[Ft. Worth Star-Telegram] Reversal has Rockets back on launch pad

<a href="http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/basketball/11542974.htm"><font size="+1">Reversal has Rockets back on launch pad</a></font>
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Posted on Mon, May. 02, 2005
By Dwain Price, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - Almost a week ago, the Houston Rockets were riding pretty high.

By winning the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Dallas in stunning fashion, the Rockets pulled off the improbable. In the process, they had experts talking about a sweep, and others looking ahead to a second-round matchup with the Phoenix Suns.

However, the Rockets apparently got swept away by all the flattering attention and forgot to take care of business.

Thus, a series the Rockets had firmly in hand has now turned into a 2-2 tussle after the Mavericks won the last two games at the Toyota Center in Houston.

The best-of-seven series has now been reduced to a best-of-three.

And if Game 7 is necessary, two of the three games will be played at American Airlines Center.

"We thought we were going to go 4-0, but it's not going to happen," Rockets forward Scott Padgett said. "It's going to be a battle."

Since the Rockets already won two playoff games in Dallas to start this series, they welcome the wild atmosphere they'll face at 7 tonight in Game 5.

"It's going to be fun," Padgett said. "It's going to be a great atmosphere. It's going to be a tough game, and that's what the playoffs are all about."

The Rockets made it tough on themselves by stumbling at home in Games 3 and 4. They saw the Mavs go on a 20-0 run in the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Thursday to win 106-102.

And they saw the Mavs go on a 9-0 run late in Game 4 to win 97-93 Saturday.

"They're outplaying us now, and we outplayed them the first two games," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "We got what we deserved when we went down there, which is two wins, and we got what we deserved [in Houston], which is two losses.

"But there's no reason to be down. We're 2-2. We should be determined to get it right and play a good game and live with the results, but we've got to play a good game first. We haven't played correctly these last two games."

Though in the past two games his team has looked discombobulated during crunch time, Van Gundy didn't say the Mavs have seized control of the series.

"It's really not about control," Van Gundy said. "Control implies that that's going to have some impact on the next game, and it's not.

"You've got to [win] four games, and whoever gets there first wins the series. You've got to play well to win, and they've certainly outplayed us the last two games. But that doesn't mean we can't play better. We certainly think we can."

The Rockets might have one factor working in their favor. The home team has yet to win a game in this series.

So playing in front of a rabid sellout road crowd that doesn't have their best interests at heart could work to the Rockets' advantage. Or could it?

"That really doesn't matter," Rockets backup guard Mike James said. "All that matters is just going out there and just working hard.

"Of course you want to play in front of your crowd. But we've got to go down there and understand that we've got a game to play, and [they must] be able to fight for 48 minutes."

No matter how many times they sidestep the issue, the Rockets know the Mavs have the momentum now. They also know the importance of winning Game 5.

"They have a little bit of momentum, because it's an even series now," forward Tracy McGrady said. "We're back to 0-0.

"With those guys beating us two games in a row, who knows what type of confidence they have? I just know that we bring confidence on the road -- and there's less distractions."

The Rockets can ill afford to lose a third game in a row to the Mavs. That's why they're treating tonight's contest like it's Game 7.

"They did to us what we did to them, and that's knock us off on our home court," McGrady said. "We've got to concentrate on Game 5 and hope that we can do better in what I think is the most important game of the series for either team."

 

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