GAME: Houston Rockets(37-26) vs. New Orleans Hornets(34-30) LOCATION: Toyota Center, Houston TIME: 6:30PM PROBABLE STARTERS SF Jim Jackson/George Lynch PF Kelvin Cato/PJ Brown C Yao Ming/Jamal Magloire PG Steve Francis/Baron Davis SG Cuttino Mobley/David Wesley TEAM LEADERS Rockets: Yao Ming-17.5 points per game Yao Ming-8.7 rebounds per game Steve Francis-6.0 assists per game Hornets: Baron Davis-22.9 points per game Jamal Magloire-9.9 rebounds per game Baron Davis-7.6 assists per game KEYS TO THE GAME <u>Rockets</u> 1: Yao Dominates-After an explosive week which saw him win Player Of The Week honors, Yao Ming cooled down, not unexpected but still took its toll. Yao Ming will have an even tougher game tonight, with two physical and strong players in PJ Brown and Jamal Magloire. This is when Yao Ming has to step up in other parts of his game. With all the defensive attention focused on him, Yao must pass to open teammates and score off put-backs. His performance will have a huge impact on the outcome of this game. 2:Battle Of The Point Guards-Steve Francis and Baron Davis are two players destined for greatness. They were the 2nd and 3rd picks of the 1999 NBA draft and have since blown up, becoming all-stars and fan favorites. They share a rivalry between themselves that will look to be explosive tonight, since they have the same abilities and are both coming off big games which resulted in wins against their previous opponents. 3:Home Court Advantage-The Rockets are a stellar 23-10 at home. Meanwhile, the Hornets are a dismal 13-18 on the road. This is an advantage the Rockets will have to utilize tonight. Make use of the home crowd and leap out to a huge lead before the first half ends and ride towards the victory on this lead. <u>Hornets</u> 1:Overcome Loss Of Mash-Jamal Mashburn, a prolific scorer and an oft-injured small forward, suffered another injury last week, not long after returning from a previous injury that has limited him to playing only 19 games this season. The Hornets need him to succeed and his loss will be much felt by the Hornets. Tim Floyd will have to find the right player to make up for the loss. 2:Crash The Boards-The Hornets have two great rebounders: Jamal Magloire and PJ Brown. They have to crash the offensive boards tonight. Capitalizing on the fatigue of Yao Ming will be important to the Hornets as they will most likely miss a fair number of their shots. 3:Baron Davis Lifts His Team-Baron Davis, coming off a huge double-double which saw him get 33 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, must play like he did last night for the Hornets to stay close. One thing that Davis has to improve is getting his teammates involved. His assist numbers have been down and his passing will be needed against a great defensive team like the Rockets. GAME OUTLOOK The Rockets come into this game riding on a 3-game winning streak, two of those from defeating the NBA's top teams in Minnesota and Dallas. This game is one where we have a huge chance of winning. However, with winning comes confidence, and it will be vital for us not to be too overconfident. That is the only thing standing in our way to 4 straight wins. GAME PREDICTION Rockets-92 Hornets-85
Only if Yao has a big game the Rockets will win , Hornets are in my top 5 so I will go with the Hornets by 6.
Damn david wesley looks like a hamster in that pic, or an overgrown baby.. rockets won again, quite impressive
hey trip.....this is jacqlyn. i talked to you on msn like yesterday? i'm sorry...i don't know where else to contact you? so...how's that banner going on?
I had the pleasure of seeing the Rockets in person last night as they knocked off the New Orleans Hornets 97-86. Towards the end of the game everyone was hoping that the Rockets would break 100 so that we would all get free Big Mac's. Mark Jackson not shooting the three or passing it off really pissed off the fat guys sitting next to me. On to the game, I thought the Rockets did a great job at the beginning of the game however towards the end they gave up too many easy shots and played sloppy on offense. Cuttino Mobley was absolutely on fire the entire game as he scored 31 points for us on 10 of 17 shooting. Yao Ming, Jim Jackson and Steve Francis helped out in the scoring department scoring 17,19 and 19 respectively. Clarence Weatherspoon really impressed me last night. I think he will get more and more minutes as the season winds down. He has been playing great basketball of late. The key stat of the game to me was the FG%. Houston shot 47.9%(34-71) compared to New Orleans 39.3%(33-84).
Every arena has the free food for 100 points thing I guess. I had the pleasure of actually SEEING the game, much unlike you dexter. What I saw was great basketball throughout the first three quarters, and sloppy ball the fourth. We have to learn to close teams out in the fourth quarter, not let overmatched teams like New Orleans come back and pressure us. They put up a great charge but fell just short. I'd also like to Weatherspoon play more for us as this guy just gives his all each game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">Every arena has the free food for 100 points thing I guess. I had the pleasure of actually SEEING the game, much unlike you dexter. What I saw was great basketball throughout the first three quarters, and sloppy ball the fourth. We have to learn to close teams out in the fourth quarter, not let overmatched teams like New Orleans come back and pressure us. They put up a great charge but fell just short. I'd also like to Weatherspoon play more for us as this guy just gives his all each game.</div> I actually saw the game as well. I guess you didn't read this quote I made in my statement. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">On to the game, I thought the Rockets did a great job at the beginning of the game however towards the end they gave up too many easy shots and played sloppy on offense</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dexter:</div><div class="quote_post">I actually saw the game as well. I guess you didn't read this quote I made in my statement.</div> I meant I watched the game on TV. Since I live in Canada, it's a rare occasion to even get Rockets games on TV. I'd die to see a Rockets home game live.
My bad Trip. I must have misread this comment you made: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I had the pleasure of actually SEEING the game, much unlike you dexter</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dexter:</div><div class="quote_post">My bad Trip. I must have misread this comment you made:</div> More like I mis-expressed myself.
