Game 2: Rockets @ Blazers

5:39 left in 1st quarter: Rockets 17 - Blazers 15.
Damn, refs are calling this one tight. Blazers fans are getting pissed and rowdy, which is ruining my vision of Portland being a calm, bike-friendly, pot-smoking, progressive city. C'mon Portlandians. For the sake of my sanity, please toke up and tone down a little bit.

Bad news - Deke just went down. Doesn't look pretty at all. Heading out on a stretcher, at which point Portland fans offer support via a standing ovation. My sanity is back, but my heart goes out to the heart and soul of our team. Wishing Deke the best.

Just like that, we return to live action.

End of 1st Quarter. Blazers 28 - Rockets 26.
With that, I'm done blogging about this particular game for a little while. Need to just sit back and enjoy this game after dealing with a fairly nasty cold virus for the last two days.

3:39 left in 2nd quarter: Rockets 48 - Blazers 44.
Wow, great 2nd quarter for Rockets so far. I haven't looked at a box score for exact minutes played, but it seems like we've been able to take a small lead with several starters (Yao, Scola, Battier, and Brooks) on the bench for most of the quarter. I love how Adelman is keeping Yao on the bench as long as possible, especially now that Deke is probably gone for the game. We need Yao to be as fresh as possible in second half.

Halftime. Blazers 53 - Rockets 51.
Yao scored 5 points in 12 minutes yet we stayed in the game on the backs of Artest (15 pts), Lowry (6 pts), and Wafer (12 pts). If we can reestablish post game with Yao, I really like our chances.
Not sure we can do anything differently to stop Aldridge. Just play him man-up with Scola, Hayes, or Landry and hope he cools down. Despite being a fellow Longhorn, I don't see him carrying a team for an entire game. Roy, on the other hand, can carry a team on his back, just not when Artest or Battier is chasing him around all game long.

End of 3rd quarter: Rockets 72 - Blazers 72
Hell fu*k yeah! Brooks hits a huge 3 followed by Artest slamming it home to send the game into the 4th quarter tied at 72. Still need to get Yao involved in this game, but what a way to end 3rd quarter. Let's do it!

Damn it, Rockets end up losing a tight one 107-103. Hopefully we can head back to Portland next week with a controlling 3-1 lead. Need sleep, peace.

Live from...Houston, Texas

Covering Houston Rockets vs Portland Trailblazers. Game 1 of 2009 Playoffs in Portland, OR.

8:41 left in 1st quarter: Yao already has 9 points. They're going to him early and often. McMillian calls timeout. Expect them to adjust, possibly front Yao. How will the Rockets respond? Gotta minimize dribbling, maximize passing. Swing it to man at top of key, look for passing lanes to get it into Yao inside. Nothing there? Swing again to man on weakside, again look for passing lane to Yao, who should be moving back and forth between the lane. Here we go...

Coming out of timeout, Blazers go straight to Roy, who responds with 4 relatively easy buckets, going right by Artest each time. As good as Ron-Ron is, maybe we should switch Battier on him?

2:03 left in 1st Quarter: Blazers came hard, Rockets weathered the storm. Despite giving up quite a few buckets to Roy (who is a lot better than I thought), Artest looks a lot faster than he looked during regular season. Rockets are playing at a very high level. Coming out of this timeout, Rockets' bench will need to keep it up because Blazers are young and deep.

End of 1st Quarter: Wow, high-flying first quarter. This is intense. The way the Rockets have played on offense, they'd be destroying most teams during a typical regular season game. Kind of worries me. In other news, I'm realizing how hard blogging a freakin' basketball game is. Ready for a nap but will settle for a little break during 2nd quarter. Be back soon!