ClutchFans Game Thread: Mavericks @ Rockets 4/28/2005 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 3)

Can not do anything now, too exciting .

Hit everything, reb, no injury, smart, steal,
Yao no foul trouble,

Go Rox.

can't wait to beat them again.

will be a tough tough tough game.

89-78 Rox

 

Game 2 was tough. The Mavs really set the tone for the game. Fast, fast, fast. The Rox hung tough, though, stuck to their defensive schemes, fed the ball to Yao a lot, improvised the rest of the offense, and kept up. In the end, it could have gone either way.

Game 3? Who knows?

One thing to watch will be the Mavs 3 point shots. I don't think they can keep up the high percentage of made 3 point shots, and that's really what kept them in Game 2. Dirk appears to be rather streaky against the Rox, too. If he gets hot, it could be a long night.

My guess is another close game that either team could win. The Mavs come out big, Rox's won't respond well, and the Mavs have a nice lead at the half, and then the Rox come back in the 2nd half. JVG's ability to keep his team working, no matter how bad things look, will be more vital than any one player's stats.

If the Rox 2nd half is better than the Mav's first half, then the Rox win it in 4. If not, game 4 becomes very important, and very, very scary.

 

Currently listening to Maverick pregame on ESPN 103.3:

Expect Dirk to go at Bowen from the go. Mavs were very miffed by the "Germinator" remark. Dirk will be firing away no matter what.

Expect the Mavs to foul and foul hard - especially both TMac & Yao. Entire organization was embarrassed by TMac's posterizing of Shawn Bradley.

Expect Howard to start on TMac. Expect Stackhouse to play more minutes at Finley's expense.

Consensus is that the Mavs have underachieved and that Houston is not as good as they have appeared.

Expect Mavs to make both Yao & TMac work for their shots. Stopping Houston's pick-and-roll is Dallas' no.1 priority.

Observation:

ROX guards will be the key. Wesley & MJ had a poor game 2. Sura hit big shots but was so-so at best. ANY points from Padgett, Bowen or Spoon will be a bonus. Mavs will try to kill Bowen and throw everything at Yao & TMac so it's up to everyone else to hit the boards and score as much as possible. Should this happens, then Dallas will be sunk because that will force them to defend everyone on the floor and that's something they simply can't do yet.

 

Wow... this all sounds great on paper... I wonder why it wasn't their game-plan from the get-go?

(hmm... be tough with Yao and T-Mac??? What a concept!... there are geniuses hard at work in Dallas right now)

 

Good for you NewYorker!

I like 3) too (15+ pts, 15+ boards, 4+ blocks), particularly after he had a strong offensive game 3 days ago. It would show Yao is more than a one-facet dominant force - enough to quell all the critics in the world.

Hope neither the likes of Dampier/Bradley nor bad officiating would get under Yao's skin. Again, staying out of foul trouble would be the key. I think stamina should be less of a problem since he's got enough rest.

 

Watchin the pre-game report... and the crowd just gave the Rockets a ROUSING standing-O as they took the court for WARMUPS.

They haven't done that since the 1998 playoffs....

Time to christen the TC as a playoff mad-house... I believe it will live up to its predecessor, the Summit.

 

Oh man, my stomach is in knots right now.

 

Damn this Miami game better not go to OT .... I am going to be mighty pissed if I miss the 1st quarter because I have to see NJ play

 

Damn, the NJ-MIA game is tight now. Hope they don't go to overtime to delay broadcasting the Rox game.

 

Its tied at 90 right now, with the Nets having the ball with 22.4 seconds left.

Bad news folks... if I was a Nets fan, I'd want them to hold the ball the entire time, even if it meant not getting a great shot. You DON'T want to make the same mistake Clyde did in 97 against Utah, where he shot the ball too early, and it led to Flopton getting that shot to win the game at the buzzer).

When you're the home team, that's the strategy... but maybe VC will jack up a crazy game-winner and send the Rockets nation into a frenzy to get the game on for them as soon as possible.

 

Damn, overtime.

 

that was a UGLY wide open shot by JKid....damnit...

 

**** OT now.

Can't either team let the other win? Come on, what's the big frigg'n deal?

 

Crap--NJ -Miami going into overtime!!

 

if i remember right last year when situations like this happened they started the game on NBATV. Am i right ? i dont have it so i cant check

 

OVERTIME, CRAP............

 

man kidd has such a sweet jumper.

 

They'll probably delay the Rockets-Mavs tipoff to 8:50 cst.

They'll still start before Mia-NJ is over, but it will help minimize the amount the rest of the nation misses.

fire up the gamecast!

 

Maybe the two teams are working together to make 3 triple doubles in this game (an NBA record?)....

 

ugh..nba tv has the other game... we're screwed..