Pacers 91, Rockets 90

[SpursDynasty]

Thanks Indiana for giving us some help with the SW Division tonight. Finally someone steps up against these clowns. I thought once Battier was back they'd be good? I guess not. Looks like reliable Tracy McGrady went out again. Oh well. Every team has to deal with injuries. Good job Indiana for taking care of business tonight, winning a game you were expected to win.

[Flo-Rida]

wow weren't they getting their Asses kicked?

[sook]

wow weren't they getting their Asses kicked?

rockets wanted to choke the last qrtr....no other way they could have done that going in with a 13 pt lead

[sook]

If anyone wants to know how it happened...lets jsut say we got hoodwinked.

They put that one guy in the game, their C. And he drains two 3s in a row. Adelman didn't catch onto it and we basically got outcoached and choked the last couple of shots.

[Matchman]

Thanks Indiana for giving us some help with the SW Division tonight. Finally someone steps up against these clowns. I thought once Battier was back they'd be good? I guess not. Looks like reliable Tracy McGrady went out again. Oh well. Every team has to deal with injuries. Good job Indiana for taking care of business tonight, winning a game you were expected to win.

at least u do know that your team needs some help from the other teams just to give the Spurs a slim chance of winning the SW division:lol

[Tmac&Luther]

Houston just can't play at home, I've finally have come out of denial and excepted it. There is something wrong with the Toyota Center.......if we have home court advantage in the first round, we're going to lose in the first round again.

This team plays like burnt ass hair at home.

Houston's road record 7-3

Houston's home record 3-3

Something is not right here.

[mystargtr34]

at least u do know that your team needs some help from the other teams just to give the Spurs a slim chance of winning the SW division:lol

Nah, we have HILL

[sook]

Nah, we have HILL

hill for rafer? Pretty please...

[dallaskd]

lol rockets.

[Tmac&Luther]

Sad thing is, if we were playing in Indy, Houston would've won by double digits. They simply cannot play at home and I don't fucking understand it. Tear down the TC and rebuild a new arena......Houston will never win a title as long as they play at the Toyota Center.

Houston is the only team in the West with a winning record that doesn't have a winning record at home.....pathetic.

[sook]

Sad thing is, if we were playing in Indy, Houston would've won by double digits. They simply cannot play at home and I don't fucking understand it. Tear down the TC and rebuild a new arena......Houston will never win a title as long as they play at the Toyota Center.

Houston is the only team in the West with a winning record that doesn't have a winning record at home.....pathetic.

Yea i checked their FG% at the TC..well except for Landry b.c he throws that shit down every time.

Easy layups missed over and over.

This team w.o mcgrady never fails to dissapoint. Last yr, i didn't even bother watching when he went out.

[mystargtr34]

Relax its one loss. They shouldve beaten the Mavs last night, and theyre pretty good this year so its not like the Pacers are the Thunder.

[cze1860]

Thanks Indiana for giving us some help with the SW Division tonight. Finally someone steps up against these clowns. I thought once Battier was back they'd be good? I guess not. Looks like reliable Tracy McGrady went out again. Oh well. Every team has to deal with injuries. Good job Indiana for taking care of business tonight, winning a game you were expected to win.

yeah，Rockets lost the game，but Battier was back，Rockets will be better when Rockets vs Spurs

[Spur-Addict]

This team plays like burnt ass hair at home.

Houston's road record 7-3

Houston's home record 3-3

Something is not right here.

:lmao

[sribb43]

Murphy has played like the Murphy of old from Notre Dame the past two games

[Indazone]

Just got back from Toyota Center. Just a few items that they probably didn't show on TV.

1. The duo of Brooks and Head suck A$$. This substitution and taking Yao out of the game is what lost us the lead.

2. Artest at the end of the game forced himself into the lane. The defense collapsed on him and Brent Barry was standing all by himself at the three point line. Fucking Artest's jacked up stupid shot in traffic at the end of the game killed any chance of the Rockets winning the game.

3. Scola was a beast with 15 pts 18 rebounds. Dennis Rodmanlike numbers.

4. Landry was incredible scoring and dunking the ball but he was out on the court with Brooks, Head, and the smallball unit. At one point there were three guards on the floor with Barry, Brooks, Alston. No Yao and just Landry and Scola on the wings. Lost a of the lead with this unit on the floor.

5. Sorry but Brooks still sucks and doesn't know how to find the open man and make the extra pass. Head sucks plain and simple.

6. Yao was a beast until he got hurt. Then after that he played about a half a step slow. Probably has a concussion.

[Tom Nissalke]

Spurs just keep moving up

[SpursIndonesia]

I wonder what would've happened if the Rox drafted George Hill, and let the Spurs drafted Nicolas Batum one spot later. I think both teams would be better of.

[Indazone]

Oh and a few other items. Ron Artest took the last 5 shots and shot the Rockets out of the game. The entire team though shot poorly so we are deserving of the worst shooting playoff team title. But most of the shots I witnessed were stupid forced shots in traffic. Like WTH!!

That last shot that Yao took in traffic was a desparation shot. He barely managed to get the rebound and just threw it back up there. It was not a good look. WTF is Ron Artest taking and forcing the last few shots is beyond me.

Shane Battier did not move at all in this offense. All I saw Shane do was play good defense and on offense he just camped out at the three point line on the wings. Motion? What motion. Battier has a way to go to get comfortable with this offense.

[SAtown]

at least u do know that your team needs some help from the other teams just to give the Spurs a slim chance of winning the SW division:lol

lmao The Spurs are a whole 1.0 games back in the division after tonight (with Houston playing two more games than SA), and they aren't even at full strength. Good luck in the first round again :lol

[Tmac&Luther]

Shane Battier did not move at all in this offense. All I saw Shane do was play good defense and on offense he just camped out at the three point line on the wings. Motion? What motion. Battier has a way to go to get comfortable with this offense.

Battier shouldn't even be brought up in this thead...it was his first game back.

[Tmac&Luther]

lmao The Spurs are a whole 1.0 games back in the division after tonight (with Houston playing two more games than SA), and they aren't even at full strength. Good luck in the first round again :lol

Why do Spurs fans think their team is the only team battling injuries right now. :rolleyes

[SAtown]

Why do Spurs fans think their team is the only team battling injuries right now. :rolleyes

Why does Rocketman think that being 1 game behind the mighty SW division leader is insurmountable with 68 games left in the regular season?

[Tmac&Luther]

Why does Rocketman think that being 1 game behind the mighty SW division leader is insurmountable with 68 games left in the regular season?

umm what the hell are you talking about?

[SAtown]

umm what the hell are you talking about?

:lmao Are you a fucking retard?


at least u do know that your team needs some help from the other teams just to give the Spurs a slim chance of winning the SW division:lol

[SAtown]

I'm sorry if you are, btw

[Indazone]

Rockets let one slip away

Pacers rally from 10 down in final six minutes

By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Nov. 26, 2008, 11:39PM
(http://www.chron.com/photos/2008/11/26/14142814/260xStory.jpg)
http://www.chron.com/photos/2008/11/26/14142824/260xStory.jpg
James Nielsen Chronicle

Rockets guard Brent Barry (right) drives past Indiana's Brandon Rush during the first quarter.

The Rockets needed just one more field goal. Any one would have been enough.

They missed in every way possible, from tough drives to open jumpers, beat-the-clock heaves to a win-the-game layup. For six minutes, begun with a 10-point lead, the Rockets did just enough to need only one basket more.
They never got it.

After Pacers forward Danny Granger tipped in his own miss with 13.7 seconds left, the Rockets tacked their last two misses of the night - with Yao Ming coming up empty on a layup and Ron Artest missing a rushed jumper - as the Pacers stole a 91-90 win Wednesday to complete the Rockets second stunning collapse in two weeks.
"This is a worrisome thing," Yao said. "With a game like this, it makes my stomach hurt."

Yao was sickened not just by the loss, but by the similarity to the loss in San Antonio when the Rockets coughed up a 14-point lead with 7 ½ minutes left and a 10-point lead with 4 ½ remaining. After leading by 10 on Wednesday with 6 ½ minutes remaining, the Rockets missed their last eight shots, adding three turnovers as the Pacers slowly climbed back into the game and then in front.

"With six minutes to go we were ahead like 10 points," Yao said. "I think we stopped pushing. We knew, 'OK, that's 10 points, that's enough for the rest, for six minutes. We may have five, six points in six minutes and that's the game.' But if you have that in your mind, you never get success. You never get that win. Six minutes is a lot of minutes."

The breakdown wasted what had been a strong second half. Though Tracy McGrady sat out to rest his sore left knee, Shane Battier played for the first time since off-season surgery to his left ankle. On one sequence, he blocked a Granger drive, spraining his other ankle and then drew a charge on the next play while hopping on one foot, helping the Rockets build their 13-point, third-quarter lead. He returned to the game in the fourth quarter.
"My first thought was, 'Get the retirement papers ready, this could be my last game," Battier said of spraining one ankle in the first game after spending nearly seven months rehabilitating the other. "I came down on Granger's foot a little bit and turned it. Hopefully, get the injuries out of my system in November."

The Rockets followed a horrible offensive first half in which they made just 33.3 percent of their shots, with their top scoring third-quarter of the season, outscoring Indiana, 30-17.

Luis Scola and Carl Landry controlled the boards, combining for 28 rebounds, including a career-high 18 for Scola. Landry's follow slam gave the Rockets a seemingly safe 84-74 lead.

"We were superior the whole game," Scola said. "When you want to look at the clock and there is two minutes to go and the game is tied, it's a surprise. Shocking.
"It could happen once. We make mistakes. When it happens twice, then you have to reflect about it."

The Rockets kept the lead at 10 for another minute, then began replaying the San Antonio debacle. Instead of leaving Matt Bonner open for a pair of 3s, they left Troy Murphy alone for consecutive 3-pointers, with the Pacers going to a small lineup and Yao unable to close out all the way to the arc.

With that, Rockets coach Rick Adelman switched to a zone and that slowed the Pacers for a few possessions. But the Rockets remained unable to put the ball in the basket.

The Rockets had been remarkably efficient closing out wins on the three-game road trip, with Artest helping to key their late runs. On Wednesday, however, he was 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter, as the Rockets shot just 27.8 percent in the final 12 minutes.

"That game was definitely all on me," Artest, who made 6 of 21 attempts, said. "I didn't step up like I was supposed to. I missed about 10 layups today so I definitely will take the blame for this one."

The final chances slipped away when Artest slid a pass inside to Yao, but Yao shoved up a shot that did not catch the rim. Artest came away with the rebound, but his rushed turnaround jumper missed before the buzzer.

"Last seconds, a lot of hitting in there, but I understand, that's the fourth quarter, that's the last seconds," Yao said. "If you don't get clearly grabbed or fouled, they're not going to call a foul. We can do a lot better before that shot to win this game. You cannot depend on the last shot."
But on Wednesday, that one shot would have been enough.

[Indazone]

By the way..Ginobili only played like 11 minutes when he returned from injury. What does Adelman do? He freaking starts Battier who is clearly going to be rusty and plays him for 29 1/2 minutes. Not only that but he injures the other ankle which one might attribute to not being in the flow of the game.

This is why it is noteworthy to mention Battier.

Last play of the game was Artest jacking up a stupid shot. The ball being bounced around and somehow Yao comes up with it and throws up a prayer.

[Tmac&Luther]

:lmao Are you a fucking retard?

No I didn't read that part of the thread, but nice job at being a asshat. You could've simply pointed it out without being a dick.

[Indazone]

We should just trade ballstopper Artest to the Bulls for Nocioni. At least then we'd have a baller who is also good defensively who can pass the ball off. Hey the salaries match. Seriously, unless Adleman can get Artest to play within the team concept.

[Findog]

The hell? Pacers were on the 2nd of a b2b

[Flintstones32]

Last play of the game was Artest jacking up a stupid shot. The ball being bounced around and somehow Yao comes up with it and throws up a prayer.

The previous 4 or 5 shots Artest took were indeed very bad decisions, but the final one it looked like it was a pass to yao when I just saw the highlights. He did put Yao in a bad situation, but it looked to me if Yao knew where he was at, all he had to do was jump up and was an easy dunk for the win.

[mystargtr34]

The hell? Pacers were on the 2nd of a b2b

Pacers are ballin'

They almost got your boys last night, theyve lost alot of close games as well as beating the C's - they look good despite being 6-8

[Purple & Gold]

Surprised at how well the Pacers have been playing as a team. I knew Granger would be good, but he's even outperformed my expectations. They have a nice team developing out there.

[The Franchise]

This lose had nothing to do with the Pacers. This was not the first or second (or third fuck!!!)time this year that we had a game won only to nut up. We just choked the game away..... again. At this point in the season we just seem confused when it comes to closing the deal. We still have a lot of time to correct this so I wouldn't push the panic button just yet. This team is still learning to play together and I have been seeing slight progress. In another month I think we'll be passed this.

[sook]

That might not be a bad idea. The Rockets are NOT a title contender. Artest will most likely leave for greener pastures, and Tmac can go to sleep...:lol

That wasn't the problem but you were right.

About adelman's coaching...i've never seen someone get outcoached so bad in my entire life, he got hoodwinked the entire 4th qrtr

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

When are the Rockets going to get a real point guard? How many year it take them to find one?

[Indazone]

It's not just the point guard that's hurting the Rockets. It's the fact that they force up too many bad shots. They are not patient on their offense and they aren't setting screens for shooters or cutting for open shots that well.

I have yet to see Pete Carrill's Princeton offense here. When I see guards backdooring other teams defenses, then I will know that the Rockets have arrived. So far all I see is forced up stupid shots, poor motion and not looking for the wide open man.

[SpursFanFirst]

:clap I'm so glad the Pacers finally pulled a win out. It's been painful watching this team get close so many times and then falling short.
Good job, Pacers!

[Tmac&Luther]

When are the Rockets going to get a real point guard? How many year it take them to find one?

Well they had high hopes for Vsuck, but he was a damn dud.

[angel_luv]

Great job Pacers! :)