Anyone else concerned we couldn't pull away and blow them out in Game 5?

surprisingly no one is mentioning the d matthews is playing on harden and the fact matthews is a pain in the rear on offense. we somehow have to foul that guy out or get enough quick fouls on him to take him out of the game.

portland is just so hungry they don't quit and keep coming. at least last night we didn't get behind after having a big lead.

if we can get out of this series ... the good thing it's really helping the rox to grow up as a team.

 

Crazy threes by Portland and Lillard went off and DH in foul trouble.

 

portland were something silly like 4-5 on 27 footers

 

Yeah, the way this series has gone, a 10-point win IS a blowout.

 

Agreed. With the blowout win last night, Rockets are now up a total of 3 points for the series. Pressure mounts for Portland as they don't want to come back for Game 7.

 

It's like we lose focus once we get up by 10+ and stop doing the little things that brought us that lead.

Harden in particular starts dancing with the ball once we have a comfortable margin and it freezes out the offense.

This has been the story all season. We rarely blew out teams because of those reasons.

 

It's the fact that portland is really good and more mature beyond their years. We score in spurts and when those spurts come, we gain big leads. portland seems like they just hit cruise control the whole series. We get up big and have all this energy from the team and the crowd and then 2 minutes later they're only behind by 4 or 5.

There hasn't been one minute in this entire series where I could feel comfortable with a lead and relax.

 

Definitely concerned. Our mental lapses have basically stopped us all series. If we played just a tad bit smarter the series would be over already

 

It's nothing new. Couldn't hold a lead in the regular season and still managed 54 wins. If the Rockets play that well, even with the inevitable slipping lead, they can still win the series, but long term it is something that will improve with time together and experience - remember this is still a very young team.

 

It's the playoffs. Blowing someone out by 20 is rare.

 

No. I'm more please with the resilience we showed. We never really looked like losing. Come backs always happen, but we did great to keep pulling away.

 

No. Prior to game 5, the Rockets have led 65% of the minutes to the Blazers 17%. Our killer as been the 4th quarter every game (since we haven't won a 4th quarter prior to Game 5) Based on the way this series has gone, I expected them to get back in the game (you know we are not great at extending leads). The main thing wass how were we gonna handle that run. Well we handled that run. If we can answer Portland's run in the next game, we'll be playing Sunday.

 

This is what happens when you have the following:

- PG is turnover prone and a poor finisher, leading to fast breaks
- SG who is disinterested in playing defense
- SF who is mostly a streak shooter
- C who easily gets frustrated when calls go against him and when he doesn't get the ball

 

I've seen leads blown so many times in the season that that 17 point lead felt like nothing. Even 10 points lead makes me nervous. As long there is some times left on the clock, no lead is safe with the Rockets.

 

Why do you want Dwight to pass when he has been great in the post? He should keep doing what he's doing, because trust me he isn't the problem.

 

Players that dont get hot did...ie. see Wes Mathews and Robin Lopez... And LMA was no where to be found.

I dont expect LMA to have another really bad scoring game, but I to expect the defense to be enough. The key is making sure players like Batum, Lopez, Mathews, Williams and Wright remain non factors.

And we still havent had Harden's best game. We may not see it, but if Harden explodes, I find it very hard for Portland to keep up. While Portland has shut down the most effective Rockets' player, others have stepped up in his stead and scored enough points. If Harden decides to resume his scoring prowess, Portland has to be worried.

 

Frustrated, but not concerned. The fact is the Blazers were making a lot of 27-foot three point prayers, they were hacking away at us in the paint and we weren't getting any calls(in fairness, they didn't get many either last night til the 4th), Howard was stuck on the bench for a decent chunk of the first half, and Harden was godawful for the entire game until the final 4 minutes.

So look at the glass as half-full. Despite all these things working against us, we were actually leading 51-34 at one point. Imagine what we could do to the Blazers in Game 6 if Harden and Howard play great from the opening tip.

 

Not concerned...Portland is a talented, well-coached team. You have to expect that they will battle back.

 

cosign