As usual, there are no easy matchups for us in the West. The Blazers would probably be one of our better options but I'd rather play the Hornets or the Mavericks and this is the reason: The Rockets are not an offensive juggernaut that will run away with a few games. I feel that most every game will be tight down the stretch and that is not what you want against the Blazers. That is especially not what the Rockets want given their propensity to give up offensive boards late in games. No team in the league is better on the offensive glass than the Blazers and no team is better in very close games. They are long and athletic and have multiple dangerous scorers.
The rockets will have huge advantage for the front court. They cannot match Yao+ Scola + Landry well. Oden has a long way to go! In addiition, Artest and Battier can slow Roy down.
That's a good point about the frontcourt advantage, in terms of size/bulk. I just don't think the Blazers are the easy matchup that everybody seems to think they will be.
Wow, Oden looks like he has Dwight Howard-esque touch around the basket. That was a severe brick from 5 feet away.
It looks like Philly weathered that first storm. They'll have to do that at least one more time if they plan on winning.
Impressive gut-check of a run in the 3rd quarter by the Blazers. The question is do they have enough energy to keep it up. The Sixers are a yoyo team and it's hard to beat them when they put it together. The Suns finish the 3rd only down by 4. Could go either way.
The Blazers are in the penalty and the Sixers like to go to the rack. They still have a fighting chance here.
You people that insist Oden will be a bust, this is what he can do. Without him, the Blazers would be down by 20 instead of ahead by 6.
