Face it, folks, the Clippers are just better at NBA than the Rockets are

From what I've seen, we'll win or lose this series on the play of Ariza and Jones.

If Jones can attack their bigs plus stay active defensively, and Ariza can knock down his shots, we have a chance.

I liked what McHale did in the first quarter, running the PnR with Jones and Howard - I think it caused Jordan's foul trouble. We stopped executing it it in the 2nd (or we had the bad version of J Smoove in there). Finally in the 4th quarter, Jones also got into the scoring act and made some plays defensively and we were able to pull away.

Ariza can not continue shooting <25% from 3 point land.

 

One game at a time. Win game 3.

 

Jones suddenly decided he wanted to be the stomper, not the homeless guy sleeping on the floor.

 

I fell asleep in either the 3rd or 4th quarter so I'm gonna have to rewatch the game, because from what I remember the Rockets looked dead. Glad they came back!

 

We better start causing some damn havoc out there.

 

Yeah, I bet he is.

Scoreboard

 

Win or lose, I think this series will hopefully be good for the Rockets. Just as the popular narrative about the Clippers right now is that their series with the Spurs "taught them what it takes to be a champion", I'm hoping the Rockets right now are realizing that if they want to be real contenders too, it's a matter of rising up and matching the Clippers' focus and composure.

I don't buy that the Clippers have more talent at all. The Rockets could definitely use another player or two, but they have enough talent on the roster to beat anyone. It's just matter of them realizing that.

 

TJones was playing with his feet in cement and with a noodle brain. There were at least 2 occasions where he was right at the basket, looking away from someone driving in to dunk right on top of him. It's like he's underwater or something and the rest of the world is normal. Suddenly he came to life in the end and we made some shots.

I do agree with Carl that it's not an issue of heart, but his Harden hatred is so ridiculous. I swear, this board has people on it that would rather see the Rockets fail so they can snicker at Harden, McHale and Morey than see them succeed. It's pathetic.

Carl, JR, FTW Rockets FTW, Cheke, plenty of others, will enjoy their time on the board so much more if the Rockets lose in horrible fashion so they can point and laugh at Harden, McHale and Morey. Carl couldn't even wait until game 2 was over before he had to get his swipes in.

Please Morey, for the love of God, bring back 2Pat this offseason so Carl Herrera can put his heart back together.

 

If the Rockets fight as hard for the rest of the series as they did in the 2nd half of game 2, I don't think I'll have any complaints. It's the quitting thing in game 1 that bothered me the most.

As for the outcome, we barely escaped with a split on home court with CP3 on the sidelines. Barring a prolonged injury to CP3 or the Clippers imploding, the odds are pretty long that the Rockets get out of the 2nd round.

 

The Rockets do have a talent problem, particularly when you have Bev and Donatas on the bench. Neither is great shakes, but the domino effect of forcing Terry to play more minutes is significant. Their entire defensive scheme has collapsed because they can't guard pick and rolls with Terry, they can harass the point, etc.

They also have a shooting problem. I hope one of these years Morey actually gets a team of good 3 point shooters to shoot all of the 3s we take.

 

We have some ****ty fans... It's like it never occurs to them to just shut the **** up with their unwanted negativity and just enjoy the game. Don't like the team or how they play, I heard there are other channels on the TV, other crap on stream. Some of you should be embarrassed calling yourselves Rockets fans.

 

He traded several away.

 

Haha, agree. It's worse than fair weather fans...

 

If you want to say the Spurs or Mavericks of Bulls are better coached, I won't argue with and indeed would agree with you. However the Clippers are not better coached than the Rockets. McHale is not a master tactician, but neither is Doc Rivers. Rivers out coached McHale in the second half of game 1, and McHale badly out coached Rivers in the second half of game 2. Indeed Rivers was terrible in the second half of game 2.

If there is a team in the NBA like the Rockets it is the Clippers. Both teams are very talented, have suspect track records under pressure and are undisciplined.

You are a smart guy but just stop it.

 

CarlHerrera...

You look like such a jack ass right now. You are just a whiny and emotional fan that freaks out at every turn. I hope you learned a lesson tonight. The Clippers have no bench, and this is not a question of talent. It is just a matter of execution.

 

Right on target...total negativity.

But suggest you add this poster to your list...the most negative poster in history.

 

Boy I wish Clutch would drop the ban hammer on everyone posting on the first two pages of this thread.

SMH at these so called "Rockets Fans"

Our team hasn't played well.... and missing DMO and Beverly hurt us real bad.... but I still believe we're better than the Clippers and can win this series.

 

Not necessarily, it is unlikely the Rockets shoot this poorly from 3's the rest of the series. The Clippers are also vulnerable at home. Two games is a very small sample size. I am not confident with either team in this series, I wouldn't bet money for either side.

 

Maybe they are better. So what? It was never going to be easy, the playoffs never are. It doesn't mean the Rockets can't win if they go out and compete.