Playoffs Recap: Blazers vs Rockets | Game 3
April 25, 2009 — PDXPIPELINE(For more playoff coverage: 2009 NBA Playoff Coverage: Portland Trail Blazers )
Posted by Andy Popp
What almost was.
The Blazers held Yao Ming to 7 points last night and still lost. That's a tough pill to swallow.
Offensively, the Blazers finally got some help from Rudy Fernandez, who recaptured his regular season magic. Hitting big shot after big shot late in the game, including a fade away three that brought the Blazers within 1 in the final seconds of the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, it came on a night when Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were bothered by the Rockets' defense and had poor shooting nights because of it. Roy fouled out (a 'quiet' six fouls) with 19 (6-18) and Aldridge had 13 (6 -15). Aside from a couple turnovers and an errant three late in the game, Steve Blake woke up and scored 16.
You're going to read a lot about Steve Blake's inability to lead this team, how his air ball lost the game for the Blazers.You can't blame the loss on Blake, that's not fair. For most of the game, the Rockets were the more aggressive team. They got to the line 24 times, compared to the the Blazers' 10 attempts. Roy had 8 of them and the other two? Channing Frye. Aldridge reverted back to playing like he did in game 1, bothered again by Luis Scola's physical play.
Defensively, Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden once again smothered Yao Ming. They denied Yao the ball, holding him to 7 field goal attempts for just 7 points. Oden controlled block in the second half, winning a physical battle with his strength and physical play. You could see Yao dragging, exhausted by Oden's relentless attack.
There were positives to take away from last night's game. The Blazers found themselves down by 17, but they fought back and made it a game in the end. They outscored the Rockets by 8 in the second half, proving to that they can compete with this team on the road.
In order to win on Sunday, everyone has to step up. The bench will have to match the intensity they showed in the second half. Roy and Aldridge must find ways to score. Oden and Przybilla need to rebound better, 10 combined rebounds from our two 7 footers is not good enough. At the moment, game 5 is an elimination game. The Blazers will come out on Sunday and change that.
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Andy Popp is a Portland native that loves sports and beer. When he's not at PDX Pipeline, you can find him at lowposts.com. You can contact him at andypopp@gmail.com
