Yao shoots over Mehmet Okur, who tried to flop to draw a foul, Thursday night in Utah. Yao scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but the Rockets and their bench shot terribly to lose Game 3 in their playoff series with the Jazz. The Rockets still lead the series 2-1. Click here and here for more photos from the game.

Well, I wrote before Game 3 (see blog post directly below) that Rocket fans shouldn’t panic if Houston loses it. Although they were pathetic in so many areas Thursday night and lost 81-67, I still feel it’s no time to say the Rockets are doomed.

It’s no surprise for the Rockets to put up a stinker every once in awhile, even during the all-important playoffs. But the thing about this team you have to give them credit for is bouncing back after disappointing losses this sesaon. And that’s what I think they can still do in Game 4.

There is no need to panic that:

* The Rockets shot 32.8% and scored the lowest number of points in a playoff game in franchise history. After all, the Jazz shot 38.8%. There was a reason why this game was televised on NBA TV, a channel that many people don’t have compared to ABC, ESPN and TNT. Bad shooting doesn’t get good ratings.

* Only four Rocket players scored, the first time that has happened in a playoff game in 52 years, according to TNT.

* The Utah bench outscored the Rockets’ bench 33-0. Near the end of the game, I was kind of hoping a Rocket bench player would NOT score a bucket during garbage time. The damage had already been done by them not contributing anything, so I wanted them to end up with a big zero because I knew the bench would get more questions from the press over the next couple of days before Game 4 by being shut out, and I wanted them as angry, fired up, and wanting something to prove in Game 4 as much as possible. And I have no problem how T-Mac said after the game the bench has to “step up.” Now is not the time for the team leader to be “Mr. Nice Guy.”

* The Jazz went on a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter to open a 17-point lead. The Rockets defense fell apart. That’s rare. The best defensive team in the league will address that situation in Game 4.

* Luther Head was 0-for-5 in Game 3 and is now 2-for-16 in the series (1-of-12 from three-point land). I really believe he is going to start hitting some clutch shots because he did it so often in the fourth quarter during the regular season. They don’t call him Cool Hand Luke for nothing. In some way, he reminds me of Kenny Smith during the 1994 playoffs (championship season) when Kenny’s 3-point shot abandoned him during the playoffs big-time, but he finally got it together when the pressure was on. That’s where Luther is.

* The Rockets turned the ball over 19 times, with Rafer Alston making at least 3 dumbheaded passes into the post for TOs (5 turnovers overall).

* Yao turned it over 8 times and was terrible at the start of the game. It all started when didn’t block out Carlos Boozer for a rebound, who laid it in for a score. Yao was so out of position trying to contest the shot of a Utah guard (Deron Williams I think) on the perimter, T-Mac slapped his back after the play to let him know he shouldn’t take himself that far away from the basket, and should have been in better position.

Let me tell you how bad it was for Yao in that awful first quarter, and part of the second….

After not blocking out Boozer, he then traveled in the lane, mishandled the ball and turned it over on his patented baseline move, mishandled an easy pass for a turnover, was called for an offensive foul that erased the first time he put the ball in the basket to erase the score, had the ball tipped away for a turnover, missed his first four shots to start the game when the Rockets really needed his scoring, and was blocked by Mehmet Okur and called for a loose ball foul trying to get the ball back.

Later in the game, Boozer scored on a tip-in where Yao didn’t block out again (Yao was really mad at himself by slamming the ball down), and Okur stripped him of the ball as he was going up for a shot (Yao thought it was a foul).

Yao would eventually do some damage by going to the line 16 times, making 14 free throws and hitting 6-of-14 shots for a total of 26 points. But I really think the pressure of Utah’s defense as well as the wild-and-crazy Utah crowd unnerved Yao a bit; however, I think the crowd did that to every Rocket. Now that they Game 3 is history, I think the Rockets will be more accustomed to the crowd in Game 4.

T-Mac missed 10 shots in a row spanning the second quarter to the third, and 3 of his last 16 after the Jazz double-teamed him inside and put a bigger guy (Okur) on him on the perimeter. Instead of passing it off, T-Mac took one difficult jumper after another, clanging many of them off the rim after his hot 13-point start in the first quarter where he made 6 of his first 7 shots. Sometimes he’s hot in the first half, or hot in the second half, but rarely hot in both. And for some reason in this game he forgot to go to the basket and fell in love with the jump shot. That’s fixable, and look for him to go to the rack more often on Saturday night, and to dish off to other guys for wide-open jumpers. Getting Luther involved that way will really pay dividends.

The other thing they can fix is the energy level, as Yao explained after the game. “We had no energy. I didn’t see any energy on the court. I mean, the best way to get them off you is to run. But we were in a slow-down speed. We let them body us up.”

The only things I am worried about is the once automatic Juwan Howard is absolutely sucking from the field. On Thursday he was 0-for-5 and is now 2-for-13 in the series. He really doesn’t show signs of getting back to his old shooting self. The Rockets really need Juwan to hit those open jumpers he so often gets from the free throw line area.

In closing, the other thing that we can’t look back on is how valuable Bonzi Wells could have been coming off the bench if Van Gundy had cultivated him differently, and Bonzi had responded. It now may be coming back to haunt him. What a shame.

Note: On Friday I’ll have more coverage of the game, and will scour all the sites and provide links to the most interesting stories or video out there.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 6:56 am and is filed under 2007 NBA playoffs, vs. Utah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.