ClutchFans Game Thread: Blazers @ Rockets 4/20/2014 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 1)

Only after some prodding by a reporter

 

Well, one of the positives that I would like to point out is that it took a career game from Aldridge and above season average game from Lilliard to barely beat us in overtime. Once the nerves calm down, we should be able to take care of business as usual.

 

That is what I am starting to think after finally starting to calm down. Look how bad we played and still took everything that Portland had to beat us. Still just was a heartbreaking loss.

 

Harden is a spoiled youth, by front office, media and rocket fans.

You need a hard-line coach teach him discipline and team play, or maybe it just can't be taught.

 

Yeah.......

So Aldridge, Lillard and Matthews combine for 100 points...... Harden has a bad game.... and the Rockets lose by 2 in overtime?

Yeah, not happy about the loss, but don't really feel any different about the series.

 

maybe we can get thibs when chicago dumps him (i hope) this offseason. imagine our offense and a thibs defense. WCF easy.

 

i feel bad and i see the posts about lillard and aldridge having career nights but my concern is i feel they can possibly do the same thing again if its up to the rox to stop them.

the only hope is they both have bad shooting nights. i think we miss coach sampson than it's being let on. praying for bev, hope things aren't as bad as they looked.

i'm at work and really dragging... headed to the coffee pot.

 

The game recap on ESPN is finally truthful. Talks about Harden's bad D, poor coaching, Beverly getting burned, it's all out there.
http://m.espn.go.com/nba/notebook?page=dime-140420

Once again, Harden's defense compromised the Rockets' efforts, especially early in the game. This comes on the heels of an 11-minute YouTube video titled "James Harden Defensive Juggernaut" that went viral over the weekend, collecting about a quarter-million views in just a few days. The video exposed Harden's serial defensive apathy this season.

Oftentimes, Sunday provided an encore. Wesley Matthews alternated between burning Harden backdoor for easy layups and posting him on the block with little resistance. And McHale was forced to switch Harden off him and hide him elsewhere.

Harden was the NBA's slowest guard in the NBA this season, according to SportVU 3D-camera tracking. He averaged just 3.6 mph this season and only 3.4 mph on the defensive end, although most players generally show tapered times on the defensive end. But numbers aren't deceiving.

 

I really hope next game the ref's don't try to get creative with there whistles again.

Key's to winning next game are:
-Howard/Asik not to get in foul trouble early. Very important.
-If Bev is out, Lin should be on Lillard. Not Chandler, Not TJones...it has to be Lin. Let's not get too creative with our matchups. I feel in the past 10 games, we are getting too creative of who Lin guards. It's actually disrupting our defense. Howard has to be on the court most of the time when Lin is guarding Lillard. No if's or but's. Lin also must not give up easy fouls especially early in the game. Very imporant.
-Harden must attack the rim with the intention to score and not only to draw fouls. The ref's were not calling it for him like they were in the regular season and I felt he was heavily effected by this, and he retreated too much to the 3pt line. I also want to see more step back midrange shots from him...didn't see enough of that in the game, too many lazy 3 pt shots.
-This is Very Important. Everyone has to hustle right from tip-off. Not only when things are close, it has to be right at the start of the game to the end. This is the playoffs, basically a do or die game. If you do not bring 110% on the court then you should sit down. This is what Bev brings most to the table, not his defense, not his offense, it's those hustle plays, winning the 50/50 balls that can swing the momentum your way. If his not playing, then dammit, everyone has to bring extra intensity to this game. Winning those 50/50 balls will make the difference between losing and winning the game.

 

listen to his interview, he owns it: http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/2014/04/21/Harden042014mp4-3244691/

 

stotts had a great gameplan - going at harden by feeding matthews in the post. really wore down harden - hence his jumper was off all game. harden looked gassed at the end of OT, no energy, on those last few isos.

only a borderline LOF but mchale should have stuck with lin going to the basket with the high screen and roll, harden being the decoy. lin did miss a few floaters/finger rolls though that I wish he would have made.

 

This loss was heartbreaking and we need to win game 2. I think we'll win the series if we get game 2 but if not, it'll be tough

 

i blame whoever called LMA a volume chucker a couple of days ago.

LMA proved he is the perfect fit for our offense. A stretch 4 with a solid post game, or a post player who can shoot the three. Harden-Howard-LMA unbeatable. Maybe last night was an audition for Morey.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>What a monster win for Portland. One of most successful Hack-a-Guy uses ever by Stotts. Lillard in clutch is terrifying. Great, great win.</p>&mdash; Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/statuses/458232006678446080">April 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Beautifully coached game by Stotts overall -- stuck with Hack even after 2-of-2, quick 2-for-1 play for Lillard tying 3 4Q. Great stuff.</p>&mdash; Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/statuses/458232734918672384">April 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Also smart by Stotts: Using Wright as C in super-small lineups for offense out of timeouts late. Took D12 from basket on Lillard OT And-One</p>&mdash; Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/statuses/458233782395752448">April 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Column: After Game 1 collapse, the burden's on Dwight Howard to deliver these Houston Rockets out of darkness. <a href="http://t.co/RVKdV0ODVr">http://t.co/RVKdV0ODVr</a></p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/458183936037101568">April 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
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If Bev.'s out, McHale may put Parson guarding Lillard, just like what he did to CP3 and D-Will in regular season.

 

Rockets aren't looking so good in this series now. I would say what happened is what we all feared would happen. We couldn't stop Aldridge or Lillard. It's not over yet but that stat that whomever wins game 1 wins the series 85% of the time...it don't look so good now. I turned the game off at the end of regulation and followed the box score. I just couldn't deal with whatever that mess was. Is Aldridge really twice the player Howard is? It sure looked like it. Howard isn't able to influence the game like Aldridge did. That was insane.

 

i dont understand this strategy. i dont remember the head to head in all 4 games, but i know there was at least one game in which Lin did a pretty good of containing Lillard - kept him to below his season averages.

 

The big difference in this game was The Blazers executed their plays out of the timeout. While the Rockets looked lost on their plays coming out of the timeout. McHale needs to get that shi& together real quick.

 

Hope? Ha.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Don't forget: Last time Blazers opened playoffs with road win, 2010 in PHX, they lost series in 6. As Lillard reminds, still work to do.</p>&mdash; Jason Quick (@jwquick) <a href="https://twitter.com/jwquick/statuses/458256936387895296">April 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Everyone just needs to take a chill pill. Aside from being a Rockets fan first, step back and look at that game as a pure basketball fan. This was the best game of the playoffs so far (you could argue GS and the Clips was up there too). We have a series folks. I learned a long time ago to not take "pundits" at their word. The Rockets are not entitled to win anything. This is the 4 vs. 5 matchup where both teams have identical records and have had good games all year long.

Harden had a terrible game, plain and simple. That shouldn't happen regularly. The Rockets are built to take leads and hand them back. Say what you will, but that's what the Rockets have done all year long. Part of it is definitely because this team turns the ball over ALOT and takes a ton of 3s. You can build a lead quick and you can just as easily give it up.

Having said all of that, I'm pretty confident that Rockets will take Game 2. The real question will come down to Rockets stealing a game in Portland. They need to win atleast 1 in order to win the series. I see it going to 7.