My first thought is that damn are the Trailblazers good or what. When this team plays to its abilities, there are not many teams that can beat them, at home or on the road. The Rockets had no answer to either Rasheed or Damon. Rasheed look liked he could get a clean 5-10 ft shot at will. And Damon looked like he could penetrate and score at will. The Rockets really did not play a bad game at all. They did miss 2 dunks in the first half that should have given them the lead at the half. The start of the second was where the game was decided. Portland threw a half court trap at the Rockets which lead to a double digit Portland lead. The Rockets never really did figure out the trap, which caused several 24 seconds violations, poor shots, and turnovers. The Rockets did make a run at Portland, which was spurred by Los, our Energier Bunny. Los play sparked Francis who went on a shooting tear to get the game to within one point. Portland called a timeout, ran a couple of set plays (and executed their O well for the rest of the game), the Rockets ran out of gas, and Portland cruised to victory. Los rebounded well and showed me why MoMoney is having problems. Los boxes out!!! The only time MoMoney boxes out is by an accident or afterthought. The Rockets showed great character by getting up after the Portland trap knocked them out. This is how playoff teams are supposed to act. Something else I noticed is how much the Rockets frontline is missing Cato and Collier. They just do not have a player who can play quality 5 minutes when Dream sits. And Bullard is not the answer. ------------------
