<div align="center"></div> <div align="center"><font color="orange">Phoenix Suns</font> VS <font color="red">Houston Rockets</font></div> When: Wednesday January 5th, 8:00 PM (EST) Where: Houston,Texas Toyota Center Local TV: ESPN <div align="center">Predicted Starters <font color="blue">Suns</font> <font size="1"><font face="Arial"><font color="purple">Steve Nash, Quentin Richardson, Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire</font></font></font></div> <div align="center"><font color="red">Rockets</font> <font size="1"><font face="Arial"><font color="red">Bob Sura, Tracy McGrady, Jon Barry, Juwan Howard, Yao Ming</font></font></font></div> Keys to The Game For Phoenix <ul> [*]Run the break. The Suns are a very good fast breaking team and a lot of their points come from running the floor. [*]Perimeter Shots. For a team that depends on the three largely to help them win, the Suns will have to be hitting from outside to win the game. [*]Rebound the ball. The Suns have two very good rebounders when focused in Stoudemire and Marion. Marion is 4th in the league in rebounds per game and MVP candidate Stoudemire is averaging just as many per game as the Rockets leader Yao Ming. [*]Stoudemire scores big again. Amare Stoudemire has averaged 42 points in the past two games, and he looks to score big again on a Houston team he's had a good history against. The Rockets have no one to guard him. [/list] Keys To The Game For Houston <ul> [*]Try on defense. The Suns average 110 points per game, and the Rockets' defense, as good as it is, might not even be good enough to hold the opponents under offense. At least make that 100 hard to get. [*]Yao/McGrady come up big. The duo of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady will have overmatched defenders on them in the game, so they have to combine for at least 50 for the Rockets to have a good chance of winning. [*]Execute down the stretch. The Suns have not a lot of depth on their bench, so their starters are forced to play big minutes, and that has caused them to be tired towards ends of games, including almost losing to a Minnesota team last night when they had a 21-point lead. If the Rockets are down in the final few minutes, don't let up. [/list] Game Outlook This game is the first real test for the Rockets after their three-game winning streak against mediocre teams. If they can win this game against the best team in the NBA, the Rockets might just be showing up. If not, the three-win streak is almost nothing but a fluke. They have to come out motivated tonight to take the victory. Prediction Suns-101 Rockets-105
Suns 108, Rockets 98 SUNS are HOT baby!!! I think only seriously defensive minded teams can stop them when the Suns play at their offensive best. i.e. San Antonio. Otherwise, it's tough for opposing teams to match their offensive explosiveness.
Nice win by the Suns beating two top elite teams in the West. Q-Rich had a better game then the last one as he pulled down a team high 14 boards and had 18 points. I liked what I saw from the Suns bench, Casey Jacobsen having a nice game from behind the arc. Suns are real hot
Agreed, Houston has "zero" chemistry. They just lost to the Lakers tonight. Although, I don't think the Lakers are that bad of a team, but still the Rockets are expected (at least at the beggining of the season) to win those kinds of games. Too bad for T Mac.
OK...What is the deal with these pre-game prediction posts in the Suns forums? (I don't believe you should be posting this in here. Post it in your forum) I'm sorry but you have got to be kidding me!! You think the rockets are going to beat the Suns? LOL!!!!
