Half Right

The Rockets won, but hardly convincingly. They did it with defense, holding the Trailblazers to only 83 points. Shane Battier was a defensive animal in the fourth quarter and Ron Artest played smart strong basketball the whole game. Luis Scola picked up the slack on offense and the Rockets' point guards mostly played well on both ends of the court.

Yao Ming was wholly ineffective on offense in game 3, scoring only seven points on 2-7 shooting. He was just unable to get open in the paint. The tag team of Przybilla and Oden fronted him all night and again, the Rockets were unable to swing the ball to the weak side fast enough to allow Yao to move across the lane for the pass. Even if Houston wins this series, every potential opponent is taking notes. If the Rockets can't find a way to get the ball in to Yao consistently, they will not go far in the playoffs.

A win is a win, and like the Rockets, I am 2-1. Ok, they had to work a little harder for their record than I did, but still... Way to go, guys.