All it takes is two words to describe Game 2 and the rest of the series: “It’s on.”

I was taking all kinds of notes Wednesday night during the game and was preparing for my standard post-game analysis, but after seeing how things went down, I’ve got to put those notes aside for a few minutes. I’ll write about the game itself further down the page.

Right now, it’s obvious what the storyline of Game 2 is. It’s not that the Rockets lost 111-98. It comes down to one thing: thuggery. Which is too bad, because before Game 1, you could at least respect the Lakers for being a good team that won games fair-and-square.

Maybe all that talk about not being ‘tough enough’ when they lost in the Finals to the Celtics last season had gotten into their heads after losing Game 1 against the Rockets. They were out to prove a point against a tough group of Rocket players that they were going to come out aggressive. In fact, too aggressive. Unfortunately for them, I think it’ll backfire.

First, let’s talk about the no-brainer call that the refs got right, to their credit. Derek Fisher throwing an elbow — and body — into Luis Scola was bush league. It was the right call to give him a “flagrant 2” and eject him. You gotta love Scola for then stepping up to the line with everyone booing him and hitting the two technical FTs.

It’s just too bad that TNT analyst Doug Collins, who had the benefit of the replay in front of him, was actually complimenting and fawning over Fisher for being a “tough guy” in a good way! If there was ever a time an analyst had to be embarrassed for not even coming close to seeing what the refs saw — a premeditated act with intent to excessively harm another player — this was it. I like Collins, but I’ve heard other fans call into radio shows wondering why the guy is so biased for big name players. I now see what they mean.

Of course, the biggest episode was the REFS BLOWING THE CALL BY NOT CATCHING KOBE’S DIRTY ELBOW TO RON ARTEST‘S THROAT, INSTEAD CALLING A FOUL ON ARTEST, AND THEN EJECTING ARTEST AFTER HE CONFRONTED KOBE WHEN THE REFS WOULDN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE CHEAP SHOT!

I wish there was a better angle from the other side where you could actually see the full force of Bryant’s elbow hitting Artest’s windpipe.

I really believe this cheap shot deserves a suspension, especially if you take into account the other elbow and knee that he threw on Battier in Game 1…

…and then tried to rope him like a calf to take him to the slaughtering pen. Disturbing…

Don’t buy Bryant’s glossing over this with the B.S. line that this is simply “playoff basketball.” It’s called a cheap shot to gain an unfair advantage. Anyone who buys that line is a fool, and I’ve got some AIG stock to sell them.

If the refs or league execs had done the right thing after Game 1 and suspended Bryant for what would have been classified as assault and battery on a city street, then maybe it would have sent a message to Bryant that crap like that wasn’t going to be tolerated, no matter how big of a star he is. BUT NOOOO, STU JACKSON AND THE LEAGUE EXECS DID NOTHING AND HE DID IT AGAIN!

Now you’ve got the outcome of Game 2 marred because of what happened with Artest reacting, as he’s entitled, after HE is called for the foul instead of Bryant, then doing what Charles Barkley said after the game he thought Artest was entitled to do — go confront Bryant about it.

And it wasn’t the initial confrontation that got Artest ejected. It was poor judgment by a terrible official — Joey Crawford — to give Artest another technical that ejected him when he was a far enough distance away from Bryant, still jawing at him for telling him don’t ever do that again.

I’m sorry, but when you’re about to give a 2nd technical to a player, if he has separated himself from the initial dust-up, and he’s jawing at another player who just hit him in the throat, you don’t give him a second tech unless he’s having to be physically restrained to keep him from hitting or killing someone.

I think if you look at Bryant’s ‘body of work’ in this series, or should I say “ELBOW of work,” Bryant (and Fisher) should be sent a clear message that no matter how big of a star you are, how nice of a guy you may appear to be, or how many playoff games you’ve played, THEY SHOULD BOTH BE SUSPENDED FOR 1 GAME EACH.

I think these blows by Bryant will backfire. When he was lighting Houston up with all those jump shots early in the game (25 at the time of the elbow), I was thinking man, this guy is going to torch the Rockets the rest of the series and the Rockets are going to be in serious trouble.

But now, I think he has ignited a fire under the Rockets to send them into orbit. I liked how Kenny and Charles on TNT were saying that Houston has tough guys (or “pit bulls”), naming off Artest, Battier, Landry, Lowry, Hayes and Scola as examples. Hell, when the Rockets are getting Kenny & Charles’ respect, you’ve got to think they’ve reached the next level.

I agree the Rockets are tough. And I think Bryant has angered them, and Houston fans, such that Bryant will not only hear it at Toyota Center in Games 3 & 4, there will also be some old Evergreen, Colorado signs coming out of mothballs from the Red Rowdies to taunt him.

But I think the Rocket players are hopefully going to take it a step further: make sure when they foul him, they will be HARD FOULS that will throw him off his game. His trash-talking a couple of times during Game 2 to Battier saying, “You can’t guard me” will give them even a little more motivation to shut his trap up.

Ironically, the little dust-up between Von Wafer and Rick Adelman where Wafer was sent to the locker room after the 3rd quarter has been completely overshadowed by Fisher and Bryant’s bush league plays. I can bet you that Wafer and Adelman are going to be fine. Adelman will probably say on Thursday that he’s just a young player who is passionate about wanting to help his team win, it was in the heat of the moment, and Adelman did the right thing by telling Wafer to go to the locker room to chill.

There was a game played, too

Sure, Rockets fans were disappointed that Yao didn’t get more touches (3-of-4 FGs for 12 points). He got into foul trouble early, legit calls or not, which affected some of that.

Yao sat on the bench for about 14 minutes more than normal because of foul trouble, but was still active in cheering his teammates on. Click here for more photos from the game.

But the real problem was the Lakers applying a fronting defense like he encountered during the Portland series. Pau Gasol ended up fronting Yao many times, and it worked.

For some reason, Yao didn’t seem to be fighting all that hard to get open all the time in the paint. And where were the 22-foot jump shot opportunities like he had in Game 1 that he drained? It’s not that hard to get open for those.

Not that the defense was all that great, but Yao just doesn’t seem to be able to fight all that hard to get open, either down low in the paint, or even coming out to take 15-20 foot jumpers. And on top of that, he was congesting the lane and not spreading out the defense, such that Aaron Brooks couldn’t drive through open lanes to the bucket, which mitigated the success he had against the Lakers in Game 1.

If anything, if Yao can’t get open, the Rockets need to call plays for Brooks because we’ve seen what he can do when he blows by Fisher. After scoring 19 points on 7-of-14 shots in Game 1, Brooks only scored 15 on 5-of-15 shots, with some of those shots made in the fourth quarter after a victory was out of reach.

On the bright side, Artest had another good game before getting ejected. 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting. And Carl Landry was the Landry of old, scoring 16 points in the 2nd quarter, although he did miss 5 free throws in that quarter, and finishing with 21. But at least he may be back to his old form under the boards and around the basket, something we hadn’t really seen that much from him since the gunshot wound.

There’s so much more to this game I want to write about, but the Fisher-Kobe thing really got me going, it’s getting late, this post is getting long enough, and I’ve got plenty to say about Game 2 for my next post before Game 3. If you want to read some of what Yao had to say after the game, Raymond has transcribed it in the forum here.

Before signing off for now, I do need to end this post with the following thoughts (recommended if you’re a Kobe hater)…

Read the rest of this entry »

As expected, Yao’s right knee was fine at practice today. There was no swelling or pain. It was just a little sore, and it shouldn’t stop him from playing in Game 2. His trainers wanted to put ice on the knee as a precaution, at which time he joked, “Oh no, not the C-cups again.”

Click here for more photos of Yao at the practice.

When he was asked what kind of defensive changes the Lakers would make on him in Game 2, he joked that he would call his friend Sun Yue (from the Chinese National team who is also on the Lakers roster) to find out.

I know many of you are like me after watching what we witnessed against the Lakers Monday night. Words can’t explain the amazement Yao and Rocket fans must be feeling after they shocked the basketball world with a 100-92 victory IN LOS ANGELES against the vaunted Laker machine in Game 1.

There was no 4th quarter collapse, nor a dramatic buzzer-beating shot that made you feel like the Rockets were lucky to win it. Instead, as the game progressed you actually felt they could win this thing, and would deserve it. What’s going on here?.

And Monday night Yao Ming showed casual basketball fans who are just tuning into this series what his fans, and Rocket fans, have known for years: that Yao will do whatever he can to not let his team down. His return from the tunnel was mini-Willis Reed moment.

No one knows if the Rockets will win this series, but if they don’t, at least Yao’s toughness will never be questioned as it once might have.

When he went down in the fourth quarter with 4:54 remaining in tremendous pain after bumping knees with Kobe Bryant, you had to think during the commercial break that the season might be lost. It was so demoralizing to see him go down like that and writhe in pain. I was soon thinking the worst: a 4-game sweep. The basketball gods couldn’t be this cruel, could they?

As the commercial continued, I tried not to panic, but to suck it up and think positive thoughts. After all, I have banged my knees several times, as I’m sure all of us have, and when it happens, it’s got to be one of the most painful things you can experience. Just a few weeks ago I banged my knee in a bus, collapsed into a seat and was completely paralyzed because of the pain, similar to how Yao looked as he fell to the floor. But after a few minutes, I felt lucky that I got my range of motion back and could actually walk. Surely, that must be what Yao would do, right?

After TNT came back from the commercial, we got to see what could become one of the most memorable sports moments in Rockets history, and it didn’t happen on the court. It was Yao telling trainer Keith Jones in the tunnel on the way to the locker room to get his knee checked out that he wanted to go back into the game. He then stretched his knee a little bit, said it was okay, then headed back to the court still with a grimace on his face.

Yao would check back into the game, and it wouldn’t just be a token experience with him hobbling around out there filling up space. No, instead he would hit a 20-foot jumper with 3:18 remaining that pushed the Rockets’ slim lead to 87-81 to give them a little more breathing room (I’ve been saying all season long he needs to take more of those long jumpers, and he’s doing more of it lately). He would also go on to hit 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.

My favorite plays were the three moves he made down in the low post, being very aggressive taking it to the rack for dunks, including the move he made with 3:59 remaining in the 3rd quarter when he was double-teamed along the baseline, but somehow was able to spin around both defenders, elevate and throw it down one-handed. In all my years of watching Yao get double-teamed, that’s the best reaction I’ve seen him in that situation. Jaw dropping.

By the end of the game, the numbers were big: 28 points on 9-of-17 shots, 10 rebounds, 10-of-10 free throws, and 2 blocked shots in 40 minutes of play, longer than normal compared to his 33 1/2 minutes he averaged during the regular season. Oh yeah, he only had 2 turnovers, which we thought was going to be Yao’s Achilles heel against the aggressive Laker defense, but wasn’t too bad considering we’ve seen games where he’s turned it over 5-7 times a game.

I still can’t believe they pulled this game out when no one thought they could actually win this game. The confidence in these guys is growing before our eyes, very reminiscent of last year’s 22-game winning streak. Except now it’s happening in the spotlight right when every game is critical to survival.

All game long you had to wonder as the Rockets built small leads only to have the Lakers chip away at it, how long it would take for the Rockets to fall behind, raise the white flag, and chalk the game up to the Lakers as being a better team.

But Houston continued to will its way to make plays to hold LA off, especially in that fourth quarter where the Lakers have had so much success in their 4 wins over the Rockets this season, outscoring them 127-80 in the fourth quarter. Instead, the tables were turned, with the Rockets outscoring the Lakers 30-25 in the fourth quarter, and hitting 15-of-16 free throws in that final quarter.

The Rockets came out as strong as they finished, bolting out to a 19-12 lead after an 11-4 run. Ron Artest started out making 3 of his first 3 shot attempts, one including a Von Wafer-esque throwdown dunk along the baseline that showed he meant business in this game!

By halftime, Artest was demonstrating his Portland Game 6 return to prominence was not a fluke. He was 5-of-9 from the field with 12 points which included two 3-pointers, along with 3 assists, and only 1 turnover. By the time the clock hit zero at the end of the game, his shooting percentage was thankfully still above 50% (8-of-15), he was 50% from three-point land (3-of-6), and had 7 assists with only 2 turnovers.

And the sometimes-maligned Aaron Brooks shocked a few people in this Game 1 like he did in his last Game 1 against Portland: the Lakers couldn’t stop him either. He consistently attacked the basket and got to the rack multiple times, confusing the Laker defense who didn’t know what to do to stop him. He’d blow by Derek Fisher and then put quick shots off the glass among the Laker bigs on his way 19 points on 7-of-14 shots, and that’s after making only 1-of-5 three-pointers.

I know many people wish he’d throw the ball to Yao more, but who can complain when he gets to the rack like he can to score, forcing the defense to think about ways of stopping him? That can only be better for his teammates as the Lakers will most certainly have to adjust. He’s got them on their heels, and he’s in their heads.

I like what Rick Adelman did with Brooks in the fourth quarter: he paired him up with point guard Kyle Lowry. For a man who only scored 6 points, Lowry was sensational, hitting 2-of-4 shots, making 2 free throws late in the game, grabbing 4 big rebounds, and dishing 2 assists.

Luis Scola had a “quiet” 10 points on 4-of-9 shots, but he grabbed 8 boards and had 2 steals. Just a quiet day at the office for Luis. And we can’t forget about Shane Battier, who in my opinion received a cheap shot from Sasha Vujacic after he had a “free shot” on Battier’s head after knocking a ball away that Shane was about to grab. Vujacic had no right to continue swinging his arm down like he did, and knew he could probably get away with throwing his hand down on Battier’s noggin as a pure accident. The strike right above Shane’s eye made him bleed like a busted tomato. It wasn’t pretty, as I’m sure the 4 stitches Battier needed above his eye. If Vujacic’s haymaker had landed just a couple of inches lower, Battier might be out of this series for good.

I will be curious to see if the Rockets players, after taking a look at the tape, come to the same conclusion I did and are going to try to send a message that they aren’t going to let a cheap shot pass like that, kind of like how a pitcher in baseball will throw a fastball right into the ribs of an opposing player who tried to show them up

If the Rockets keep playing like this, that image of Battier all bloodied could be the signature photo used by ESPN and TNT in their video montages to show the toughness of this Rockets team if they beat the Lakers. That, and Yao hobbling back from the tunnel to come back into the game.

As each one of these playoff games grow in importance, especially with the drama the Rockets are providing to us, there’s way too much to write in one sitting. I could continue to ramble on as I try to put everything into perspective on what this game meant to Houston’s confidence. But rather than try to predict what will happen or talk about the details of this particular game, who can’t help but just wanting to look forward to the next game to see what will amaze us next.

Photo links from Game 1:
– Monday’s practice where there was a Steve Novak and Marcus Camby sighting
– Monday’s shootaround at Staples Center where he talked with Sun Yue
– Action photos from the game
– Close-up of Ron Artest’s new haircut

Raymond has posted lots of photos in the forum of Yao and the Rockets attending Sunday’s fan rally at Toyota Center before leaving for LA to start their playoff series against the Lakers.

I love the playoffs, especially after a series has been won. It takes the fan intensity to another level.

I hate to say it, but I think the Rockets recent mini-break where they played only 1 game in 7 days – and had plenty of time to practice – did no good, and has maybe even made them worse. It makes you wonder if these guys, and the coaching staff, really have what it takes to get this franchise over the hump.

Once again, the Rockets folded like a cheap suit in the fourth quarter, this time against the Lakers, losing 93-81.

Yao and Shane force Kobe to dish off instead of shoot on this play, but in the 4th quarter Bryant would hit two 3-pointers to put the game away. Click here for more photos from the game.

You’d hope the Rockets could take advantage of the fact that San Antonio has lost a few games lately to give them a chance to win the division.

But they couldn’t win 2 games against rivals Phoenix and the Lakers this week and as a result, the Rockets have fallen to 5th in the standings, with New Orleans (who lost to Golden State Friday night) only ½ game behind them with 6 games left to play.

Meanwhile, Denver has zoomed past them, having won 5 games in a row and now 2 games ahead of the Rockets in the 2nd seed, and Portland ½ game ahead of the Rockets after winning 4 in a row.

In my opinion, Sunday’s matchup between Houston and Portland at Toyota Center Sunday night is going to be the biggest game that ultimately decides where they’ll end the season.

The only silver lining to the Rockets’ losing is that by getting closer to the middle of the pack, they’re less likely to play Utah because they’ve lost 3 in a row (they lost to Minnesota in Salt Lake Friday night!). But if the Rockets finish in the fourth or fifth spot — and they happen to win their first round series — then they will probably play the Lakers and their playoff run will soon be over.

If they finish 2nd or 3rd, they’ll probably have a SLIGHTLY better chance of winning that second series because it wouldn’t be against the Lakers. But I emphasize the word ‘slightly’ given how they’ve been playing lately.

The players and coaches will acknowledge that they failed to execute all game long against the Lakers. For example, Yao said the following after the game:

“From the first minutes of the game until the last minutes, we did not run our plays well. We did not execute well. We said that from the first day of the season until now. In two weeks, the playoffs will start. We’re still not executing well.”

But at least they still had a chance by pulling to within 5 points with 4:46 remaining, and had a chance to do some damage.

That’s where Kobe took over. Again. I’ll recap the collapse a little later.

It’s a little embarrassing to see the Rockets get swept for a season, even if it’s against the Lakers. If you’re a Rockets player, it definitely has to wear on you mentally that you’re not good enough. Does not having Carl Landry around make that much of a difference? I think his absence has been a bigger loss than we could have anticipated, but it shouldn’t be.

Someone has to step up. Shane Battier is doing what HE can, scoring 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting Friday night, and averaging a little over 14 points over his last 4 games.

After Battier hit an off-balance 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 81-76 with 4:46 remaining in the game, Kobe did his damage by hitting two consecutive 3-pointers that basically put the game out of reach 87-76 with 3:54 remaining. When you enter a fourth quarter against the Lakers, just like against Utah, you better be up at least 10 points at the beginning of the quarter to help withstand a certain rally.

The Rockets couldn’t build that kind of cushion, though, and it cost them. Almost like in the Phoenix game, the Rockets went about 5 ½ minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Yao didn’t play down the stretch because Rick Adelman thought he had played way too many minutes (about 40), and said later he would have put him back into the game if his teammates could have gotten them closer. They couldn’t.

ESPN announcer Mark Jackson was wondering why in the world they weren’t playing Yao, their “go-to” guy, to give them a better chance of catching up. I kind of have to agree with him, but with the way they’ve been playing late in fourth quarters, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

Since Yao finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, it would have been nice if he had gotten more touches. Obviously, something is wrong that we keep having to say that game after game. Could it be a combination of his teammates taking stupid shots (yes) and throwing bad passes (yes), but also Yao not battling enough for position? I believe so.

Yao needs to work harder and move around more to get himself free, and his teammates need to zing it in there more crisply during that small window of time when there’s an opening to get it in there before the defense collapses on him. I remember JVG talking about Yao’s teammates needing to work on the timing of doing that more, and you could tell they did when he was still coaching. I’m not so sure now.

The other problem I see is that Yao is being asked to set lots of high screens way outside the paint so his teammates (Artest) can shoot long jumpers. Or he’s coming out high to do pick-and-rolls. That would be fine if Yao was the recipient of some of the passes that come out of those, but we know Yao can’t dribble toward the basket after receiving the ball off a pick-and-roll. So it’s up to the man with the ball to hoist it up.

I’m actually okay if Yao occasionally takes long jumpers out high after setting a pick, like he did successfully in hitting a long two-pointer against LA. His touch is just as good as anyone’s. But we know most of his points have got to come from the low block or along the baseline where he can shoot his hook shots or turnaround jumpers, which by the way got some nice ooohs and aaahs from Jackson and the play-by-play guy.

Artest was okay (21 points on 9-of-19 shots, 9 rebounds), doing some good things, but also doing his normal thing hoisting too many long jumpers (only 1-for-6 from 3-point land). When he took it strong to the hole, he was more successful than not. You wonder why he doesn’t do that more often. He also had 5 turnovers.

Hmmm – not attacking the basket, jacking up 3-pointers, and mishandling the ball: the more things change, the more they stay the same (McGrady).

Luis Scola had a nice bounce-back game after only scoring 4 points against Phoenix. He finished with 16 points on 7-of-10 shots, and grabbed 9 boards. But he couldn’t handle Pau Gasol late in the 4th quarter when he was playing in place of Yao at center. Why Adelman couldn’t put Dikembe or Hayes on him at that point, who knows.

So Yao, Artest, Battier and Scola had double-digit production. Wasn’t fantastic, but wasn’t the worst performances in the world, either. So where did they fall short to lose this game?

I hate to say it, but Aaron Brooks was one of the culprits. He provided no point production whatsoever, shooting 0-for-4 from the field, and scoring only 3 points, all from free throws. That’s not going to get it done. Although he had 6 assists, which is pretty good for him, none of them were all that memorable. When you watched this Laker game, when he wasn’t scoring, he seemed to be invisible.

He finished with only two turnovers, but when he commits them, they seem to be so much more noticeable, probably because of the scrutiny he’s getting from fans, including me. It’s only natural.

I must admit that when Kyle Lowry was inserted into the game after Brooks was struggling, I was happy to see it. And Lowry delivered with hustle and spectacular assists. There was a point where he was playing so well, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that he could become the starting point guard soon.

But then you look at his boxscore, and he shot 1-for-7 from the field with only 2 points. That’s not going to get it done either.

Getting a total of 5 points from your point guards isn’t going to win you many games. If they had racked up collectively at least 18 points or more, then the Rockets most likely could have won this game.

4th quarter miscues:

Okay, here’s some of the mistakes I logged in that 4th quarter collapse I mentioned earlier. You just CAN’T make these stupid errors against a team as good as the Lakers…

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s easy to forget about all the good things the Rockets did against the Lakers in their loss Wednesday night, but I saw encouraging signs that bode well for them to become an elite team, and soon.

Like in the first quarter when Yao was aggressive defensively by swatting a Pau Gasol alley-oop attempt away for a block. It could have been goaltending, but it shows that Yao continues to work hard to get more rejections.

Ron Artest had 3 steals in the game’s first 7 ½ minutes, Luis Scola made all of his first 4 shots, and Yao went 5-for-5 at the start of the game.

In the second quarter, the Rockets went on an incredible 24-6 run to end the first half. During the run, I couldn’t help but make a note to myself that the Rockets NOW HAVE MORE ATHLETES which have changed the entire complexion of the team. They’re now younger, faster, and even smarter. That’s going to take them a long way.

Here’s some of the highlights I noted in the second quarter to remind you that it wasn’t that bad of a game for Houston:

7:35 – Von Wafer was really aggressive in stealing a cross-court pass and throwing it down, attacking the basket on another possession, and tipping in his own miss. A little later Wafer attacks the basket and tips in his own miss!

6:08 – Wafer takes it to the rack again and dishes to Carl Landry for a score.

5:48 – Kyle Lowry takes it coast-to-coast, attacks the rim and scores! 10-0 run by Houston. 37-34

5:15 – Luis Scola dishes to Landry for a jam. 39-34. 12-0 run. This quarter is very exciting!

4:54 – Artest knocks the ball away from Josh Powell for a turnover

4:38 – Artest steals the ball again.

4:13 – Lowry then would dish to Scola for a layup. 14-0 run by Houston! 41-34

3:00 – Artest hits a jumper! 16-2 run. 43-36

2:35 – Wafer attacks the basket and is blocked, but the ball is recovered and he hits a 3! 46-38

:55 – Lowry picks the ball up in the backcourt with 8 seconds, then dribbles it back into the frontcourt with the shot clock ticking down, and you wonder if he’s going to do anything, then Yao sets a pick, rolls off it, and Lowry zips the pass to Yao on the move and Yao throws it down with 1 second on the shot clock

:27 – Artest shakes his man out of his jock, takes it strong deep it into the paint, takes the bump in front of the basket, and puts it in!

In the 3rd quarter, Brooks starts it off by blowing Fisher into the lane, dishes to Scola, who scores and is fouled! After Scola hits the free throw, the Rockets lead 54-40.

After that, things went south for the Rockets, but let’s not forget that they were giving the Lakers a run for their money, and if they shoot decent like they normally do, they would have won that game!

I could go through a lot of the details of the Rockets-Lakers game that Houston lost Wednesday night, but I think before people start panicking, it’s more important to address some of the things I think the Rockets need to fix to win games like this one.

Yao Ming throws down a dunk Wednesday against the Lakers, two of 16 points he would score on 7-of-9 shooting in a 102-96 loss. Click here for more photos from the game.

Let’s face it. For the Rockets to try to manufacture a player like Kobe Bryant is not an option. Kobe, who torched the Rockets down the stretch like he has does everyone to everyone, is one of a kind. Obviously, he can score at will when his team really needs a bucket.

There was a time awhile back when Kobe’s future with the Lakers was so much in doubt, there were rumors the Lakers might be willing to give up Kobe for McGrady and some other assets (referenced here in this Chronicle article early last year). For some reason, the Rockets thought the McGrady-Yao combination could still work, so they didn’t pursue it.

That may have been the worst deal the Rockets never made. If they had, this would be a completely different Rockets team in the clutch. Oh well.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love this Rockets team, but how they close out games now would be completely different.

I still think the Rockets can still find a way to win games in the clutch, and I’m not going to freak out because I believe Houston has guys who can hit shots: Yao Ming, Aaron Brooks, Von Wafer, Carl Landry, Luis Scola, Kyle Lowry, and Brent Barry.

I think the Rockets can do it “by committee.” Jonathan Feigen in the Chronicle does a good job here of describing how one of the answers lies in doing pick-and-roll with Brooks or Lowry.

I like Feigen’s suggestions, and the thing I’d like to point out to Yao fans is that Yao would not be the guy setting the pick. That’s because the guy who sets the pick has to be able to cut to the basket once he receives the ball after setting a pick, and probably put the ball on the floor for one dribble before putting up a shot. We all know that when Yao has to dribble, the chance of a turnover goes up. Instead, Landry and Scola are better at that.

Also, on a pick-and-roll, the big guy needs to be able to hit the outside shot. Although I think Yao can hit those shots, he doesn’t seem very comfortable shooting outside of the paint any more. Again, Landry and Scola are better outside shooters than Yao.

So where does that leave Yao? Of course, like Feigen said, I think the first option is to get the ball down low into him. But when you’ve got an aggressive defense like the Lakers were playing Wednesday night on Yao, that’s not always going to work. It will work most of the time, but not against one of the league’s quickest teams, especially when the entry pass is so predictable that it’s easy for players like Pau Gasol to gamble and go for a steal.

That forces you to Plan B, which to me is having Yao kick the ball out to open shooters, kind of like when Yao threw that pass to Brooks late in Wednesday’s game, and AB hit a 3-pointer and was fouled by Derek Fisher, turning it into a 4-point play.

Brooks has proven he can hit the open shot late against Dallas and Phoenix. And Wafer did it in Boston. And I believe Artest has proven it many times this season and his career, too.

The problem arises when no one is hitting outside shots during a particular game. Do you keep going with that strategy or go with something else?

That’s where the pick-and-roll option discussed above might work. I’d say that pick-and-roll should be Plan B2, right behind Plan B1, kicking it out to open shooters.

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It’s tough to write up this one. The Rockets had every chance in the world to pull off a big upset given both Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest didn’t play to rest their injuries.

Yao Ming battles Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom for a rebound.
Click here for more game photos.

But two of Houston’s veterans couldn’t come up big in the clutch while the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant did.

After Shane Battier hit a huge three-pointer to give the Rockets a 100-99 lead with 47.9 seconds remaining, Kobe hit a cold-blooded three-pointer over Shane that was a dagger. Lakers 102-100.

Rafer Alston was fouled on the following play, but he missed both free throws. A veteran point guard needs to make those. The Rockets fouled Pau Gasol intentionally, who missed 1-of-2 free throws, to give Houston a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer.

But the Rockets’ offense broke down. Aaron Brooks fed the ball to Yao in the post. The ball was tipped away from Yao, who gathered it and put up a 2-pointer with just a few seconds on the clock. Oops. Not good.

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I had full intentions last night to follow-up what I had posted after the Rockets victory over the Lakers with another detailed post, but I was so tired last night after a long day, I felt like Shane Battier after an exhausting game guarding Kobe Bryant. I didn’t have any more energy left in me. But I’m now rested and ready.

The good thing is that I’ve had about 17 hours to reflect on yesterday’s historical win (they’re all historical now during this streak) and write about what stood out from yesterday’s game.

First, any Rocket fan who comes to this site who didn’t see yesterday’s nationally televised game probably had some obligation that had them kicking the dog or yelling at the wife. You knew how big of a game this was: the top teams in the West, the No. 1 seed and a long winning streak at stake, the Rockets trying to get respect nationally. If you missed it, my sympathies go out to you. Try to find a friend somewhere who has it on a DVR.

Not that the victory was a thing of beauty. That 15-point halftime lead getting whittled down to barely anything after the Rockets started the third quarter 0-for-12 made the game a little too interesting. But they righted the ship when necessary, held on to maintain the lead, then blew the game open with a 14-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to win #22 in a row and take one more step toward national credibility on a big stage: ABC on Sunday afternoon.

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Shane Battier gets a hand in Kobe Bryant’s face Sunday afternoon, something he did repeatedly to hold Kobe to 24 points on 11-of-33 shooting to help the Rockets win their 22nd game in a row and take over the #1 spot in the Western Conference.

It doesn’t get much better than this. The Rockets shut up a lot of critics on national TV Sunday afternoon when they beat the big, bad Lakers 102-94 for their 22nd win in a row.

They were tested in the third quarter by scoring only 12 points to give up a big 15-point halftime lead, but they came up huge in the fourth quarter by scoring 33 points, including 5-of-9 from three-point land in the fourth quarter.

I felt good about the Rockets’ chances going into this game, but for awhile in the third quarter it looked like I was going to be wrong. However, every time you think the Rockets are going to lose, someone steps up, like Rafer Alston (career-high 31 points) and backup point guard Bobby Jackson scored 19 points. This is after fairly poor performances over their past few games. But they scored almost half of the Rockets’ points in the win. Amazing that Tracy McGrady only scored 11 points on 4-of-16 shots and they still won.

The Rockets’ offense was like a runaway freight train in the last half of the fourth quarter that couldn’t be stopped when they went on a 14-2 run to blow open a game where they only led by 2 with 6:07 remaining.

I was able to watch the entire game, but I’m on the West Coast right now and can’t post a complete report. But I’ll do that later tonight when I get settled into my hotel.

In the meantime, I’ll leave things off right now with, “HOW SWEET IT IS! 22 IN A ROW! 1st PLACE IN THE WEST. BRING ON BOSTON!”