GAME: Houston Rockets(33-24) vs. Portland Trail Blazers(29-28) LOCATION: Toyota Center, Houston TIME: 7:30PM PROBABLE STARTERS SF Jim Jackson/Shareef Abdur-Rahim PF Kelvin Cato/Zach Randolph C Yao Ming/Theo Ratliff PG Steve Francis/Damon Stoudamire SG Cuttino Mobley/Derek Anderson TEAM LEADERS Rockets: Yao Ming-16.9 points per game Yao Ming-8.9 rebounds per game Steve Francis-6.0 assists per game Spurs: Zach Randolph-20.9 points per game Zach Randolph-10.9 rebounds per game Damon Stoudamire-6.3 assists per game KEYS TO THE GAME <u>Rockets</u> 1: Yao Ming Lights It Up-This has been an up-and-down season for the Rockets center, Yao Ming. He had 41 points two games ago and 14 the next against a tough San Antonio defense. He needs to beat up Theo Ratliff in the post tonight. I'm pretty confident he'll get around 20 points this time around as his performance will be vital as to whether the Rockets win tonight or not. 2:Guard Z-BoZach Randolph is one of the front-runners for the Most Improved Player award. He can be a tough matchup for any player in the NBA as he is quick for his size and can hit the 15-footer with ease. Kelvin Cato will have a tough task on hand against the versatile Randolph. 3:Steve Francis Gets Out Of His Funk-Steve Francis has not been his normal self recently. He has shot very badly and is playing like he's without a purpose. The Rockets will need his production, especially on offense against a tough Blazers defense. <u>Blazers</u> 1:Zach Randolph Plays Good-Zach Randolph is the Blazers leader on the floor and his play will be essential if the Blazers would like success tonight. Many of his points come from in the paint and against a 7-6 Yao Ming and a 6-11 Kelvin Cato, it might be hard to get his normal 20 points tonight. This is where Randolph need to make use of. He has to pass more and efficiently. 2:Prevent Yao From Getting Post Position-The Rockets have a brilliant player in Yao Ming whose strong post play has gotten them into playoff contention. Theo Ratliff has to box him out and prevent him from getting post position. Ratliff has been efficient against Yao in the past and has to do a good job guarding him tonight. 3:Other Players Produce-After the trades John Nash pulled this season, the Blazers are now one of the most surprising teams in the West. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Damon Stoudamire, Derek Anderson, Darius Miles and Theo Ratliff are no scrubs and should be averaging more points than they are now if they were on another team. They have to play like that tonight, especially if Zach Randolph is suffering from the field. GAME OUTLOOK Against the Blazers tonight, the Rockets face a tough task. These two teams may be competing for the same playoffs spot come April, so this might be an exciting one to watch. If the Rockets can play like their normal selves and limit Randolph and SAR, I think we have a fairly good chance of beating Portland. GAME PREDICTION Rockets-90 Blazers-86
Great preview....I think the Rockets will take this one as well, altho Ming will have trouble with Ratliff...Francis must have a huge game and not let Stoudamire keep getting the best of him...I think Francis' play will be the key to how well the Rockets play...but I see the Rockets pullin this one out, 95-92...
The Rockets pulled away with a 89-85 victory tonight against the Blazers. The Blazers played really sloppy and the Rockets were able to capitalize. Rockets Player Stats Steve Francis - 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals Cuttino Mobley - 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals Jim Jackson - 8 points, 4 rebounds Kelvin Cato - 10 points, 7 rebounds Yao Ming - 13 points, 4 rebounds Maurice Taylor - 12 points 3 rebounds Blazers Player Stats Damon Stoudamire - 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 turnovers Derek Anderson - 22 points, 9 assists Darius Miles - 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks Zach Randolph - 17 points, 17 rebounds Theo Ratliff - 4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks Shareef Abdul-Rahim - 15 points, 3 assists The key to this game was the Rocket's ability to care of the ball. They only committed 10 total turnovers and the Blazers were only able to get 10 points off of those forced turnovers. The Blazers committed 18 turnovers in the game. Steve Francis deserves the MVP award for the Rockets due to his terrific play tonight on both ends of the ball. Box Score
10 games over .500!!!! and tied with Memphis for the sixth spot....Rockets are playing some good basketball ever since the All-Star break...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting HoustonHoopa33:</div><div class="quote_post">10 games over .500!!!! and tied with Memphis for the sixth spot....Rockets are playing some good basketball ever since the All-Star break...</div> I agree. I would like to see Yao get more shots a game(between 12-18) instead of (8-12) however considering how the Rockets are playing right now, I could care less as long as we win. Come playoff time, Yao will need to get us 20 and 10 a night for us to be successful. We might as well get him use to it now.
We are on a roll alright, but we need to prove that we can beat stronger teams like Dallas and San Antonio. That will be vital for our success come playoff time.
I say, we should stay in this playoff spot, which is 7th, so we could play Lakers. We have a better chance of beating the Lakers than the Spurs or Dallas. We're 2-0 against the lakers this season. While we're 0-2 or 0-3 against SPurs and Dallas...we should tactically let the grizz stay on top of us..WE know and they know we're better than them.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting drm2dnk:</div><div class="quote_post">WE know and they know we're better than them.</div> Head to head meetings would suggest otherwise.
They are mostly great when they are at home and Yao and Francis are hot, so i'm favoring the rockets by 10.
All season long Rockets been dominating Lakers. But prob this coming wednesday match with the lakers might prove rockets unworthy to play against them. Is it me or Franchise is doing prob his worst out of his whole career here with rockets. he needs to score more and act like a real all star player. Go rockets.