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Get em Rockets.............
There will be blood
As they pursue a major upset in the Western semifinals, the Rockets are quite willing to give the Lakers a physical education
By Jonathan Feigen
Houston Chronicle
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — Blood streamed down Shane Battier’s face, gushing from the gash opened above his left eye and flowing down his neck like lava.
Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic cut him with a swing toward a long rebound, sending Battier off the court for four more s ches in his oft-repaired noggin. There also would be a Kobe Bryant elbow to Battier’s head, followed by a well-placed knee.
“That wasn’t fun,” Battier said. Then, with a finger to the swelling above his eye, he added, “And neither was this.”
Battier was smiling when he said it. He wore the marks of a rough and painful night, but the Rockets had gotten just the sort of game they wanted. He came back from his cut. Yao Ming returned from a bruised knee. And the Rockets rallied past their regular-season struggles against the Lakers to take Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals with the sort of blood-and-guts performance they will need to win the series.
Half-court preference
“That’s our style,” Battier said. “We made it a little nasty. We made it a little mucky. These guys are too long and too good in the open court to get in a racehorse game with them. We have to play to our strength, which is half-court defense.”
The Rockets did that so well that they not only held the Lakers 15 points shy of their regular-season average in the 100-92 victory, they brought rapid (if perhaps premature) reminders of last season’s NBA Finals, in which the Celtics pushed around the Lakers with the same sort of defense-first, physical style.
The Rockets cut Bryant off before he could get to the rim, forcing him to take 31 shots to score 32 points (with seven of those coming in the final two minutes after the Rockets led by 11). They slowed the Lakers’ break, challenged shots and made it their sort of game.
If that means it got a little messy, even ugly, that is part of the deal.
What? Me taunt?
“Oh yeah, I’m a physical player,” Ron Artest said. “And Yao’s a big body. He’s physical by nature. (Luis) Scola is a really good offensive rebounder. I don’t think you’ll see any jawing or taunting by our team. We’re just physical. That’s how I play. I don’t have to taunt to be physical.”
The Rockets made strides offensively this season. Their 98.4 points per game were their most since the 1999-2000 season. At heart, however, they remain a defensive team. That is still their strength, and they believe it’s the key to their chances against the Lakers.
Los Angeles was third in scoring in the NBA this season and is the top-scoring playoff team. The Lakers were fourth in shooting percentage.
In sweeping the Rockets in four regular-season meetings, the Lakers won by an average of 13 points. But even before they won Game 1, the Rockets insisted they believed in their chances because of their defense.
“You can’t back down from them,” coach Rick Adelman said. “You have to be prepared to cut off the things they like to do. If it gets to 110, 115 (points), we’re probably going to be in trouble. That’s more their game. We were able to keep them under control. They got 92. We were able to control the tempo.
“We know if we defend and follow the game plan and the guys are playing hard, we’re probably going to hang in games. We talk about it all the time, especially on the road: ‘Give yourself a chance to win in the fourth quarter.’ Defense is going to do that.”
17 misses for Bryant
Against the Lakers, that has to start with defending Bryant. He averaged 28.3 points on 53 percent shooting in the regular season against the Rockets. In Game 1, he missed 17 shots.
“We did a great job of team defense,” Battier said. “Every time he came off a pick-and-roll, we had a guy there to make him think about passing the ball. He still scored 32 points, so there is still room for improvement. Overall, I thought we did a very good job of making a wall.
“He’s so good, you have to give him different looks. What worked in Game 1 may not work in Game 2. He’s going to make adjustments. This is a constant evolution, trying to figure out a way to defend the best player on the planet.”
Though Battier wore the scars, the Rockets got the kind of game — and the win – they wanted. “We’re a physical team, particularly defensively,” Yao said. “If the rest of the games stay like Game 1, we’re happy.”
Get em Rockets.............
No worries here. Funny how they mention the 17 misses but don't say anything about the percentage (45% on an off day).
I don't follow the rockets much, but is their improvement (2nd round!!) due to better players, or to the coaching change coming to fru ion...?
the bump in percentage came in garbage time. didn't kobe make his last 3 shots after the game was basically over?
Please people. The Lakers hadn't played a game in one ing week. That is an eternity in NBA time.
The Rockets played pretty good, but the reality is the Lakers were just out of sync from the long layoff. Despite all of that they had chances to win in the 4th. And I'm not even mentioning the ty refs and multiple blown calls down the stretch.
You're going to see a much different game tonight.
Fleeting moments, enjoy them while you can.
Lakers lose again in game 2 HAHHAHA
Cleveland was off for about the same amount of time or even longer and I expected them to struggle against the Hawks. They didn't appear as rusty as I thought they'd be.
And...I am aware that Houston is a much better and physical team than Atlanta, the wc teams are better, Kobe wasn't 100%, Bynum is still finding his legs, blah, blah, blah.
It was just an observation.
i think since this is a second round game people seem to think the rockets are supposed to be trash like the hawks are but thats just the east. the rockets are a good team but come on they dodged a bullet with all the missed shots. they should have won by 30 and didnt . just cause people are saying lakers are better than rockets isnt a big deal .
I think the Lakers are a better team than the Rockets and will ultimately win this series but I also think that perhaps we should also give the rockets some credit don't you think?
Definitely. Rockets are playing above their level. I hope they can keep it up.I think the Lakers are a better team than the Rockets and will ultimately win this series but I also think that perhaps we should also give the rockets some credit don't you think?
None of what I said matters though. Rockets won, Lakers lost.Cleveland was off for about the same amount of time or even longer and I expected them to struggle against the Hawks. They didn't appear as rusty as I thought they'd be.
And...I am aware that Houston is a much better and physical team than Atlanta, the wc teams are better, Kobe wasn't 100%, Bynum is still finding his legs, blah, blah, blah.
It was just an observation.
Now the Lakers HAVE to win a game on the road if they want to advance. Hopefully it will motivate them and get them out of this malaise they've been in for the last few months.
It appears as if the team has collectively lost its legs and that really scares me. I thought I'd see LAL turn it up a notch once the playoffs started but it appears like they may already be gassed. Very surprising considering how well Phil usually paces his teams.
I think the Lakers just didn't take the Rockets seriously. I don't think they look gassed but then again I don't watch every Lakers game.
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