Well the gerriatric baseball player's club continues to suffer from osteoporosis and according to the latest, many of the players don't even trust or like Cooper anymore. Our farm system is nonexistant and we have a senile idiot for a team owner. We're 9-15 at home and our record is 18-25.

It's simple: Fire Wade and Cooper and hope that Drayton relinquishes his ownership of the team. Re-build the farm system and sign some young players and not members of the Acres Retirement Home Yacht Club to swing for us.

Pitiful.

Seattle, Washington: The 1992-1993 Houston Rockets walked off of the court after having been defeated in Game 7 of the Western Conference semi-finals by the SuperSonics. The Sonics ultimately lost in the next series to the Phoenix Suns.

However, the Houston Rockets went on to win back to back NBA Championships in 1994 and in 1995...

The 2008-2009 Houston Rockets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the Western Conference semi-finals. (I believe the Los Angeles Lakers might ultimately lose to the Denver Nuggets)

The story for the 2009-2010 Houston Rockets is obviously yet to be written but I would imagine that the offseason will be eventful and that we'll pick up a new player or two, hopefully an athletic big man to back up Yao Ming and perhaps another efficient scorer. Ron Artest will most likely be back as well, as he has expressed his preference to play for the Rockets again.

I like what I see when I look a year or two ahead into the Rockets' future. I think the best years are yet to come. I think Houston could see another NBA Championship sooner rather than later.

Hey y'all

I just wanted to take the time to say that I'm pulling for the Nuggets to beat the Lakers. I've been really impressed with the way your team has decimated the Hornets and the Mavs and given the way the Lakers have been playing recently all my money is on the Nuggets to win this series. I don't think L.A. is going to win a game at the Pepsi Center

Nugz in 6

-Max (TDS Blog)

Well it's over with, but I'm not sad at all. Sure we could have played a lot better today and made Game 7 more competative but the fact of the matter is the better team finally showed up, made a statement and won the series. With that said, I can't WAIT to watch Denver mop the court with Sasha Vujacic's hair (amongst other things lol) but in all seriousness congrats to the Lakers, best of luck against the Nuggets because hey, you're going to need it :-)

Watch out for the 2009-2010 Houston Rockets. Brooks, Lowry, and Scola now have bigtime playoff experience and I guarantee that next year we're going to come back even stronger. I'm sure that Daryl Morey will make some great moves in the offseason to ensure our success next year. Guys, Girls, it's been real and it's been an awesome season!

Hats off to our Houston Rockets for inspiring us all to do great things!

GO ROCKETS!

I saw a quote today that was written by an L.A. publication which, to take out of context referred to the Rockets as "a team that (The Lakers) should have handled long ago on paper." Statistically, the Los Angeles Lakers were the better team this season and there aren't many people who would attempt to disprove that logic.

However, thankfully the playoffs aren't decided by statistics but by the players and the teams themselves (and occasionally by Emperor Palpatine and the Sith Lords David Stern and the referees) The fact of the matter is the Houston Rockets are all real. It doesn't matter what happens "on paper" but rather who brings the greater effort, poise, and heart to the basketball court every game. So far each team has won 3 games and lost 3 games. Regardless of what happens in game 7 (although a Houston win would be incredible) everybody needs to watch out for the Houston Rockets of 2009-2010 because they're going to be good.

If I were to make a prediction about how tomorrow's game is going to go down, it would be that I'm not going to make a prediction about it! I think it could go either way easily and I'm hoping that Houston comes into the Staples Center and plays their very best game of the season. If they do that, the Lakers won't stand a chance. I know this because the Rockets have more heart and I believe they have a greater will to win games than the Lakers do. Sometimes, raw talent just isn't enough as I believe the Lakers have shown time and time again this postseason.

Go Rockets.

I was walking around Academy Sports and Outdoors here in Houston on the Southwest Freeway when Clyde Drexler walked in! I got to shake his hand! The guy's pretty tall lol. He was signing autographs for the store employees and I probably annoyed the hell out of him by coming to talk to him but oh well! The man is a legend!

Now the Rockets have to win tonight and my day will be complete

When Yao went down with another broken foot I lost all hope for the season. I will admit that freely now. I even began going through trade scenarios in my mind about ways to obtain Dwight Howard by trading Yao Ming and T-Mac to the Orlando Magic (I'm sure they won't trade Howard but I was upset, and rightfully so.) At lunch this morning after church while my girlfriend and I were walking out of the restaurant I gave a half-hearted "Go Rockets!" to a guy wearing a shirt with the team logo on it. He responded with a super enthusiastic "HELL YEAH! We're going to win today!" That put a big smile on my face but I was still nervous and doubtful.

I climbed into bed to take a nap and I slept through tipoff, but I woke up just in time to see the end of the first half...

The Rockets (MINUS YAO) were absolutely TORCHING the Los Angeles Lakers! The rest of the game lifted my spirits immensely and as Brooks caught Ron's half-court alley-oop pass for the lay-up my emotions finally exploded out with a huge "YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

We Have Liftoff (Again!)

The Houston Rockets were 4-5 point underdogs in their home arena against the vaunted Lakers today and completely blew L.A. out of the building, leading by as much as 29 points at time. The Lakers failed to play any sort of legitimate defense and their leader Kobe Bryant shot a dismal 7-17 from the field for only 15 points. Unfortunately that's not going to last, but I now feel as though we will have lots of confidence going into Game 5 at the Staples Center. (I just hope Jack Nicholson doesn't give Kobe head go postal on us)

With that said, we have reasons to be optimistic for Game 5. They are as follows:

-Ron Artest was AWFUL offensively. He kept clanking 3's off the back of the rim (perhaps he just shot with a little too much edge, a little too much emotion) as Ron-Ron went 0-6 from 3-point land and 4-19 overall. Just like Kobe will bounce back on Tuesday, I expect Ron to do the same.

-Von Wafer only scored 4 points on few minutes, but thankfully we didn't need him much today on offense, nor Artest.

-We all miss Yao terribly, obviously you can't replace a player of his caliber, HOWEVER...

Now that Yao is out, we'll no longer have to worry about struggling to get the ball in to him. We have so many speed players that will be able to give the Laker Defense fits. (like they did today.) If Brooks and Battier can repeat today's performance while Artest and Wafer step up as well, say hello to the Western Conference Finals.

-The Rockets are so resilient and play with so much HEART! They had a really tough offensive game in game 3 but today, I will say again, TORCHEDDDD the Lakers' defense! It was a pleasure to watch.

I predict that the Rockets will play hard the rest of the series and hopefully they will be able to beat all odds and come out victorious. It will be an enormous challenge, and I predict that this series is going to go to a game 7. I don't think the Rockets will win Game 5 (I think they are CAPABLE of doing so, but I expect Kobe Bryant to come out and drop 40 on us again)

Go Rockets. Don't EVER Underestimate the Heart of a Champion.

Well, Game 3 was ugly. We shot poorly and wasted so many possessions. The turnovers continue to kill us against the Lakers. It's all coming down to Game 4 now, if we lose on Sunday I believe the series ends at 5 games in the Lakers favor. If we win on Sunday, then it's still advantage to the Lakers but we'll have an outside chance at a series win

Win or lose, we have next year to look forward to, and I believe we need to re-sign Ron Artest. I also believe we need to bring in a backup center, as well as somebody who can put a lot of points on the board. Our offense just stagnates way, way too much to be competitive at this level of basketball. Thoughts?

I don't know what you'd call the Lakers team who showed up in game 2. I mean we all saw first hand just how dirty they're willing to get to try to weasel win their way out of the second round. Hell, even Jack Nicholson proved to be a profane, disgusting and dirty old rotten codger who needs someone to slap his viagra-popping self to the floor. You Suck, Jack.

Hopefully tonight the Lakers will prove us all wrong and play a clean game of basketball without any elbows to the throat chest or linebacker hits hard fouls.

I expect this game to be close like the other two in Houston but I think the result will be different. Houston should get the W tonight.

Rockets 101, LAL 95

As I was driving back from Quizno's Subs this afternoon, as I beheld the majestic Houston skyline ahead of me, I suddenly realized how much I missed the Portland Trailblazers. It dawned on me that during the series with the Blazers there were no dirty plays, there were no serious incidents, and no ejections. (Chanting "Portland Sucks" was crossing the line and I did not chant it along with the fans while I attended Game 6) Overall the Houston vs. Portland series was the epitome of what a playoff series should be.

The Portland fans were super classy as well as their team, something that unfortunately I can't say about the Lakers and their fans. I will say that there are moronic trolls everywhere but there are seemingly many, many more who either follow the Lakers because they're simply jumping on the bandwagon or because their also big fans of botox injections, fake plastic personalities, and pervasive classlessness. That's what I see when I watch the Los Angeles Lakers play basketball. Sure they're talented, but when things don't go there way they whine, cry, and throw temper tantrums and elbows. When Kobe makes a shot, he incessantly screams in Battier's face and tells the world how much they need to get down on their knees and worship him. What's worse is that many Laker fans seem to applaud this type of behavior and condone it.

Houston fans, I know that come Friday the Toyota Center is going to be the last place in the universe that the L.A. Lakers want to be, and I hope that it becomes the most inhospitable environment imaginable for them. The fact that we have the Lakers this riled up and the series has only played two games tells me that L.A. is afraid. They're afraid that they'll go another year without a ring, and that they won't even get to the NBA Finals this time. Well, L.A. let me tell you this: We're certainly not going down without a fight, and as a matter of fact we intend to beat you.

Houston, Portland, and all of the other fanbases who love basketball and not botox, money, and plastic surgery, I applaud you. Stay classy guys.

L.A... Last night speaks for itself. Nothing else needs be said.

Go Rockets.

P.S. I liked Jack Nicholson until he, quote, "stood up from his seat and flashed an obscene gesture at the Houston bench" Now I think Nicholson is a complete tool and perhaps even more of a phony than most. You suck, Jack!

The Rockets did not lose tonight because Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant turned into a carbon copy of the Utah Jazz except much, much worse.

The Rockets did not lose tonight because Joe Crawford is an imbecile.

The Rockets did not lose tonight because the Lakers played dirtier than the hog farm in Mexico where the Swine Flu originated.

The Rockets lost because they were sloppy on offense, couldn't stop Kobe Bryant, and because they completely lost their composure down the stretch. Ron Artest got himself thrown out of the game (Hey I think if I had to look at Kobe's smug face I would have punched him in the mouth.) Props to Ron. But still, not optimal.

I don't know what Von Wafer is doing but he needs to grow up, and quickly.

Hey guys, we all know how dirty the Lakers team is and the only reason their emotions are running that high is because they're wary of us. We're actually on their radar now. They know this series is for real and it will be an absolute slugfest, perhaps akin to two pitbulls slashing at each others throats while the blood spews. Oh, wait, that already happened didn't it?

Rockets in 6. I expect the Toyota Center to be full of rabid wolves foaming at the mouth seeking blood and guts and tendons and..yeah.

Go Rockets.

Oh and Stern, please suspend D.Fisher.

The Houston Rockets managed to steal Game 1 of their Western Conference Semi-finals series against the L.A. Lakers at the Staples Center. We now lead 1-0 in the series.

So, historically, what has become of visiting teams taking the first game in a 7 game series?

The visiting team leading 1-0 has an all time record of 25-72 in GAME 2 or only 25%

Teams without homecourt advantage to start a series who take GAME 1 have a 55-42 record or 57% of these teams win the series.

So, statistically, the Houston Rockets have close to a 60% chance of winning this series (without taking all other variables into account)

That should put a smile on the faces of many Rockets fans. May that statistic hold true for us. However, Game 2 will probably be a Lakers victory, although I'm still feeling optimistic about it!

Houston Rockets: 1

L.A. Lakers: 0

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!

Yao Ming is officially my hero. What a win and AT Staples Center too! The crowd was quiet..I think if you listened closely you could hear crickets chirping somewhere.

GO. HOUSTON. ROCKETS.

Post needs 75 words so here they are. Nothing else needs to be said so GO ROCKETS!

BEAT L.A.

BEAT L.A

BEAT L.A.

BEAT L.A.

BEAT L.A.

Well I'm super excited to be able to say that tonight I'll be able to watch the Houston Rockets play in the second round for the first time since the 1997 season! Our work is cut out for us, however, in that the Lakers are a daunting opponent. They have the best finisher in the game in Kobe Bryant IMHO and he'll look to be lights out in this series as usual.

The Rockets did a great job against Portland of finishing games out at home in Houston, but they saw two 4th quarter runs by the Blazers in games 2 and 5 which ultimately led to losses. The difference between the Lakers and the Blazers is that L.A. is going to seek to dominate the 4th quarter in all of these games, including the ones at the Toyota Center where they've dominated the Rockets during the regular season (4th qtr.)

Houston is going to have to play with the greatest intensity come 4th quarter time and maintain it until the buzzer sounds. Call me crazy, but I think the Rockets will come out tonight and play 48 minutes the way they did in Portland.

I can't believe I'm saying this: Houston 99, L.A. 95

For the Houston Rockets, getting out of the first round was something that hadn't been accomplished since 1997. That goal was met on Thursday night when Houston finished off the Blazers in Game 6.

The Los Angeles Lakers, however, will not feel like their season was a success unless they not only make the NBA Finals, but win it. You can guarantee that after the Celtics dominated them last year, L.A. made it their goal to steal the show in 2009. So far, the Lakers have been the most feared team in the West and probably the second most feared team overall, although in my opinion the Cavaliers don't scare me. Just ask LeBron about playing in Houston.

Houston now has the opportunity to come out and play loose, but tough at the same time and to try to play spoiler in the Western Conference. If the Rockets manage to steal one on the road, the series might get very, very interesting. Los Angeles has had trouble maintaining large leads recently, and I will put my money on this: The Rockets will not trail by 20 points in this series in any game like the Jazz did.

If Houston had won the last game of the season in Dallas, we'd have clinched the 2nd seed in the West (where we should have been) The Lakers will face their toughest opponent in this round I think. Last time they met the Nuggets L.A. took the game easily, but their last three wins over Houston have all been hard-fought games.

With all of that said, the pressure is squarely on the shoulders of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers to get themselves a championship this year. Houston has a chance to destroy their dreams. It will take practically perfect basketball from the Rockets and probably an off night (or two) for The Mamba to have a legitimate shot at beating this Lakers team, but anything is possible. Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion my friends.

Lakers in 5-6 games or Rockets in 7 games. I do not think the Rockets can win this series in anything less than 7 games.

From my view in Section 402, row 1, seat 1 (which by the way I was EXTREMELY impressed with and surprised..the view was AWESOME) I witnessed the Rockets' fans carry this team to the second round..even with the first few minutes of the 4th quarter turning into an offensive drought, the fans ALL STOOD UP and started screaming and then AARON BROOKS nailed that 3 and the house went WILD!

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of my system..

Bring on the Lakers!

Thank you for all of your classiness, for your levelheadedness, and for being a great opponent. I hope that you will continue to bring the wonderful presence to the Dream Shake and to lighten our blog with your great comments. I truly shake at the thought of what the Trail Blazers are going to do next season. I've said it and I will say it again: Portland wins 60+ games next year and will be a serious, serious threat in the West.

Again, hats off to your fans for being classy and for a fun first round series. I feel like this will begin a friendly rivalry for years to come, and together our teams can destroy the evils of the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles L*kers (that asterisk is for you, Blazers fans!)

MUCH LOVE Y'ALL

STAY COOL, CLASSY, AND DON'T STOP TALKING WITH US!

-Max (UHoustonFan)

I am so sick and tired of the Houston Rockets struggling to finish games..and playoff series for that matter...their lack of a fire and willingness to close out opponents has got to end, and it must end tonight.

In 2005 Houston took a 2-0 lead over Dallas and ended up losing the series in 7 games. One of those games, IN HOUSTON, saw Dallas go on a 20-0 run in a 4th Quarter Collapse for the Rockets

In 2007 the Rockets took a 2-0 lead against the Utah Jazz, only to lose the series in 7 games. Game 7 saw the Rockets have a 4th Quarter Collapse at the Toyota Center

In 2009 the Rockets led the Chicago Bulls by 17 points, then allowed Chicago to go on a 23-3 run in the final 6 minutes in a 4th Quarter Collapse by the Rockets. Bulls win.

In 2009 the Rockets led 3-1 against the Portland Trailblazers and promptly lost Game 5 in a 4th Quarter Collapse to allow Portland to force a game 6.

These are the biggest ones, and they don't even begin to sum up the number of games this season that the Rockets have squandered away because they let up on their opponent in the 4th quarter.

Coach Sleepy, this game tonight is on YOU. Rockets fans are SICK AND TIRED of these mental lapses from the coaches and the players. The Rockets did a great job in Games 3 and 4 of not allowing themselves to collapse enough to lose, but tonight they need to STEP ON THE BLAZERS' THROATS and TAKE this series. (No offense Portland, we love ya anyway) Portland is not going to give this series to us. We have to forcefully take it. And if we don't play with fire and intensity tonight, Portland wins this series in 7 games. Book it.

ROCKETS IN 6 GAMES. This madness ends tonight. If not, trade for a true closer, say perhaps Chris Paul. It's time for the Rockets to grows some testicles or be traded in my opinion. And I think that goes for Adelman too. Win or get a new coach who knows how to win and who doesn't fall asleep at crunch time. We don't need/want a narcoleptic coach on this Rockets team. No more 75,000-0 runs against the Rockets.

Go Rockets. I'm super fired up for this one. Go for the jugular.

Last year the Utah Jazz took a 3-1 series lead against Houston by winning the first two games at the Toyota Center and then winning one of the first two at EnergySolutions arena. Game 5 was at Houston, where the Jazz were blown out of the building by nearly 30 points. Everything went wrong for them that night.

But when the series returned to Salt Lake City for game 6, the Jazz dominated the second half and won the series that night. Unfortunately, the Rockets were on the losing end.

This year the Rockets have protected their home court extremely well. They pulled out two narrow wins at home over Portland in this series and they won both games against the Blazers at home during the regular season as well. Some would say that statistically its time for Portland to win a game at the Toyota Center, but with Houston now facing a potential game 7 at the Rose Garden if they lose tomorrow, the heat will most certainly be turned up by the Rockets.

I'm seeing incredible optimism through and through by Blazer fans and while I respect the amount of heart, writing out posts and comments "guaranteeing" a Blazer victory tomorrow is foolhearty.

The Blazers will come back to Toyota Center after enjoying a loud and boisterous crowd at the Rose Garden only to be met by the Houston crowd, which I believe will be a huge momentum shift. Portland will play a strong game but in the end Houston's home court and series lead will prove to be too much. The Rockets want this series win too badly to let Portland take it from them. I think this will be a repeat of what happened last season, EXCEPT Houston is going to come out on the winning side. Rockets in 6. Rockets..In..6..

Lets go, Houston. Lets hit them with everything we have tomorrow night.

16 turnovers, terrible shooting from behind the arc, fewww offensive boards, and to top it off we went up by 4 in the 4th quarter only to be rejected by the officials. 3 TERRIBLE calls in a row, but that didn't beat us. We lost our composure tonight and couldn't close out the series, but game 6 is in Houston. It's obviously now a must win, but if this Rockets team can't close out the series at home, we don't deserve to move on. Simple as that.

Rockets in 6. We've all said it since the start of the series. Portland's phenomenal at the Rose Garden and mediocre at best on the road. Time to clinch this.

Don't panic, we're still up 3-2 on them.

So, we took care of business (barely) in games 3 and 4 and we now hold a very commanding 3-1 lead over the Portland Trail Blazers. Game 5 is in Portland, but how big of a game is it?

Well, statistically, Portland isn't favored to win this series by any means. In the NBA, teams trailing in a best-of-seven series 3 games to 1 have posted a dismal record of winning the series.

WHEN DOWN 3-1 IN A BEST-OF-SEVEN SERIES, THE OVERALL RECORD FOR THE TEAM FACING THE DEFICIT IS 8-174

WHEN LEADING 3-1, THE TEAM WITH THE LEAD HAS AN OVERALL SERIES RECORD OF 174-8

Unfortunately, Houston fans, we can't quite breath easily yet. The statistics get more complicated than that. Portland's chances of winning are better than 8-174 which equates to a less than 5 percent chance of winning. Here's why

Game 5 is also a key game.

In the FIRST ROUND of the Playoffs, the team that has been up 3-1 going into Game 5 has posted an 0-6 record while playing at the opponent's arena. This means that if Houston wins on Tuesday we'll become the first team up 3-1 to ever win a game 5 at the opposition's arena. Remember when the Jazz were up 3-1 on us last year and we blew them out in game 5?

One last stat: Overall, teams leading a series 3-1 are 22-2 in series wins.

Teams starting off the playoffs without homecourt advantage and going up 3-1 are only 4-2 in the first round.

Does this confuse anyone? Basically this means that even though we're up 3-1, Portland *technically* has homecourt the rest of the way and based on that last statistic, they have a 33% chance to win the series. The Rockets have a 66% chance to win the series (if you base it on that stat alone)

Of course you also have to factor in the home/away records at both arenas, and you'd have to factor in the motivation of both teams. The point is simple though: Houston's chances are great, but they're not 100% so lets not get ahead of ourselves. The Lakers can wait..we have to finish this series strong first.

The overall probability for a team to win a series when trailing 1-3 is .046 or less than 5 percent.

It was Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals. The score was tied at 100 apiece between the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz. Houston had just allowed John Stockton to erase what was a double-digit lead heading into the final minutes of the game. Utah also held the series lead 3 games to 2. The final possession in regulation belonged to the Jazz. With less than 3 seconds left on the clock, Bryon Russell prepared to inbound the ball, and the Rockets' defense prepared to challenge whatever play the Jazz drew up. Suddenly, John Stockton raced toward mid-court, caught the inbounds pass from Russell and rushed toward the 3 point line where he caught Charles Barkley off guard. Barkley rushed with all his might towards Stockton, arms outstretched as John Stockton bounced the basketball one time on the ground, picked it up, and floated a perfect rainbow-three, which he swished. The Utah Jazz won, advanced to the NBA Finals, while the Rockets and their fans went home stunned.

For those of you who remember that shot, it hurt badly. It was so much more painful than the miracle 3 that Brandon Roy launched back in November. Oh the Rockets are resilient this season and rebounded from the painful loss at the Rose Garden. But the playoff success that the Houston Rockets once enjoyed has not returned since that fateful night where John Stockton plunged a sword into the heart of the Houston Rockets.

So now it is 2009 and our Rockets have a 2-1 series advantage over the Portland Trail Blazers heading into Game 4 of this best-of-seven series. We're in the driver's seat and we control our own destiny. The last time I said this was before we went to Dallas for the regular season finale, which we ended up losing by blowing a 14 point lead in a colossal 2nd half collapse. But, nevertheless, here we are. We are staring six straight first round exits right in the face and they're looming somewhere in the back of the minds of all of the Rockets' fans, as well as the players. The Rockets may be super focused but somewhere in the back of their minds they understand the implications of winning this series. It's time for the Rockets to decide, on their homecourt at the Toyota Center if they're going to take that next step and push right through the looming darkness of the failures of the past and step into new light of victory.

I read these words tonight in an article on the Yahoo! Sports page, and they're extremely important:

"The Rockets have won their last seven home games, but lost six straight Game 4's, mirroring their 0-6 record in first-round series since 1998."

Today's game is the key. It is the most crucial game in this series and both Houston and Portland know it. If Portland wins, they will regain control of the series as well as the homecourt advantage, but if the Rockets win they will go up 3-1 and force Portland to try to win 3 games in a row. The above text is not hard to understand, the implications are not complicated: WIN GAME 4, WIN THE SERIES.

The Portland Trail Blazers are an extraordinarily talented team. Their future is brighter than any other NBA team and they have many, many more seasons to try to get an NBA championship. Houston also has many young players and will no doubt come back stronger next season as well. But for Yao Ming, the time is right here and right now. For Houston, this needs to be the year that we put John Stockton's Shot behind us, as well as our first round playoff failures. We have Portland right where we want them, at home in the Toyota Center and we have the series lead. We CANNOT relinquish that lead tonight. We MUST come out and take care of business.

We will show the basketball world that Houston is much more than a massive urban sprawl with too many refineries and not enough heart. We are Clutch City, and it is our time. We've shown we can win against the best teams in this league. We've decimated LeBron and his Cavaliers, we've beaten Boston in the TD Banknorth Garden, we have swept the season series with the Orlando Magic, we won the season series against Denver 3-1 and despite our 0-4 record against the Lakers, we've played three VERY competitive games against them and I KNOW we can win against them. We also won 3 against New Orleans, 2 against Dallas, 2 against San Antonio, 2 against Phoenix, 2 against Utah, 2 against Miami..and the list goes on.

I wanted to save this quote and put it in a fanpost once we advanced to the second round, but I can't wait any longer. All Houston Rockets fans have heard this, and I believe that this 2009 Rockets team has been greatly underestimated, so this powerful, driving statement applies to them. Rockets fans, SAY..IT..WITH..ME..

DONT. EVER. UNDERESTIMATE. THE. HEART. OF. A. CHAMPION.

-Rudy Tomjanovich

Clutch City.

Lets Go Get Game 4.

Well this game went about how I expected..Houston once again jumped out to a huge lead at home and failed to keep it a big lead down the stretch. But Portland played one hell of a second half to make this a much closer game than it should have been. That flurry of 3's by Fernandez, Blake, and LaMarcus Aldridge had me on edge..I was about to blow a fuse lol.

With that said I have my concerns about Game 4. If the Rockets do not play more efficiently on offense (we MUST find a way to get Yao the ball and we MUST not turn the ball over..Von WAFER I'm looking at you) down the stretch in the next game the Blazers will find a way and they will beat us at the Toyota Center. Props to Portland for not bowing out and for fighting to the finish.

Go Rockets. I still think it'll be Houston in 6 :-)

Am I the only one who hates the waiting period between each of these playoff games? It's driving me insane! After our loss on Tuesday I groaned when I realized that I had to wait until FRIDAY to see the next game. But Friday is finally here and I'm pumped about this series coming to Houston now!

I fully expect a closer outcome than the last time Portland came to the Toyota Center. I think we'll get the win but maybe by 8-10 points. I expect Yao to get many more touches tonight and finish with at least 20 points. Overall I think our offense will be more balanced than it was on Tuesday night and that Artest won't take as many bad, contested jumpers. Hopefully we get great play from Von Wafer again and perhaps Landry will step it up as well. I also expect better from our defense. Roy will not come close to 42 points tonight.

In other news..Kobe went 5-24 against the Utah Jazz in a losing effort for the Lakers last night! Now, I'm NOT rooting for the Jazz to win this series..I PROMISE I'm not..but I wouldn't mind if Utah tired them out a bit before the winner of us vs Portland plays them!

After the Blazers win in game 2 of this best of 7 series I've been seeing an incredible amount of optimism from many Blazers fans. Some have even gone as far as to say the Blazers will win this series in 5 games!

Really?

Look, I like this Blazers team, I think they've got so much talent and I believe that NEXT YEAR they'll have a shot at the Western Conference Finals, but right now the series is tied 1-1 going back to Houston for 2 games.

So far this season (including the Playoffs) the Rockets have won 3 games to 2. We've won both at the Toyota Center, the first we won 98-94*, the second we won 102-88. In the three games at the Rose garden the scores were 101-99* Portland, 108-81 Houston, and 107-103 Portland.

*In our first win over Portland at the Toyota Center we led by as many as 18 points and it took a ridiculous comeback by Brandon Roy to get within 4. In the loss at the Rose Garden we all know about Brandon's miracle shot. The point is, the Rockets have two very decisive victories over the Blazers, one victory that should have been by a larger margin, and two defeats, both of which were VERY closely contested games and one that should have been a win. But hey, Brandon Roy's a lucky son-of-a gun as well as the most talented player (in my opinion) other than Kobe.

I believe the Rockets will not allow themselves to play poor basketball at the Toyota Center this year. The bad taste that the Utah Jazz left in their mouths last year I'm sure hasn't gone away yet. Plus, we have Yao Ming back this postseason. And something tells me our team is going to figure out a way to win big even when they puss out front him constantly.

Games 3 and 4 belong to the Rockets. Portland will have to play their butts off to take one from us at the Toyota Center.

Rockets in 5 or 6 games.

The Houston Rockets took game 1 convincingly in Portland to steal away the homecourt advantage from the Trailblazers but couldn't muster enough to steal game 2 as well, as the roar of the crowd in the Rose Garden and Brandon Roy's 42 points proved too much to overcome on Tuesday night.

The series is now tied 1-1 but it's essentially 0-0 with Houston now having the homecourt advantage. This is a 5 game series:

@ Houston, Friday April 24th *W

@ Houston, Sunday April 26th *W

@ Portland, Tuesday April 28th *L

@ Houston, Thursday April 30th *W / L*****

@ Portland, Saturday May 2nd L*****

*If both teams hold homecourt the rest of the way, the Rockets will win this series in game 6, like many originally predicted. In years past, the Rockets have lost key home playoff games and must find a way to win all three at the Toyota Center this year. Do that, and my friends, we get out of the first round for the first time in 98217565281596 years.

*****Do it not, lose one in Houston, and we will most likely be forced to play a game 7 in Portland. That loss to Dallas in 2005 by 40 points still looms in the back of my mind. We must win all of our home games. We've done it all year and there's no reason why we can't continue doing so. The Rockets need to tighten up their defense again and hold down their home court.

Going into tonight we had the advantage. We had the most to play for, and we had momentum on our side from 5 straight wins. It seemed like we came ready to play for the most part, and we took an 8 point lead into halftime. That lead would ultimately be increased to 14 and it looked like the Rockets could run away with the game, but then it happened: the Rockets' offense bogged down like it has done so many times in crucial situations this season (the ones on the top of my mind include @ LAL last month, @ Chicago when we blew the 17 point lead, and at home against Philadelphia, among others)

Not only did we lose, but New Orleans, who seemingly had the division won for us, managed to MISS a crucial free-throw and allow Finley to hit ANOTHER three-pointer. From there the game was San Antonio's. I almost want to believe that we were never meant to get homecourt advantage this year (and who could blame the Basketball Gods, I mean after all, we haven't done much with our homecourt "advantage" when we've had it.)

Perhaps what we need is to NOT have homecourt advantage to get us out of the first round? Who knows? Coach Sleepy, please wake up in time for the playoffs. Pretty please?!

So everybody, Rockets fans, lets all hold hands and sing: "KUMBAYA, MY LORD, KUMBAYAAA..." (not really)

But seriously though, (on some straight s**t) we have lots to be thankful for. For example, the Utah Jazz have been defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers, thus sealing their fate of having to face the Lakers in the opening round of the playoffs!

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!?!?!?!?

Now all we have to do is go to Dallas and win our last game of the season and we're guaranteed homecourt advantage and, last but not least, the SOUTHWEST DIVISION TITLE. Not too shabby? We have a ton to play for, and I expect the Rockets to go out there tomorrow and get a win. I'm not going to lie, I've made my predictions against them winning  games a couple times. I predicted they'd lose at Phoenix and at the Lakers, and they did. But in my prediction I also said that they'd lose to either Phoenix or Dallas but not both. And they were also playing without Carl Landry in the rotation. I've never given up on this Rockets team and I don't intend to start now. Guys, we're right there! We are ONE GAME AWAY! So here's to the Houston Rockets going out there tomorrow in Dallas and getting a decisive win against a worthy opponent. Here's to an all around productive effort on the offensive side of the game, and to a suffocating defense, the kind of defense we showed against Cleveland and against New Orleans last night. If we play that kind of defense, and our offense flows, we will WIN the 2009 NBA Finals. *Raises glass* Amen.

THE 2009 NBA PLAYOFFS START SATURDAY. And I for one can't wait!

GO ROCKETS. Give them HELL. Lets GET IT.

Well this is it! Just as I (and I'm sure most others) thought, Houston, Denver, Portland, and San Antonio all won tonight, and nothing was decided other than Portland cannot win the Northwest, Denver clinched it with a win tonight against Sacramento. Even if Portland beats Denver on Wednesday, Denver takes the tiebreaker by virtue of a better division record. So Portland can now finish no higher than 3rd. Denver has clinched home-court advantage in the first round by winning tonight.

Out of the 6th through 8 seeded teams, Dallas and Utah both won while New Orleans lost here at Houston. Dallas is tied with New Orleans for the 7th seed and Utah remains a game behind both of them, in the 8th seed. Unless the Jazz can miraculously win in LA, they will play the Lakers in the first round.

BIGTIME BLOWOUTS

All four of the teams jockeying through playoff spots #2 through #5 routed their opponents this evening by 20 points or more.

Houston beat New Orleans 86-66

Portland decimated Okla City 113-83

Denver finally pulled away to rout Sacramento 118-98

San Antonio blew past Golden State

Still All Tied Up

Houston, Portland, and San Antonio remain tied at 53-28. Denver stayed a game ahead of all three of the others with their win. (The Nugz are 54-27)

One Last Time before the final day, here are the current standings:

2.) Denver: 54-27 @ Portland, Wednesday, April 15th

3.) Houston: 53-28 @ Dallas, Wednesday, April 15th

4.) Portland: 53-28 VS Denver, Wednesday, April 15th

5.) San Antonio: 53-28 VS New Orleans, Wednesday, April 15th

6.) New Orleans: 49-32 @ San Antonio, Wednesday, April 15th

7.) Dallas: 49-32 VS Houston, Wednesday, April 15th

8.) Utah: 48-33 @ LA Lakers, Tuesday, April 14th

With one game left, here are the final scenarios. It will all be decided on Wednesday.

IF Houston, San Antonio, and Portland win out: Moderate to HIGH probability, (San Antonio and Portland play home games and can win both, Dallas lost to Houston in D-town once already this year, they can lose there to Houston again.)

2.) Rockets: 54-28, Would clinch the 2 seed by tiebreaker over Denver. (Head-to-head) Rockets would clinch the Southwest Division.

3.) Nuggets: 54-28, Would lose game at Portland, and Houston would beat the Nugz out by virtue of the head to head tiebreaker. Nugz would finish 3rd. (Portland cannot finish above Denver even if the Blazers win, Denver wins the division automatically)

4.) Blazers: 54-28, Would lose the tiebreaker to Houston because of Houston's better head-to-head record and would win the tiebreaker against San Antonio because Portland won the head-to-head.

5.) Spurs: 54-28, Would lose the tiebreaker to Houston because of the Rockets' better record against playoff teams, and would lose the tiebreaker to Portland because Portland won the head-to-head.

 IF Portland, San Antonio, and Houston ALL LOSE and Denver WINS: VERY LOW to LOW probability (One of the first three at least should win.)

2.) Denver: 55-27, clinches 2nd seed outright. Most wins

3.) Houston: 53-29, clinches 3rd seed and Southwest Division, tiebreakers over Portland and San Antonio

4.) Portland: 53-29, clinches 4th seed, tiebreaker over San Antonio

5.) San Antonio: 53-29, clinches 5th seed and loses homecourt to Portland.

IF Portland and San Antonio WIN and Houston and Denver LOSE: MODERATE to HIGH probability, (Dallas has a 31-9 record at home and Portland has a 33-7 record at home. These teams can both win. Hopefully not Dallas though!)

2.) Denver: 54-28, Would clinch the 2nd seed because the Nugz hold the tiebreaker over the Spurs (head to head games) and over the Blazers even if they win (Better division record)

3.) San Antonio: 54-28, Would grab the 3rd seed because of their Southwest Division title (unless I'm wrong, that trumps the tiebreaker. Please correct me if I am wrong.)

4.) Portland: 54-28, unless I'm wrong, they'll finish below San Antonio because this scenario gives the Spurs the Southwest crown.

5.) Houston: 53-27, this is what I'm hoping WON'T happen, because Houston would lose homecourt advantage to Portland. However, the Rockets played well at the Rose Garden last time around and could steal one on the road. Lets just win in Dallas though and take that 2 or 3 seed!

IF Houston, San Antonio, and Denver WIN and Portland LOSES: Low to Medium Probability (Portland's GOOD at home, 33-7)

2.) Denver: 55-27, Denver takes 2nd seed outright, better winning percentage than all the others.

3.) Houston: 54-28, Clinches Southwest division title and the 3rd seed

4.) San Antonio: 54-28, Clinches 4th seed and homecourt over Portland

5.) Portland: 53-29, 5th seed, starts playoffs AT San Antonio.

IF Portland and San Antonio BOTH LOSE and Houston and Denver WIN: Low to MODERATE probability, (it could happen though, because San Antonio's been bad against New Orleans and Denver is a good team)

2.) Denver: 55-27, takes 2nd seed outright, better winning percentage.

3.) Houston: 54-28, takes 3rd seed and Southwest Division title outright, better winning percentage

4.) Portland: 53-29, takes 4th seed because of the tiebreaker against San Antonio

5.) San Antonio: 53-29, falls to 5th and loses homecourt to Portland due to the tiebreaker going to the Blazers.

IF Portland wins and Denver, Houston, and San Antonio ALL LOSE: Low Probability (The odds are that at least one out of Denver, Houston, and San Antonio will win on Wednesday.)

2.) Denver: 54-28, takes 2nd seed outright, best winning percentage

3.) Portland: 54-28, takes the 3rd seed outright, better winning percentages than Houston and San Antonio

4.) Houston: 53-29, takes the 4rd seed and the Division crown from San Antonio by virtue of not the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, but the FOURTH tie-breaker (most head to head wins against playoff contenders I believe? Correct me if I'm wrong.)

5.) San Antonio: 53-29, takes the 5th seed because they lose the tiebreaker to Houston.

IF Portland and Houston both win and San Antonio and Denver both LOSE: (Moderate Probability)

2.) Houston: 54-28, clinches the 2 seed by virtue of the tiebreaker

3.) Denver: 54-28, clinches the 3 seed by virtue of the tiebreaker over Portland

4.) Portland: 54-28, clinches the 4 seed, beats San Antonio outright

5.) San Antonio: 53-29, gets 5th seed, worst record of all 4

IF Portland and Houston both LOSE and San Antonio and Denver both WIN (Low to Medium Probability)

2.) Denver: 55-27, clinches 2nd seed outright

3.) San Antonio: 54-28, clinches 3rd seed and Southwest Division outright

4.) Houston: 53-29, ties Portland, tiebreaker goes to Houston

5.) Portland: 53-29, ties Houston, loses tiebreaker to Houston

BASED ON THESE RESULTS, I'll let you figure out who the teams would play, it depends entirely on how the 6 through 8 seeds end up, and THAT is a race that does not concern our seeding right now. I may post that one later.

However, based on these 8 scenarios we can find out which team has the best chance of ending up where and we'll do it based on which seed they got in which scenario: If your heads are spinning, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and rest for a minute. Then read on haha.

The table below shows the seed each team got in each scenario. We'll add up the total number and divide by 6 (the number of possible scenarios) to get an average number. REMEMBER, the LOWER the average is, the BETTER OFF a team is! ENJOY!!!

 TEAM               SC.1     SC.2    SC.3     SC.4     SC.5   SC.6  SC.7  SC.8     TOTAL

DENVER              3            2          2           2           2          2        3        2            18

HOUSTON           2            3          3           3           4          5        2        4            26

PORTLAND          4           4          5           4           3           4        4        5            33

SAN ANTONIO     5            5          4           5           5          3        5         3           35

The team with the most LOW numbers is favored in the majority of scenarios (DENVER)

The team with the HIGHEST numbers has the least amount of favorable outcomes (SAN ANTONIO)

When we divide the total by the number of scenarios (8) it gives us an average. The lowest average shows the most favorable team to take the 2nd seed. The numbers come out like this: (Maybe this is meaningless, but it will show you the probabilities based on the scenarios that I've typed out.)

DENVER: Average of 2.3 - Denver has the highest chances of getting the 2nd seed

HOUSTON: Average of 3.3 - Houston is favored to get the 3 seed

PORTLAND: Average of 4.1 - Portland is favored to get the 4 seed

SAN ANTONIO: Average of 4.4 - San Antonio has the highest number, and therefore the least amount of favorable scenarios. San Antonio is likely to get the 5th seed.

REMEMBER, this means NOTHING come Wednesday! Just for fun! I hope you enjoyed reading this! It should help you understand which teams have more favorable situations!

-UHoustonFan

Well, Houston, Portland, and Denver are down to their last 2 games of the season while San Antonio has 3. Neither of those four teams can finish any lower than a 5th seed, as the closest teams (Dallas and New Orleans) are too far behind to catch up now. So the Rockets are guaranteed to finish up in the top 5 seeds. But where will we finish, and who will we play. Well it's pretty clear as of now. I will go into brief descriptions of the most likely of these scenarios (not really in particular order.)

SCENARIO 1: The ClusterF*** scenario (THIS IS STRAIGHT UP LUDICROUS!)

Houston: 54-28

Denver: 54-28

Portland: 54-28

San Antonio: 54-28

Houston, Portland, and San Antonio all win out, and Denver loses to Portland.This means that these four teams will finish in a FOUR WAY TIE, ALL with records of 54-28! This is a very, VERY interesting scenario because of the tiebreaker implications, in fact I CANNOT EVEN BELIEVE how RIDICULOUS this is! The tie-breakers would be as follows:

Houston owns the tie-break against Denver, so Houston would finish ahead of Denver. Denver has a better division record than Portland so Denver would finish ahead of Portland. Portland owns the tie-breaker over San Antonio, so Portland would finish ahead of San Antonio. Houston will also have a better division record than San Antonio, so Houston would also finish above San Antonio, and finally Houston owns the tiebreaker over Portland. That would give Houston the 2nd seed, Denver the 3rd, Portland the 4th, and San Antonio would get the 5th seed. Houston would play either Dallas or New Orleans, Denver would also play one of either Dallas or New Orleans, and Portland would square off with San Antonio. This is truly a DREAM SCENARIO for the Rockets, especially if we get to face New Orleans, who has an injury-plagued team. This scenario is truly incredible, and it just shows how close and competitive the Western Conference is. It is semi-likely that this scenario would occur and I'll give it a 40% chance of occurring.

SCENARIO 2: Houston and Portland both lose a game, San Antonio and Denver win out

Denver: 55-27

San Antonio: 54-28

Houston: 53-27

Portland: 53-27

Houston would end up tied with Portland for the 4th seed, which the Rockets would get by virtue of the tie-breaker. Portland finishes 5th. Denver ends up in 2nd, San Antonio finishes 3rd. Nugz play either Dallas or New Orleans, same goes for San Antonio. This one's a pretty simple scenario. I give this one a low-to-moderate probability. 25% chance.

SCENARIO 3: Houston wins out, Portland loses a game, Denver and San Antonio both win out.

Denver: 55-27

Houston: 54-28

San Antonio: 54-28

Portland: 53-29

Denver would finish in the 2nd spot, Houston would take the 3rd seed by virtue of the tiebreaker in most division wins over San Antonio. The Spurs finish 4th and the Blazers finish 5th. Blazers play the Spurs, Rockets will face New Orleans or Dallas, and same goes for Denver, either New Orleans or Dallas, depending on who finishes on top of who. This is also a possible scenario, I'll give this one a 15% chance.

SCENARIO 4: Portland and San Antonio win out, Houston and Denver lose a game.

Denver: 54-28

Portland: 54-28

San Antonio: 54-28

Houston: 53-29

Denver finishes up in second, because even though the Blazers will have just beaten them, Denver has an advantage in the number of division wins. Portland finishes 3rd, and San Antonio comes in 4th, hosting Houston who would finish up 5th. This scenario scares me because we have to play Dallas to finish up the season, and Dallas has been very good at home lately. I will give this one a medium to decent probability, 45% chance of happening.

Please comment, once your heads stop spinning..I know mine did for a minute :P

I vote for scenario #1!!!

-UHoustonFan