GAME: Houston Rockets(31-23) vs. Atlanta Hawks(18-37) LOCATION: Toyota Center, Houston TIME: 8:30PM PROBABLE STARTERS SF Jim Jackson/Boris Diaw PF Kelvin Cato/Chris Crawford C Yao Ming/Joel Przybilla PG Steve Francis/Jason Terry SG Cuttino Mobley/Stephen Jackson TEAM LEADERS Rockets: Steve Francis-16.6 points per game Yao Ming-8.9 rebounds per game Steve Francis-5.9 assists per game Hawks: Jason Terry-15.8 points per game Boris Diaw-4.4 rebounds per game Jason Terry-5.1 assists per game KEYS TO THE GAME <u>Rockets</u> 1: Yao Plays Up To His Height-Against the Hawks tonight, the Rockets must utilize Yao Ming to his full extent as Atlanta has no big men capable of contesting him. Atlanta would most likely put Joel Przybilla on him. Przybilla is a weak defender and the Rockets must pound Yao the ball inside tonight. Anything less than 20 points will not be accepted. 2:Backcourt Comes Out Of Its Funk-Against the Mavericks last night, Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley displayed horrible shooting, combing for just 9-32 field goals. The Rockets need them to win tonight. My bet here is that they'll be pumped in front of the home crowd and school Jason Terry and Stephen Jackson, combining for 40+ points along the way. 3:No Complacency-After the trade of Rasheed Wallace, the Hawks are now the worst team in the league. However, the Rockets must still not be relaxed. 2 weeks ago, the Rockets had to fight back from a 14 point deficit to scramble past the Hawks. The Hawks still have some quality players in Jason Terry, Stephen Jackson and Chris Crawford, who scored 21 points on 10-20 shooting against the Heat last night. <u>Hawks</u> 1:Move The Ball-The Hawks have a selfish backcourt, period. Jason Terry and Stephen Jackson are shoot-first players and they love to dribble the ball around the perimeter. As a result, many teams trap them to make them turn the ball over. They have to pass the floor tonight. As a result of them being trapped, one player would always be open. Find him and make the smart pass. 2:Someone Steps Up-After the trade of Wallace, the Hawks are left a rudderless boat. They now have no one to lead them through the final minutes of a game and just take over on offense. Jason Terry fits that mold but he has shown some inconsistency throughout this season. He has to do something out of the ordinary tonight. Play well, he gets the minutes and points. Play bad, someone else does, simple as that. 3:Take Smart Shots-The Hawks have many good shooters on their roster and the mid-long range shot has been a great source of their points each game. However, this team has a tendency to take bad shots, sometimes even in three-on-one occasions. They'll have to take good-looking shots against the Rockets. Penetration is a cross because of the Rockets formidable low-post defense. GAME OUTLOOK Both teams come off losses the night before. On paper, the Rockets look like they can beat the Hawks by 35 if necassary. This game is too lopsided to say otherwise. If we can play our normal ball tonight, I don't see a reason why the Rockets would not prevail. If the Hawks can lose in a blowout to an EASTERN conference team like Miami, there is no hope in surprising the heavily favored Rockets. GAME PREDICTION Rockets-105 Hawks-83
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">Dallas Mavericks(18-37)</div> You might wanna fix that. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post"> Stephen Jackson</div> And that too. I think that the Hawks have no chance of winning. I predict that the Rockets win by 10-20. I hope that Yao plays great.
Chris Crawford oh baby! He just sent the game into overtime with that clutch 3 pointer. I honestly can't even believe what i'm seeing. I wonder is Stan will call Jeff after the game .
What an action packed game. The Hawks were up 107-104 with 2 seconds left in OT and Steve Francis hit a clutch 3 to tie it up. Hawks have the ball with 2 seconds left... EDIT: This game is going into double overtime, thanks to Steve Francis.
JASON TERRY OH MY GOODNESS! He just hit a HUGE 3 pointer from about 1 foot in front of the half court line. JT is definitely something special, the Hawks are going to be THE team to watch during the off season. 40 seconds are left with the Hawks up 114-111 in the second OT period. I don't think anyone would have ever predicted tonights game to be like this.
JIM JACKSON just tied the game up with a CLUTCH triple with 5 seconds left in double OT! WOW what a game this has been. Hawks have the ball with 5 seconds left on the clock, the ball is definitely going into JT's hands.
Wow, Terry Stotts put the ball into Mamadou's hands and he airballed it, what a terrible decision on his part. I guess he knew the Rockets were expecting the ball to go to SJax or JT, so he did this hoping to catch the Rockets off guard and perhaps get a mismatch and give Mamadou an open look. Triple OT here we come...
whoa....this is a crazy game, probably best game i've seen so far this season...AND IT"S NOT OVER YET!!!
Game is tied up at 120 with 47 seconds left, and oh my what a game this has been. This is definitely a nominee for one of the best games of the 2003-04 season, and the ironic thing is everyone thought this was just going to be an easy blowout for the Rockets. Just goes to show you can never underestimate anyone in the NBA.
Steve Francis just fouled out of the game with 38 seconds left and Sura hit 1 of 2 at the line. Score is 121-120 and Rockets have posession...
Hawks had the ball with 23 seconds left and JT had a careless play under the basket and turned the ball over, the Hawks had to foul him with 8 seconds left on the clock in triple OT because the Rockets were up 122-121. Rockets only hit 1 of 2 at the line and the score is now 123-121 Rockets are leading and the Hawks have the ball with 8 seconds left and just called a timeout.
Ball went into Bobby Sura's hands with 8 seconds left and he went up for a floater and was absolutely hammered by Yao Ming, it was such a blatant foul but the refs didn't call it and time ran out with the Rockets winning the game 123-121. I guess the refs were tired and didn't feel like sitting through another overtime period . What a disappointing loss for the Hawks, I was really pulling for them. They played hard for a brutal 68 minutes of basketball, when you thought the game was over, a different Hawks player stepped up each time with a clutch play. All too often games end because refs do not call obvious blatant fouls in the final seconds, it seems like refs put their whistles away for the last 10 seconds of each game and look the other way. This just further enforces the need for some sort of replay/challenge system. Refs are there to officiate games, not decide them.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Martin:</div><div class="quote_post">OMG! Yao had 41 points,16 rebounds and 7 assists </div> Any of the top players in the NBA could do that in 68 minutes of basketball.
Damn that was a wild game, the best I've seen all season. I didn't turn it on till the 4th, but it felt like I watched the whole game after 3 OT's. That was very exciting, it was fun watching Yao dominate that game, props to Ming for the clutch shot in the final minute of Triple OT to give them the lead. The game may have been 68 minutes, but Yao only played 49, you gotta give him credit, they went to him almost every time down the floor, and he continued to impress with his passing skills, and his little hook jumper. Francis struggled shooting, but still managed to put up 16 as Mobley netted 28, and Jim Jackson chipped in with 17. Good thing Houston didn't lose to the Hawks, that would would have been a total embarassment.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple N Gold:</div><div class="quote_post">Good thing Houston didn't lose to the Hawks, that would would have been a total embarassment.</div> Allowing the Hawks to take you to three overtime periods is an embarassment in itself .
