THUNDER(1) vs ROCKETS(8): 2013 First Round

[NovU]

Thunder: 60 wins 22 losses
Rockets: 45 wins 37 losses

Harden gets to play against his former team in a playoffs series. That's about the drama I can think of, atm.

[Dan's Brain]

Thunder in 5. The games themselves will likely be close, but I can only foresee one token Rocket victory coming early in the series.

[NovU]

[JaoSming]

Thudner in 6, and 1 huge game from Harden & Lin each to make us go wow.

[werewolf914]

Houston take 1 game for Harden to show off, 2 games in Linsanity for the sake of selling tickets then just like North Korea, the rocket will go down before touching the sky.

[Cartar]

Harden will score at least 40 twice yet they won't win more than 1, thus OKC in 5.

[Dc311]

Oklahoma City in 6.

[SoF'nAwesome]

Drama isn't enough to avoid sweep.

[Andrew]

I'll take the Thunder in five. A sweep isn't completely out of the question, but I'll pick the Rockets to win a token game at home to avoid it.

[Stress Fracture]

Come on, give them at least 2 games to win.

[Stress Fracture]

Houston just got trashed.

[NovU]

Lin better find a way to be productive. But he struggled entire season against quicker guards.

[Axel The Great]

Wow, just terrible. Stopped watching after the first half because I have better things to do than watch the Rockets lose. I would be happy if the Rockets took one game out of this one, there's still hope.

[[Q]]

they seemed ok with the small lineup in vs the thunder bench. they lost it with about 2 minutes left in the half when the thunder bigs came back and asik & parsons were in foul trouble.
the rockets need to make em pay for subbing in that old ass man fisher and they have the personnel to do it.

[Stress Fracture]

But Lin can't even stop that old man. What's happening? Damn.

[Andrew]

It's easy to write Houston off after a game like that, but I think they'll still be able to take one at home, or at least make things a little more competitive. Dominant opener for the Thunder.

[Stress Fracture]

And Lin went out with an injury. The good thing is, Patrick Beverley is stepping up. He's even getting on Westbrook's nerves.

[NovU]

What an exciting game. The Rockets made a couple mistake and that was it. They had 4 point lead with 3 minutes remaining. Could have been huge if they were able to steal this one.

[[Q]]

problem is ref blew a call at the end where thabo hits the three. perkins holds parsons's arm so he can't close out on thabo. ref tries to give a make up call(s) on the other end and harden only hits 1 free throw. okc up 2 points in that trade off. that was a big difference in the game

[Axel The Great]

problem is ref blew a call at the end where thabo hits the three. perkins holds parsons's arm so he can't close out on thabo. ref tries to give a make up call(s) on the other end and harden only hits 1 free throw. okc up 2 points in that trade off. that was a big difference in the game

As frustrating as that missed call was, I actually didn't see it the first time around and wondered why everyone was confident that Thabo would miss that 3. Had Parsons been able to close out, maybe that three might have been missed. Either way, I'm not gonna fault the refs because the Rockets had their chances but turnovers were devastating. If that level of play is maintained, I think winning one game at home is feasible.

[[Q]]

westbrook with a slight meniscus tear.... my prediction in the poll of rockets in 7 might come true!

[SoF'nAwesome]

Rockets still in the sweeping zone imo, but if the Westbrook injury is serious OKC will be struggling in the Conference finals against SAS...

[Andrew]

It's certainly sounding serious enough, with talk that he'll be having surgery and thus missing the first games of his NBA career. It would also appear that he's miffed with Patrick Beverley:

Westbrook suffered the tear of his lateral meniscus in the second quarter of Game 2 of the Thunder's first-round playoff series with the Houston Rockets after Rockets guard Patrick Beverley lunged at Westbrook to make a steal as the Thunder guard signaled for a timeout.

Westbrook is "irate," with Beverley, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

[Stress Fracture]

Beverley is just being aggressive at that time. It's just unfortunate that Beverley's hip hit Westbrook's knee. The team knows it.

[SoF'nAwesome]

I can't imagine Westbrook not being "iRage". So many factors. Wonder how Beverly is feeling right now. Getting posterized in nightmares