The Rockets will win tonight. The Suns will see a different team tonight from last game which was coming off a b2b. Plus I am sure coach RA will have something new for this game.
Yes, this game is important. But is not more important than any game we ever lost. What if we won any one or two more games? Swept by 76er
Look at the standings. This win was absolutely huge. We're in position to get the FIRST seed now, although we'd have to beat the Spurs and Hornets to it. Hornets are AT Sacramento on the second night of a back-to-back. Then Clippers at home, then AT Dallas back-to-back again. They are definitely tired. They have more back-to-backs in the last 15-20 games of the season than anyone in the league. They could lose 2 of 3. Spurs are AT Lakers, then AT Sacramento for back2back, then play Utah at home. I can see them losing 2 of 3. We could get 1st or 2nd seed if we win 2 of 3. Either way, we have Utah with HCA pretty much locked up with 1 win.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5695222.html "We really needed this game," Scola said. "We could have fallen all the way to the sixth spot and lost our home-court advantage. It was a really important game." It does not qualify as important as the games to come. But so deep into the season, it was enough to make those games seem much more promising. ... every game is the biggest of the season, this season.
Deja-vu it is. Dejavu. If we play at this level, we can match any team. And I'm not suprised if we are able to keep playing at this level. After all, we did this for 22 games, and 10 straight onese without Yao.
I disagree. Every game was important since Yao went down, but this one sticks out because of the consequences of a loss/win plus not having Shane plus the morale-boosting factor of beating a hot Suns team.
Quick question guys... Why do we have HCA? The Jazz are division winners...doesn't that entitle them to HCA? I mean, unless we finish with a better record than SA, we won't be in top four teams, right?
The Jazz are the 4th seed because they won their division,but they need to have a better record than the Rockets who are currently 5th to get HCA.
good points on Scola's ability to jumpout on the PnR but the hey was letting Stoud get his, and shut down everyone else. I am frankly impressed with the reliable jumper he has added to his arsenal, that was something he really needed to do, otherwise when the athleticism is gone, he would be finished. He has extended his career by a few years by becoming a good jumpshooter from 12-15.
Houston has really good teams, people are still speechless that this team won 22 games and still has a chance to be the best team in the conference without possibly their best player. If the team goes beyond the 1st round and makes good series against whoever they bow out, too....Does this mean Houston is favorite to take it all next year?
I know Amare is piling them up but I'd rather he stand out there shooting that jumper. With Marion gone and Amare standing out there shooting, it makes it much easier to maintain rebounding balance against them. We actually outboarded them last night. That's a good thing.
totally agree Let Amare sit out there all night shooting those. Don't give him any passing lanes for easy buckets, and take away any driving lanes for thunderous dunks that just invigerate his team. The ROckets showed last night that great defensive effort and planning go a long way towards defeating powerful opponents like the Suns. on the other side, Amare and Shaq neither really like to have to change direction on defense, so the craftiness of Scola goes a LONG way towards getting up shots against them inside. Landry just goes around them, and Scola outwits them.
