ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Clippers 4/7/2004

Now it's time to whoop the Nuggets asses on our homefloor and kick them to the curb.

 

Just came back from Staple center.

Good Win. While I still believe JVG should be blamed for not trusting bench early this season.

Yao is much better than last year when I also went to Staple center. Hope next year he will get better and better.

JJ tonight is great. While he always looks like he is traveling again and again. Many times. LOL.

 

Link:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2004040712

Houston 102, LA Clippers 79
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Houston Rockets aren't the first team to end a losing streak against the Los Angeles Clippers, and they won't be the last.

Jim Jackson and Cuttino Mobley scored 21 points apiece as the Rockets snapped a five-game skid streak and handed the Clippers their 12th straight setback with a 102-79 victory on Wednesday night.

``It felt good to play at the level we did tonight,'' Yao Ming said through an interpreter. ``We haven't been playing well, so this felt good. We need to worry about our performance for the rest of the games and not worry about the other teams behind us.''

Houston is seventh in the Western Conference and two games ahead of Portland, Denver and Utah, all of whom are tied for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Rockets knew the Clippers represented a great chance to end their slide and strengthen their hold on a playoff spot, but Van Gundy refused to let the players go in with that frame of mind -- not after the way they've been playing lately.

``If you're in the NBA long enough, you never say that about any team,'' Van Gundy said. ``They had us down and beaten in Houston last month. They have all the ingredients of being good, but we're not as concerned about who we're playing as how we're playing. And we need to play better.''

Steve Francis, playing with a swollen bursa sac in his left elbow, had 10 points and 11 assists to help Houston complete a four-game sweep of the Clippers. Yao had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, but sat out the final 9:36 after getting his fifth foul.

``Yao knows that in that five-game stretch, he hadn't played particularly well. But I think that over-analyzation by Yao about his own game, or over-worrying to me is needless and counterproductive,'' Van Gundy said. ``He's just got to free his mind, react, play as well as he can, and the results will be what they will be.''

Yao is averaging a team-high 17.6 points per game, 9.1 rebounds and has blocked 150 shots, three more than last season as a rookie.

``Some guys in the NBA don't take the game or the results seriously enough -- some a little too much at times, and that inhibits good play. I think Yao's on the `too much' side right now,'' Van Gundy added. ``But I'd rather have a guy who cares too deeply and wants to carry too much of a burden, than the other way around. You're probably not going to find many NBA players sleepless at night over the results of a game.''

Corey Maggette scored 22 points after missing his first seven shots, and Elton Brand had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles. The Clippers have lost 20 of 22 and seven straight home at home -- the most since 1999-00, when they dropped their final 10 at Staples Center.

The Rockets, who equaled a season low with only two 3-pointers on Tuesday night at Golden State, got three from Jackson before the game was four minutes old and breezed to a 57-36 halftime lead. The Clippers missed their first seven shots and finished the first half at 28.6 percent against a defense that entered the game allowing the lowest field-goal percentage in the league (.410).

``We didn't do a good enough job defensively at the beginning of the game and got behind big,'' coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``We are not making open shots when we have them. Of course, it's easier to shoot when you are in front than when you're behind. But that's only part of it.''

The Clippers got no closer than 13 points in the second half after Maggette's dunk capped an 11-0 run and trimmed Houston's lead to 73-60 with 1:45 left in the third quarter.

One day being fined $5,000 by the NBA for criticizing the officiating in Sunday's game against Utah, Brand picked up two fouls in the first seven minutes -- but didn't take a rest until 23.5 seconds remained in the thirdquarter.

Notes
The Rockets became the fourth team this year to sweep the Clippers in a season series of four or more games, joining Sacramento, Minnesota and Memphis. The Seattle SuperSonics have a chance to add themselves to that list on Apr. 14. ... If the Rockets (43-35) don't make the playoffs, this would be the third time in four years that they were shut out of the postseason despite a winning record. ... This is the Clippers' 12th losing streak of at least 12 games in franchise history, and their 10th since moving to Los Angeles in 1984. ... The Rockets shot 52.6 percent from the field, and are 10-0 when they shoot at least50 percent.


Great to know that Yao is sleepless after the loss at Warriors. We should never question his heart.

 

is jvg taking steve's comments to heart?

 

QPX, were you the one in section 317 waving the LONE STAR flag?

 

there were 2 guys hold a sign that says " Yao ming, I luv you" in chinese


bunch of queers,

 

I kind of the like the JVG's approach to deal with Yao: cool him off when he plays great, and give him all the compliments while he's off.

 

great win. although it's over the clippers, i'll take any win now.
i watched the first half and very pleased to see that the rocks set the tone from the very begining ... jj had 3 consecutive treys and yao had 3 blocks in the first few minutes. it was great.
now we need to at least take care of the next two games against the nuggs and jazz. maybe like jj said, win the next four and get into the playoffs on a high note. i like that.

 

Typical Rockets...give the fans a little hope before ultimately crashing and burning...

 

You know, normally, I go along with the joke and I get where you're coming from with the negativity.

But sometimes, the joke's not funny.

 

Damn, I was only 1 point off. I had faith where others did not!

*Pats himself on the back*

 

I've come to the belief that A-Train hasn't really logged on live here in month, and that his posts are really just an elaborate scheme of automated macros.

Tim

 

A-Train the magnificent has seen into the future! The vision is coming clearer...He sees a TV set. On that TV set is one of those "feed the children" commercials with Sally Struthers where she's in a third world country holding a little malnourished kid and asking you to give your 37 cents per day.

In the background there are two kids with T-Shirts on, both different reminders of what this team was. One will say "New York Knicks - 1994 NBA Champs" and the other will say "Houston Rockets - 2004 playoffs - We're Back!"

So it is written, so it shall be done...

 

you know the same could be said for a lot of people

 

We should see how he plays on the court. There
could be a lot of reasons for sleepless, and it doesn't
prove anything.

 

Lol! Its funny because its true.

 

The Clippers didn't show up to play. It reminded me of that first win after the All-Star break. It is just what we needed though.

I' struck though by what it must be like to be a Clippers fan. Already, I know that to be a Clippers fan, you must be some kind of fool. I understand rooting for the hometeam -- but Clippers fans also have the Lakers. I understand rooting for the underdog -- but the Clippers have no chance at succeeding. I don't understand giving your money to an organization that is not only unable but unwilling to give you a quality product, one that is obviously not interested in winning. So, I was bemused to see the Clippers sold out the game. I know the Rockets are a good road draw, but the Clipps had lost 11 in a row and are obviously just playing out the string waiting for summer vacation and the lottery. How much of a sucker can you be? And then there are these snips from the Chronicle:

How sad is that? You think you're suffering being a Rockets fan. How jaded these Clippers fans must be by now.

 

Maybe the ticket prices are cheaper for Clipper games?

 

Maybe the skid will finally come to a halt.

 

you sure it was a sold out game? i saw a lot of empty seats when i watched the 1st half of the game last night.