A picture is worth a thousand words. By the looks of it, Yao wants a playoff rematch against Utah in 2009 when the Rockets will be playing with a full deck. Wouldn’t we all.

In a playoff series where the Rockets had gone so far pushing the series to 6 games by overcoming many obstacles, like:

- Yao’s injury
- Andrei Kirilenko’s late-game flop the refs bought involving Luis Scola, as well as others
- Terrible officiating in general
- Tracy McGrady’s disappearing act in the fourth quarter in Games 1 & 2
- Rafer Alston missing Games 1 & 2 because of a hamstring injury
- a bad shot by Utah off the side of the backboard in the closing minute that got a lucky bounce and resulted in a game-winning shot for them

…the Rockets couldn’t overcome the final blow Friday night – Alston severely spraining his ankle in the second quarter and missing the rest of the game. That injury would be the final straw that broke the camel’s back, leading to a 113-91 loss. At least this loss was only about half as bad as the 40-point loss the Rockets suffered in 2005 in Game 7 against Dallas.

Although the Rockets showed heart by cutting a 19-point deficit in the first half down to 1 point late in the second quarter, the loss of their floor general was so devastating, it really showed in the 3rd quarter when they only made 4-of-22 shots.

To make matters worse, without Alston in the game on defense, his absence helped his counterpart Deron Williams go off in the 3rd with 13 points, including 4-of-5 three-pointers, opening the Jazz lead up again to 20 points entering the 4th quarter.

The 4th quarter was merely a formality as the Rockets were visibly deflated and played out their final game of the season.

If you’re bummed about this loss and the fact the Rockets still haven’t won in the first round yet again, you’ve got to look at more than what happened Friday night or even over the past couple of weeks in this series for why they didn’t advance.

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As confident as the Rockets are heading into Friday night’s Game 6 in Utah, it’s almost impossible to predict what’s going to happen. So many times the Rockets have entered this same kind of situation with confidence, only to have their dreams shattered very quickly.

The most notable example was 3 years ago in early May 2005. That’s when they played a Game 7 in Dallas after having blown out the Mavs in Game 6 at home, just like the Rockets did Tuesday night in Game 5 against the Jazz in Houston. We all know what happened in that Game 7 when the Rockets got blown out by 40 points. I was at that game, and it was one of the most disappointing performances you could ever sit through. I guess after that experience I’m scarred for life and will always expect the worst in a similar situation.

If I were to envision what’s going to happen in Utah Friday night, I think the Rockets will play much better because they learned much about playing under pressure during the 22-game winning streak this season. Also, Tracy McGrady’s experience in these situations multiple times in his career has got to start paying off.

I also think that Luis Scola has figured out how to play more effectively in this series. In Game 1, he seemed to be getting blocked all over the place, but in Game 5 he showed an improved ability to get his shot off around the rim without getting rejected. It figures that the smart and crafty Argentinian would make adjustments within the series. Carl Landry is also back to his old self.

These two guys being the lineup gives the Rockets a much better chance that last season when all they had was Chuck Hayes. So the Rockets are solid at the power forward position. Here are the factors where you’re not sure, and to me are the key factors in this game in no particular order:

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Yao Ming & Steve Francis cheer on the Rockets Tuesday night as the Rockets blew out the Utah Jazz to force a Game 6 in Salt Lake City on Friday night. Click here for more photos of Yao and Steve at the game.

Now THIS is the way it should be. Down 3-1 in their series to Utah and facing elimination with one more loss, the Rockets manhandled the Jazz in Game 5 Tuesday night 95-69, extending their playoff series to at least one more game that will be played in Utah Friday night.

Finally everything came together like we knew this team was capable of doing. We just wonder why it took four games for it to happen. Sure, they won Game 3 in Utah thanks to a Carl Landry block at the end of the game. But this game was different. Unlike that Game 3 win, the Rockets built a double-digit lead in the first half, and every time the Jazz made a run to make it look like they would rip the heart out of their Rockets and fans with a comeback win to win the series, the Rockets would respond and hold them off.

When they could have just laid down and died against the big, bad Jazz, and head into the off-season with a sour taste in their mouths, the Rockets were like an animal backed into a corner and they came out fighting. And they never let up.

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Don’t know if you saw it, but tonight the league announced the schedule for Tuesday night’s games. And guess what — the Rockets game against the Jazz will NOT be on ESPN or TNT. It’s going to be on NBA TV! I get the NBA TV channel, but something tells me there are a lot of folks out there who don’t get that channel and also don’t live in Houston where they can watch the local broadcast. So they may be out of luck.

I’d be curious to see if any of you out there are not going to be able to see it at home, or if NBA TV is part of your basic cable package.

And get this: the game will go head-to-head against Game 5 of the Phoenix-San Antonio series on TNT that also starts at 8:30pm Central like the Utah-Houston game. To me, that’s a slap in the face to fans in both Houston and Utah. Both series are at 3-1, so how did they go about choosing what game would go on each network? You would have thought they would have just spread out the games over different days so that basketball fans wouldn’t have to make such a difficult choice.

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Yao has continued to stay with his teammates in Utah leading up to Game 4 on Saturday night. With the Rockets 86-82 loss to go down 3-1 in the series, it’s not over yet, but Rocket fans can’t wait until next year when they will hopefully play against Utah in the 2009 playoffs where they will have to contend against one of the best players in the league. Click here for more photos from the game.

The Rockets lost Game 4 Saturday night because of stupid mistakes and terrible execution down the stretch. Bad officiating (as always) didn’t help them either.

Through Houston’s 86-82 loss on Saturday night and on the brink of elimination in yet another first round playoff series, I think many things became clear about what the Rockets need to do in the off-season with their personnel. I’ll save that for the end of this post.

But back to their performance in Game 4. They were stinking up the place in 3 different stretches of the game, but timely 3-pointers got them back into the game very quickly each time. However, every time they got close, they went brain dead and as a result, they didn’t deserve to win.

I’m sure you all saw it, but for those of you who didn’t…the final chance they had was when the Rockets were down by 82-80 and fouled Deron Williams intentionally with 7.3 seconds remaining to put him at the line. Unbelievably, Williams missed both free throws to give the Rockets a chance to win the game, BUT 3 ROCKETS FAILED TO REBOUND THE SECOND MISSED FREE THROW, LETTING MEHMET OKUR GET THE BOARD, FOULING HIM, AND SENDING HIM TO THE LINE!

Of course, Okur made sure the Jazz didn’t blow a golden opportunity like the Rockets had just done. He stepped to the line and both free throws, and now the Rockets are only 1 game away from their season ending once again in the first round of the playoffs.

What an embarrassing way to lose this game. That play is going to be played on Sportscenter over and over. It’s Jeff Van Gundy’s most hated play in basketball – failing to get the rebound after a missed free throw. If there was ever one play that showed the Rockets miss Yao Ming, this was it! But my question – as well as everyone else’s question — is this: why wasn’t Dikembe Mutombo in the game to try to grab a potential missed free throw? That’s one of several questionable personnel decisions by Rick Adelman in this game.

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Yao and his teammates react to an important play late in Game 3 of the Rockets-Jazz playoff series, a game the Rockets won 94-92, in part because of late game heroics by rookie Carl Landry. Click here for more photos from the game, which include some of Yao.

Carl Landry has returned! The man who proved to be so valuable during the Rockets’ 22-game winning streak, and who we thought could be the X-factor in the playoffs, finally made the impact we thought he could in the Houston-Utah playoff series.

Landry came up big with a block of a Deron Williams’s drive into the lane and field goal attempt that could have won the game for the Jazz. Instead, it was the Rockets who won a game on a court where only 3 other teams had beaten the Jazz all season long.

Landry’s block coupled with him saving the ball as it headed out of bounds with less than a second remaining in the game helped the Rockets escape the night with the 94-92 victory. If Landry hadn’t blocked Williams’ shot, then chances are that Carlos Boozer would have tipped the ball in for the win. That would have absolutely sucked since the Rockets had blown a 7-point lead in about 40 seconds leading up to that possession where Landry blocked Williams’ shot.

Landry had been so effective earlier in the game hustling for rebounds and loose balls (he finished with 11 rebounds total, 7 offensive, 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting, and 2 blocks), the Rockets were loving the impact he was making on the game that had been missing during the first two games of the series.

But when Carlos Boozer threw a cheap shot at him during a blockout for a rebound a few minutes before halftime, Landry was rushed to the locker room holding his face and it looked like the energizer was going to be out for the rest of the game. Just the Rockets’ luck as they were making a series of it, right?

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I’m surprised to see that Yao made the trip to Salt Lake City for Game 3. Of course, he won’t play, but I guess he decided to go to provide his moral support in this do-or-die game since the Rockets are down 2-0 in the series.

Click here to see more photos from Yao’s shootaround on Thursday morning. Thanks always to Raymond for posting the pics.

As always, I’ll be providing a report after the game.

I’m too frustrated to write much about Game 2 between the Rockets and Jazz Monday night. Bad ref calls were pervasive throughout the entire game, the worst being Kirilinko flopping 45 seconds remaining and the ref buying it right before Bobby Jackson hits a 3-pointer to tie the game, which didn’t end up counting. I’m reeeaaallly getting tired of the terrible officiating in this league.

After the game, I’m glad Adelman ripped into the refs for making that call in that part of the game. I have alot of respect for him calling the idiot refs out. Click here for the video from Adelman’s press conference. McGrady had similar thoughts at the end of his press conference, too (click for video).

Add in 10 more missed free throws and missed buckets around the rim (Chuck Hayes blew 2 more layups). Despite 3 great quarters, McGrady settling for jumpers in the fourth quarter…again. Luther Head doing nothing….again. The Rockets defense getting picked apart and not being able to stop the Jazz…just like last year. And hardly any playing time for Carl Landry (0 minutes in the second half) or Steve Novak (0 minutes overall).

So that’s it. I’m done for tonight. Just try to think how the man below who sat on the bench Monday night will help them this time next year (Click here and here for more photos from Monday night).

In the meantime, try to have a good laugh (if that’s possible) from the videos I posted below from last Thursday’s roast of Yao.

Yao Ming watches pre-game festivities of Game 1 of the Jazz-Rockets series on the Toyota Center big screen Saturday night in Houston. To see another photo of Yao in street clothes at the game, click here (updated with more photos 11:45am Central time).

With two starters out of their lineup (Yao and Rafer Alston), the Rockets were going to need an almost perfect game and at least 1 or 2 guys off the bench to step up and win Game 1 vs. the Jazz in Houston.

None of that happened as Utah bolted away late in the third and early in the fourth quarter to easily beat Houston 93-82.

There were several reasons why the Rockets lost this game, and no one can blame Tracy McGrady for all of it:

• The Rockets were killed on the offensive boards in the first half which put them in a big double-digit deficit. The Jazz had 7 offensive boards in the first quarter and 11 by halftime. It was like all that rebounding help the Rockets got after last season (Luis Scola, Carl Landry) didn’t make a bit of difference.

• Many missed shots around the rim against a scrapping Jazz defense down deep in the paint. Rick Adelman lamented after the game, “We didn’t finish all night long.”

• Too many missed free throws. 18-of-29 for 62% is NOT going to get it done.

• Alston’s replacement, Bobby Jackson, struggled mightily from the floor (3-of-15 shooting, including easy ones missed around the basket).

• Just not enough offense. They had only 67 points midway through the fourth quarter. That and their 36.7% shooting is not going to cut it. Neither will 6-of-22 shooting from 3-point territory.

• As Adelman and McGrady said after the game, after McGrady would pass out of a double-team, the guys who got the ball didn’t attack the Jazz defense like their game plan had dictated.

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Determined to win a big game that could decide homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Rockets started Shane Battier in Utah Monday night, something they should have done the night before in Denver where they lost.

The Rockets also played Bobby Jackson, probably because Rafer Alston’s hamstring injury was worse than Jackson’s knee problem. Perhaps Jackson should have played in Denver, too.

Even with these two key players back in the lineup, it was still going to be tough since Utah was at home where they had been 36-4, they had everything to gain (like homecourt against Houston in the first round of the playoffs) and maybe a chance to move up to 2nd in the conference.

With all the improvements the Rockets have made this season since last season’s playoff series loss against Utah — role players like Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Jackson, Aaron Brooks, Mike Harris, and an improved Steve Novak – it still wasn’t enough as the Rockets went down again to their nemesis, 105-96.

So just like that, within the span of 27 hours the Rockets went from playing for a chance to win the Western Conference, to facing the likelihood they will be the fifth seed without homecourt advantage. What a disappointing way to close out the regular season.

The Rockets now have to hope that the Spurs beat the Jazz Wednesday night in Houston while the Rockets take care of the Clippers. If that doesn’t happen, the Rockets will not have home court advantage and will have to face the possibility of playing a potential Game 7 in Utah, an almost impossible game to win.

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