houston not having a go-to-guy, portland should win these in a tight battle.

Yao ?

Sure, Yao is their best offensive player but can a center really be a go to guy ?! c'mon. He wont take over a close game in the final minutes.

Shaq ?

[NovU]

Speaking of go-to-guy, I don't think Portland is in any better situation than Houston, since Artest & Battier pretty much can shut Roy down. Besides, Scola, Artest, and Landry are somewhat under appreciated capable clutch play makers/scorers. That was the reason why I said half healthy Tracy wasn't really needed earlier in the season.

[Dean]

Does anyone think running like hell would be enough for Portland to win?

It worked for the Suns back in Nash's MVP seasons, Amare at center, run run run run.. Yao barely made it to half court by the time Phoenix had scored.. Portland has some great uptempo players - Roy, Fernandez, Blake.. Outlaw too i guess.. and I have no doubt Oden and Aldridge would beat Yao and Scola up the court, meaning easy looks..

[Lamrock]

No. The only reason the Blazers aren't mediocre is because of their efficient slow offense.

[Andrew]

A more competitive one this time around to knot the series at a game apiece.

[Modifly]

To point it out, Houston didn't really have to do much in game 1 to win, but Roy have to score 42 points and Aldridge 27 for their team to win by just 4 points. Still, a lost is a lost and a win is a win. It was definitely a highly competitive game with no team leading by more than 8, Artest had 15 points in the first quarter alone and I thought he was going for 40. Too bad he ended up with only 19 on the night otherwise we might see a different result.

[Lamrock]

Huge nights from Roy and Aldridge all for a 4 point home win? I don't think Portland can win this series. At least it won't be a sweep though, for what its worth.

[NovU]

Not to mention, that 4 point win came from a game the best Rocket player forced to be on the bench for most of the game. My prediction was the Rockets, but Portland is just about as talented and unpredictable. But Blazers being young and less experienced gives the Rockets an edge.

[dansensei]

i think it's bad for the rockets to let artest shoot a lot of contested jumpers. they should have let him focus more on defending roy(42 pts)...

[Modifly]

i think it's bad for the rockets to let artest shoot a lot of contested jumpers. they should have let him focus more on defending roy(42 pts)...

Point taken, but Artest likes to take those jumpers and he will make some of them from time to time. I agree he should take less shots, but I'm certain that he is always focused on defense too. Roy just had a big night.

[Stress Fracture]

Houston will be ready in Game 3. Artest will now focus on defending Roy to prevent him on scoring 42 points.

[Modifly]

Absolutely. Rick Adelman will likely have told Artest to take less shots, especially when they aren't falling for him. He's always a defensive orientated player anyway but look for him to step up his defense even more in game 3.

[Lamrock]

Oden is fucking trash, Blake is a fucking imbecile, and that was a great game.

[Modifly]

Artest only took 8 shots. Yao didn't get any field goals after 7 minutes left in the first quarter. Scola and Battier came up big and Houston should have won by a larger margin. Nevertheless it was a great win and the Blazers wont rain threes towards the end of the game like that every game.

[NovU]

It seems like the Rockets will advance only to face the Lakers. I hope to see Yao and Scola finishing the series tomorrow.

[Stress Fracture]

It seems like the Rockets will advance only to face the Lakers. I hope to see Yao and Scola finishing the series tomorrow.

Well, it will be sure that they will finish it off tomorrow. See you L.A.!