The Rockets look to pull out of a slump, and distance themselves from Denver, against the Lakers tonight. Staples Center, Los Angeles, California April 6th, 2005, Game Time: 9:30 CT TV: FSNSW (Local) TNT (National) Inside the Numbers <font color="red">Rockets</font> Leading Scorer: Tracy McGrady (25.5 PPG) Leading Rebounder: Yao Ming (8.3 RPG) Assist Man: Tracy McGrady (5.7 APG) The 'X' Factor: David Wesley (12 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.3 APG) <font color="purple">Lakers</font> Leading Scorer: Kobe Bryant (27.6 PPG) <font color="purple"><font size="1">*</font></font> Leading Rebounder: Lamar Odom (10.2 RPG) <font color="purple"><font size="1">*</font></font> Assist Man: Kobe Bryant (5.9 APG) The 'X' Factor: Caron Butler (15 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.8 APG) <font color="purple"><font size="1">*Bryant, and Odom are doubtful for tonight's game.</font></font> Probable Line-ups: <div align="center"><font color="red">Rockets <font size="1">Bob Sura, David Wesley, Tracy McGrady, Clarence Weatherspoon, Yao Ming </font></font> <font color="purple">Lakers <font size="1">Chucky Atkins, Luke Walton, Caron Butler, Devean George, Brian Grant </font></font></div> Position-By-Position Point Guard: Sura/Atkins: This is one of the only even match-ups in the game, with Sura still having the advantage. The Rockets should look to exploit Atkins' size, with a bigger and stronger Sura. Atkins can hit the open shot, and can put up impressive numbers when underestimated. Advantage: Even .. But Sura does have an advantage. Shooting Guard: Wesley/Walton: Walton is pretty big, and he is pretty quick too, but Wesley does not enjoy shooting slumps, expect him to jump out of it tonight. Walton might take him on the post, but Wesley can outshoot him. Advantage: Rockets Small Forward: McGrady/Butler: Caron is coming off a big night. McGrady's was bigger. Don't be suprised to see T-Mac light it up, and to be a little aggressive throughout the game, as we did lose to Golden State. Advantage: Rockets Power Forward: Weatherspoon/George: Since when can Devean George play the 4? Against Phoenix, he did guard Marion, but he's gonna have more trouble with the bigger Weatherspoon. Both shouldn't do THAT much in the game both could score close to 10. Advantage: Even Center: Yao/Grant: Yao is coming off a big night as well, and he should look to get Grant in foul trouble, because the Lakers' big man bench isn't too lengthy. Yao will win this. Advantage: Rockets <div align="center">KEYS TO THE GAME </div> <ul>Keep the Game away from LA. Win this Friggin game early, and make sure you make a statement. The Rockets are in a slump in all directions, though they picked up the offense, McGrady and Yao aren't gonna combine for 67 Points every night.[/list] <ul>Role-Players step up. Wesley hasn't been doing well as of late, and should want to pick it up against an injury-ridden LA team, Kobe-less, Odom-less, this game is easily winnable if the Role-Players step it up.[/list] <ul>Yao, Yao, Yao. Pound it in to Yao every chance we get, he should be our first option tonight. The Rockets should play him and Deke at the same time, as it would cause HUGE problems for LA's front-court. If Yao can get 25 tonight, then we should win this game.[/list] Prediction: JVG won't let the Rockets lose Four in a Row, this late in the season. Wesley should be out of his slump. The Defense should be there. The Rockets should win. Rockets: 112 Lakers: 87
Woah, I never knew Devean George could ever play power forward. I always thought he was like a small shooting guard, but upon looking at NBA.com, he's McGrady's height. Funny thing is, he gets about three rebounds for game. I agree with magnomonkey, Houston has to pound it inside time after time for us to win this one. They have a ludicrously small frontcourt and since we've got Yao, its the obvious decision. Hopefully, some of McGrady's and Yao's momentum carry forward into this game. Everyone should be fired up for this one especially since we've lost three in a row already and Denver's just around the corner. Prediction- Houston win, 109-95.
I think it's because the Lakers didn't have enough big men for the PF position that prompts them to start George in the 4. Medvedenko will probably be used as a back-up center. Divac whose already in the line-up won't probably play. Walton might even substitute for George in the PF position aside from Cook. Weatherspoon won't have a disadvantage this time except for George's quickness. Though the Rockets experienced some minor injuries to key players there's no time to give them a day off just because we are facing a weaker team and we can somehow compensate for that. One thing everybody noticed about how the Rockets play against weaker team is, "they give too much confidence" to them that in the end they probably end up losing an easy game. They just don't give enough respect for the lowly teams. It's just like teaching basketball to a kid wherein you let him win the game to build his confidence. We all hate to see games by the Rockets were they lead 20 points in the 3rd quarter then lose it all in the 4th. It's kind of hard to swallow aside from the embarassment it brings you. Rockets will win this one by 10-14 points if Kobe is not playing otherwise if he plays it will go again down to the wire as the Lakers might play for fun by being the spoilers. It surely is fun for the booted teams to wreck some havoc on playoff hopeful teams like what the Warriors are doing right now.
Walton at shooting guard? I'd think that either George or Butler would start at the two. Anyways, even if Walton is the Lakers' two, Wesley most likely won't guard him. The Rockets would need to pound it to Yao and play off of him. Double-teams might be frequent so our outside shooters would have to be effective to keep the defense honest. Anyone know if Barry is good to go this game?
I read somewhere he was already practicing with the team but that he wont be playing tonight. It is guaranteed though that he will play in Phoenix.
kobe is actually playing and we can enjoy a good one on one matchup of him and mcgrady, t-mac just off to a good start but wesley is still on his shooting slump.. the way the match goes, it will probably be a close game and we need wesley to pull a W
Man the game is pretty close. Rockets beta win this game. I bet $8 on them for a return of 33% only because I thought Kobe wasn't playing. I wouldn't bet on them for such a low return if I knew that Kobe was gonna play tonight. But Kobe's having an off game so far, I hope he doesn't heat up later.
Rockets win. Balanced game for everybody..Wesley didn't shoot that well but still contributed a lot by hitting daggers and making assists
Nice win by the Rockets. Good defensive effort by Wesley to limit Kobe's point production although he(Kobe) still manage to put up a triple-double. I hope the Rockets must accept the fact that Juwan is gone for the season and they have to play their best to get into the playoffs. The Grizzlies, Nuggets, Kings and the Twolves are playing good right now. A miracle win against the Suns might boost their confidence back.
Tracy McGrady scored 27 points while Yao Ming added 21, as they teamed up to lead the Houston Rockets to a 114-100 victory over the LA Lakers. Scott Padgett chipped in 16 points for the Rockets, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Houston moved a full game ahead of Denver for sixth place in the Western Conference standings, and pulled within one game of fifth-place Sacramento.
Seems like I was wrong in doubting Padgett's role in our system. He was a great help last night. This win was a good one, but there is no reason to be complacent and just expect to beat the Suns. Phoenix has also been on a roll and our last win at Phoenix was without their leading rebounder and second highest scorer. Next time Shawn Marion was avaliable, he killed us with 23 and 18. We have to continue to take every game seriously, as our whole season might be resting on these few games.
Pretty good game for everyone. All of the starters were in double digit scoring plus Mike James as the sixth man. Nice ball distribution for the team. Both McGrady and Yao came away with great games but all of them need to keep up the effort if they want to stay in the sixth spot for the playoffs. Who I'm really concerned about is Wesley. Usually he would be knocking down threes but it seems like he's been in a shooting slump for the longest time. Plus the announcer on Espn said he has some sore legs. We're going to need him to be consistent if we want to make a splash in the playoffs. Anyways, I hope the momentum carries us to a win against Phoenix.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SHUHEI:</div><div class="quote_post">hey! What's happend JBarry?</div> Nothin' but a bench player
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">hey! What's happend JBarry?</div> Back spasms.
