Game's starting in 10 minutes, I figure I'll watch the game and post my observations/anger/joy/anything else on this. Please do chime in, the more the merrier.
It's been a good day for road teams in the NBA. Hopefully the Rockets can continue this trend. And we get the worst commentators covering this game.
Portland's not fronting or doubling Yao and he's making them pay with 9 of the first 11 points. Rockets up 11-2. Yao's gonna end up with 60 at this rate. We just need to keep going to him.
Battier's gonna make a damn great politician. Offensive foul on Yao. Artest wants to be Reggie Miller. Just stop. Yao's been a monster, and Brooks is taking advantage of Blake's defense.
Yes, get Artest to go into the post and he'll get points. Stay out of the perimeter Ron. And oh, please tighten up the defense on Roy.
We continue to be red hot. 28-18 with 3 min left in first quarter. Roy's the only one we're having trouble guarding. Yao's got 16.
Great start for the Rockets in that 1st quarter. About as well as they could have hoped. The only thing that went wrong was Brandon Roy killing us on that pick and roll. Because Yao drew that early foul, he couldn't be aggressive contesting the shot.
Now the calls aren't going our way. Let's see how we respond to this and how low Adelman is going to allow our lead to get before re-inserting Yao.
Yao's taking it to Oden. That's good news for us. Artest has also played within the offense for the most part. Hope he stays that way all series. Yao gets called for blocking on a clear charge. He was set and outside the semi-circle.
Landry has struggled in this first half. He drew that one charge, but he hasn't been a presence at all on teh defensive boards, and he hasn't gotten his hands on enough loose balls. Hasn't finished. Brooks has done his job perfectly.
Brooks is playing like Tony Parker. Utilizing his speed and taking advantage of mismatches. He took the ball upcourt in 3 seconds! EDIT: Landry still needs time to get acclimated, but yeah, Deke probably would have blocked Roy's layup on that last play. Rockets can't get complacent; the Blazers are at home and have a history of coming back from deficits. If they get the lead cut down to 10 the crowd could carry them back into it.
This was the best possible playoff matchup for Aaron Brooks, so I'm glad he's taken advantage at least through first 24 minutes of this series. Great job overall, but the Rockets can't allow there to be a let down when they bring Lowry, Wafer, and Landry off the bench. Portland is going to make a run in the second half, because that's what they usually do when they're down at home. It will be interesting to see how the Rockets respond to that.
Was that 16 by Yao in the first quarter a single-quarter career high? I think Aldridge is going to start making some shots in the second half. We need to get Hayes on him if he does.