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Thread: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

  
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    Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    I find it hard to believe that NOBODY has taken up the torch for the Rockets. These guys are pretty good and we actually get to see them on Root Sports Network, that is unless you have Time Warner Cable. I have admit I was skeptical when Houston signed James Hardin. I felt like the Rockets got a good guard who can come off the bench like he did in OKC but I sure didn't see him becoming a bonafide star. Until this year it was acknowledged that Hardin was a great scorer but he wasn't an all around player because he didn't play defense worth a crap. Hardin must've heard the grumbling because he obviously worked hard on improving his defense and while he's made himself into an MVP candidate. Most people agree the race is down to Hardin and Golden State's Steph Curry with OKC's Russell Westbrook still lurking. I think Hardin should have the edge because he's been THE MAN in the 2014-15 season because Dwight Howard has spent more time on the bench than he has on the floor. Howard is back and the Rockets are making a final push for position in the playoff. Currently they are the 2 see in the Western Conference but any slippage and they could end up the six seed.

    The Rockets are fun, yet frustrating, team to watch but one thing for sure, when it comes to the 4th quarter these guys know how to finish. With Howard back the Rockets are a team nobody really wants to face with very nice contributions by Jason Terry, the man mountain known a Demo, Terrence Jones and Josh Smith they have made themselves a very formidable unit. Patrick Beverley had also been making major contributions to the lineup until a wrist injury ended his season on March 23rd. On March 28th Houston lost Demo to a back injury but they continue to soldier on. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games going into tonight's tilt against the San Antonio Spurs at home in the Toyota Center. The Rockets last loss was earlier this week to these same Spurs in San Antone. The Spurs, BTW, are on fire right now winning 9 in a row. At the half it's a 2 point Rockets lead at 48-46. I fell out of love with the NBA during the Allen Iverson era but with some high quality play from all over the NBA and the rise of LeBron James I'm starting to drift back in the NBA fan line. It's cool that my interest is returning at around the same time the Rockets are relevant again.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    Still no takers on this thread? The Rockets play the last game of the regular season tonight and depending on whether they win or not and whether San Antonio wins or not Houston could actually be either a 3 seed or a 6 seed in the playoffs. James Hardin is a legit candidate for MVP. Good times in H town. It looks like it's going to be Houston as the 5 seed playing the 4 seed Trailblazers. Portland dumped Houston in the first round of last year's playoffs but Portland is beat up injury-wise and Houston will have home court advantage because they have a better record than Portland. Portland has a higher seed because they have clinched their division. A lot like March Madness in college the NBA playoffs is when pro basketball starts to get interesting.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    You know that old saying about counting chickens before they're hatched? Last night was a perfect example of just that. Listen to ESPN yesterday and they outlined what was surely going to be the playoff scenario after the final games to be played last night were in the books. No way was San Antonio going to lose to New Orleans. They did. No way was New Orleans going to make the playoffs. They did. The whole Western Conference landscape changed in the span of a few hours.

    Houston began the evening as the 5th seed and ended it the 2nd because of the Spurs loss to the Pelicans. This loss knocked San Antonio all the way down to the 6 and Memphis, who also won is the 5th seed because they hold the tie breaker over the Spurs after both finished with a 55-27 season record. Houston finished with a 56-26 record and they won the Southwest Division. When the night began it looked like Houston would face Northwest Division winner Portland as they did last year with Houston holding home court advantage despite Portland being a division winner. That's just the way the NBA playoff seedings work. The 3 division winner in each conference have to be in the top 4 seeds regardless of their season record. If the playoffs were decided by record alone Portland would be the 6th seed instead of the 4th. So, here is the Western Conference matchups as the 1st round of the playoffs begin this weekend.

    8 New Orleans @
    1 Golden State

    7 Dallas @
    2 Houston

    6 San Antonio @
    3 LA Clippers

    4 Portland @
    5 Memphis

    BTW before the night began the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans were tied and it was assumed OKC would beat Minnesota (which they did) and the Pelicans was a sure loser to the Spurs (They weren't-they won). When the night was over the surprise winning New Orleans was the 8 seed and OKC was left standing outside the playoff's door by virtue of the Pelicans owning the tie breaker between them and OKC. The only thing OKC got was the 2015 NBA scoring champ in Russell Westbrook. Just goes to show you just never say never in sports.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    In assessing the Rockets roster the most scrutinized player isn't necessarily James Hardin or Dwight Howard. They automatically are the most scrutinized because they are the stars of this team. But, when it comes to the supporting cast I think the most scrutinized guy is G Jason Terry. The so-called experts rail on about how "The Jet" is 37 and question whether his legs will hold up through the playoffs. I think this is another boy crying wolf here. Since the Rockets play the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs lets use the Mavs latest NBA Championship season of 2011. Jason Kidd was an integral part of the Mav Championship run at guard at 38 and there's no reason to think Terry can't do the same. Kidd was a Hall of Fame player while Terry may or may not be but he's made the 3rd most 3 point shots in NBA history and at this point in Terry's career he compares very favorably with Kidd in terms of ability. I'm not saying the Rockets will win a championship this season but if or when they lose I'll bet it won't be because Jason Terry faultered down the stretch.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    Rockets up 1-0 after beating Dallas by ten, 118-108. It was a good game that Houston refused to let slip away despite constant pressure from the Mavs. They were able to maintain a 10 point margin in the 4th and it seemed every time the Mavs made a push Corey Brewer or Trevor Ariza or Jason Terry was there to made a big basket to stop a Maverick's run. Game 2 on Tuesday.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was check to see if Houston held on to beat Dallas and it was a good morning indeed! Houston beat the Mavs 111-99 but from the write up it didn't seem like the score was even that close. Houston did what they did all season and that's explode in the 4th quarter. If Houston is close in the 4th they have a better than even chance IMO to walk off the court with a win, I don't care who they're playing. Not bad heading to Dallas up 2-0.

    The Wizards and Cavs both won last night making it a clean sweep of teams who are 2-0 in the playoffs so far. Game 2 for the rest of the playoff teams is tonight.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    Houston went to Dallas for Game 3 and hung on to beat Dallas 130-128 in a very exciting game. James Hardin led the way with 42 points and Dwight Howard has upped his game in the playoffs. On Friday night he pulled down a whopping 26 rebounds and added 13 points. Houston becomes the 5th team in the playoffs to go up 3-0 in the first round joining Golden State, Cleveland, Chicago and Washington. Memphis could be the sixth and as they are up 2-0 on Portland. The Spurs are up 2-1 on the Clippers and Atlanta is up 2-1 on Brooklyn. Right now the Bulls are playing game 4 in their series with Milwaukee leading 28-25 in the 2nd.
    Houston and Dallas play Game 4 in the late game Sunday night at 7:00 PM.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    The Rockets got back into the friendly confines of the Toyota Center in downtown Houston and with the sting of the spanking of a desperate Dallas Mavericks win on Sunday evening still hanging over them the Rockets did what they probably should have done two days prior---beat the Mavs. Even though Dallas made a game of it they I was clear in the 3rd qtr they didn't have "it" last night. James Hardin sort took over the game in the fourth on both ends of the floor. Hardin must have heard his critic talking about how bad his defense was because in 2014-15 he's upped that part of the his game. At times not is he good but he's excellent. You'd like for him to be more consistent but at least he's better than in past years. By closing out the Mavericks in 5 games Houston will get an extra few days to rest up for the next series against either San Antonio or the LA Clippers. The Spurs hung on to a narrow victory last night to take a 3-2 lead in the series but if this series goes like it has been it will take seven games to decide who moves on.

    Golden State smashed New Orleans in 4 so they have been kicking back waiting for Memphis to take care of Portland. Right now the Griz are up 3-1 with the next game tonight. It's a good thing it's tonight because with the opening of the NFL draft tomorrow night there may be a big drop off in TV ratings.

    In the east the Hawks and Nets are knotted up at 2 games apiece with game 5 tonight. They will face the Washington Wizards who dispatched the Toronto Rapters in 4 as did Cleveland who swept the Celtics but not at a great cost. First Kevin Love will miss at least two weeks with a dislocated shoulder he hurt against the Celts in Game 4 when the Celts Kevin Olynyk grabbed and pulled Love's arm as they went for a rebound. Later in the game Cavs guard JR Smith threw a reverse roundhouse punch that just cold cocked Boston's Jae Crowder. Besides having his bell rung Crowder also hurt his knee on the play. Olynyk was suspended one game for his actions against Love and Smith received a 2 game suspension for the punch he threw. Smith's suspension is the more severe because he will miss the first two game of the Cavs next round of the playoffs which will likely be against the Chicago Bulls who are up 3-2 on Milwaukee with Game 6 tomorrow night. Olynyk's suspension will be the first game of the 2015-16 season. Not quite the same impact in the grand scheme of things. The Cavs will find it tough sailing to begin the next series without Love and Smith but the long term loss of Love is the more devastating IMO. If you discount all the bull over whether Love and LeBron are BFF's Love has forged a role in the Cavs lineup and he will be missed. Now, if JR Smith can't keep himself under control it could be tough to Cleveland to advance past the 1st round much less get to the finals.

    It may not matter anyway because the way Golden State is playing the way they are all you can hear when they come into an arena is "Hulk Smash puny humans!" I really think Golden State will win it all this year, they just look unstoppable.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    I guess that Chicago just got tired of stringing the Milwaukee Bucks along because they unleashed the beast on them last night to close out the series allowing the Bulls to move on to the next round against Cleveland. In a near record breaking display of a giant can of whoop-ass being opened the Bulls put a 54 point smack down on the hapless Bucks. The last NBA Eastern Conference series left to be decided in between the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets. The next game is tonight in Brooklyn. The Hawks are up 3-2 and could close out the series tonight otherwise the series will likely conclude on Sunday with a Game 7.

    In the Western Conference game between the Clippers and Spurs the Clips went into SA and beat the defending champs to even the series 3 games apiece 102-96. Now the Spurs have to go to LA to try to beat the Clippers for the 2nd time in the playoffs in the past 3 games. This series looked like the best series in the first round of the playoffs and it hasn't disappointed. I'm sure the Rockets, who play the winner of this series, are happy to see them both slug is out while Houston gets some rest. The 7th game is Saturday night with the series with Houston likely beginning either Monday or Tuesday.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    It's the Rockets and Clippers in the 2nd round of the playoffs after LA and San Antonio played one of the best game 7's ever with the Clips making a 3 point shot at the buzzer to win by 2, 111-109 and Saturday night. The Rockets-Clippers series begins about 8:30.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    Head coach Kevin McHale summed up Game 1 last by saying, "The turnovers we committed were 7th and 8th grade level. They just kicked our asses.". That pretty well sums up how bad the 16 point loss,117-101, the Chris Paul-less Clippers put on the Rockets last night. At home no less.

    It wasn't a good night to be the home team apparently. The Bulls waltzed into Cleveland and slapped the Cavs with a 99-92 loss to begin their 2nd round series.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    It wasn't pretty but the Rockets won Game 2. James Hardin sort of woke up in the 4th quarter and carried the team from the floor and the foul line. Going back to LA the Clippers should be even tougher especially if they get Chris Paul back from a hamstring pull.

    The other Western Conference series between Golden State and Memphis is also tied up at 1 game each. This is sort of shocking considering how GS has been rolling through the competition. The Grizzlies could give the Warriors some trouble if they start feeling confident in their home building. I don't think the Griz can beast GS in a 7 game series but I think they could push them some.

    Every series in this quarterfinal round of the playoffs is knotted at 1. Is it NBA parity or just a bit of an anomaly? Who knows but it looks like these series are going to be really fun to watch.

    A week ago I would have told you that the finals was going to feature the Cavaliers from the East and the Warriors from the West. I still favor this matchup but as the series progress I am not discounting any upsets changing the lay of the land.

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    I'm pretty sure the Rockets march through the playoffs is about to come to an end. After a truly pathetic performance in a 33 point blowout loss to the Clippers you can pretty much stick a fork in the Rockets. They're done and done. The Rockets don't have the talent or the heart to beat the Clippers now. They will come back to Houston and maybe the team will summon enough pride to win one more but it's all over but the crying. Houston's free throw shooting is a joke and the Clippers began that hack-a-shaq crap in the 1st quarter. The Rockets kept the score close in the first half but in the 2nd half the Clippers just put a whoopin' on them. LA leads 3-1 and 2 of those wins are blowouts. Maybe if Houston could start making the Clips pay for the fouling they are doing they would have a chance but it's not likely gonna happen.

    It could be that the Bulls and Cavs are just going to trade buzzer beaters for 7 games. In Game 3 it was Derek Rose who made a shot at the buzzer to beat Cleveland and yesterday LeBron took over the 4th quarter and he did it all for Cleveland including making the game winning shot as time expired to drive a dagger into the Bulls hopes of going up 3-1 in the series. Now it's tied up a 2 apiece with the series heading back to Cleveland. Some have written the Bulls off but I don't see it. I think this is a knock-down drag-out series that is going the whole seven with the winner just walking all over the winner of the Atlanta-Washington series. Neither of those teams can hang with either the Bulls or the Cavs IMO. BTW Atlanta evened the series at 2 with a 106-101 win over Washington earlier this evening.

    The other game in West has Memphis in control of the series with Golden State and 10 days ago nobody would've given the Griz a snowball's chance in hell of beating the Warriors. Ever since Steph Curry won the MVP title the Warriors have been inept. The Grizzlies refused to roll over and play dead for Golden State despite a big Game 1 loss. The series is back in Memphis tonight with the Griz up 2-1 and nobody seems to be giving GS a chance now. How the world turns. It's early in the 1st qtr of Game 4. Who wants to bet on GS?

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    I hope some of you did bet on Golden State as they went into Memphis and pounded the Grizzlies. They'll take the floor tonight Memphis will certainly have an uphill battle beating the Warriors in this crucial Game 5. Suprisingly, the series is tied at 2 so no matter who wins certainly won't be considered a prohibitive favorite moving forward. Enjoy the game because it should be quite interesting.

    The other Western Conference game Houston proved my wrong by not just beating the Clippers but they BEAT them by 21 and the score, once the lead got to 12 points in the first half never got below 12 the rest of the game. James Hardin came up big but he finally got some help from the other starters and the bench. If Houston hopes to keep going in Game 6 tomorrow they will need the same effort and the same contributions from players not named Hardin as well as Hardin himself. GS is still leading 3-2 but it looks a little better than it did before last night's game. Got to do on the road in LA. Houston can do it but it won't be easy and according to the 'experts' it's not likely. I guess I'm just a contrarian but that's why I think they will.

    The East is all about who wins the series between Cleveland and Chicago. I just don't think anyone gives the winner of the Atlanta-Washington series a snowball's chance in a furnace against either the Cavs or the Bulls. ATL-Wash are tied 2-2 and they will see who takes the series lead tonight. The interesting game will be in Chicago on Thursday. Cleveland could close out the Bulls with a win and they seem to have the advantage as Kyrie Irving appears to be healthy now and LeBron seems to have found another level of play. Chicago is at home and they have the talent to force a Game 7. This is why I love basketball again. Players you can care about, teams that give you hope and competitive series all the way to the finals. I just can't take the stress of all the timeouts at the end of games.

    One question, is there a more lame-assed coach in the NBA than Cleveland's David Blatt?

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    Re: Houston Rockets March to the Playoffs

    The Conference finals are set. Cleveland clowned Chicago to win that series 4-2 and Atlanta took care of suddenly helpless Washington to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. I'm not sure how good this series is going to be but unless the Hawks play out of their minds or Cleveland plays like crap or LeBron gets hurt I don't see this series going more than 5, maybe 6 games. Cavs in a walk. That walk begins on Wednesday at 7:30 PM. I know I'm kind of writing off a No 1 seed but really Atlanta made their bones early on and hung on as Cleveland began to gel. It just took a while before the Cavs new Big 3 of LeBron, Kyrie and Kevin learned their roles. The focus has narrowed since Kevin (Love) was lost due a shoulder injury a couple of weeks ago. The fact is LeBron is the star of the show and the days since they last played has just helped Kyrie's ankle to heal up for the next round. I wonder how common it is for both 1 and 2 seeds to make it to the conference finals in both conferences. Whatever it is they have it again.

    The Western Conference was settled yesterday when Houston became the first team in a while to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series over the LA Clippers who were obviously hung over from the major choke job they pulled in Game 6. In that game the Clips lead by 19 points mid way in the 3rd quarter when Houston went on a 40-18 run to bitch slap the Clippers and keep their hopes alive for a Game 7. The team came alive and played the way they were supposed to from jump street. The Rockets were, after all, the No 2 seed behind Golden State so anyone who said the Rockets win was an upset is full of crap. Now you have the 1 and 2 seeds going at it beginning tomorrow in the Warriors home court at 8 PM.

    I hate to sell the Rockets short but I don't see them beating Golden State. It all depends on which Rockets show up. Will the team that got their asses kicked in Games 3 and 4 that put them into a 3-1 hole or the team that showed up for Games 5-7 that stole the series from an LA team that had been dominating them. I just think GS is better over all and will win in 6, maybe 7, games.

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