Watched the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs last night on ESPN and was able to catch the end of the Blazers-Pistons game on Fox Detroit live from Portland; this after doing some advance scouting at Lansing Community College (The Stars played the Mott Bears) two tough teams that we have to play against twice this year.

Dirk Nowitzki went off for 41 points last night in leading the Mavs to a 99-94 overtime win. (Dirk dropped 11 of the Mavs 15 points in the extra session)  The one area that caught my eye after reading the boxscore was in 44 minutes of burn, Dirk didn’t record a single assist.  Maybe it was because Jason Terry and Jason Kidd shot a combined 5-25. Upon further review, when you can score like that, who needs to share the ball.  Dirk likes to catch the ball on the high post, face up to the basket and score on his man.  At times he will take the ball to the basket and finish with either hand. I’ve never been a big Nowitzki fan in the past but after watching him the past few nights, I’m starting to warm up to him.  It boggles my mind as to why the Spurs didn’t double team him more often? Make someone else beat you.  If the Mavs only had a decent center, they would make a run at the Western conference championship.

(Courtesy of NBA.Com)

Dallas only turned the ball over five times in the game; as opposed to Richard Jefferson of the Spurs who committed five himself.  Spurs coach Greg Popovich was calling for more ball movement and people movement in the huddle.  That makes sense.  You get the defense moving and possibly breaking down.

Is the Mavs shooting coach on vacation? They shot 3-17 from distance last night. Time to get some extra shots up…

ESPN’s Mark Jackson made a good point during the telecast, ‘You’re the fastest player on the floor, act like it.” Not really sure who is was talking about though.  Speaking of Action Jackson, the former Loughlin Lion CHSAA all-star, seems out of place without his buddy Jeff Van Gundy.

I noticed Monte Mathis behind Mavs bench, clipboard in hand.  Mathis used to be a college assistant and one day we were sitting together at the Nike camp watching high school players go through drills in Indy. While Herb Livsey (NBA scout and basketball trainer) was lecturing the kids on footwork, Monte was a bit too loud for Herb, who proceeded to yell at us…Sorry Herb.

This has nothing to do with the game but why must ESPN show Mark Cuban after every single play? Does he really make a difference? He’s got some entourage huh? Does he get his t-shirts at baby Gap?

Brandon Roy had a great comment last night after Portland’s win over Detroit.  He was asked about his team, “Our defense is better, we’re making the effort on defense.”

Interesting question asked during Pistons telecast on Fox last night during game about Blazers center Greg Oden’s future. 12% of Pistons fans said he is going to the Hall of Fame. Huh?

Pistons assistant coach Darryl Walker was a good defensive player in his day-Quick hands, got down in a stance and was a tough son-of-a-bitch. Did you know he was one of Hubie Brown’s favorite players in New York when Hubie was the coach?

Memo to NBA Marketing people; If there happen to be open seats courtside, and by half-time those ‘rich’ folks have not arrived, teams should send their interns up (or even Dance squads) top and bring down the real fans to fill them at half-time. Can you imagine how a father of two kids would feel sitting way up top in the nose bleed seats to be asked to come down to courtside and get a close up look of their favorite players? Which takes me back to the 80’s when I would buy a ticket at Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks for $4 only to sneak way down to courtside and listen to Hubie Brown coach his team. “POWER RIGHT, POWER RIGHT!”, was the usual call coming from the Knicks bench.

For what it’s worth, Lebron James WOULD make a very good NFL player despite what Jeremy Shockey thinks/says…James has strength, speed and most of all, courage.  If Antonio Gates can be a success in the NFL after playing college basketball, James would be all-pro.

-Coach Finamore

Hoops135@hotmail.com

I’m on Facebook and you can follow me on Twitter: @CoachFinamore

The three young guys look to lead the Blazers to a Championship.

Power Rankings  

1. Boston Celtics- They remain the top team in the league, because they continue to win by considerable margins. They have great depth and could make a championship run.

2. Orlando Magic- They have so much depth, it’s unreal. Rashard Lewis comes back this week and should make an immediate impact.

3. Portland Trailblazers- The Blazers have a lot of young talent and Miller is the final piece to the puzzle. He will lead this team to Championship contention.

4. Atlanta Hawks- I know some of you may think this a little high for the Hawks, but they have immense talent. Not to mention they have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

5. Los Angeles Lakers-  The Lakers have been winning, but by slim margins (Point Differential: 2.0). Once Pau Gasol returns from injury they should improve.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers- The Cavs are finally starting to click. Shaq will be a force inside all year long, because he draws fouls and gets opponents out of the game early.

7. Denver Nuggets-  This team continues to silently win. They stay away from the media, for the most part, and just win.

8. Dallas Mavericks- The Mavs are solid this year and the big surprise is they are winning with defense. This team is a top team in the West.

9. Miami Heat- Other than D-Wade this team doesn’t have tons of talent, but they support Wade nicely.

10. Phoenix Suns- This team has the best record in the league, but I’m still skeptical, because they allow 106 points per game. That is troublesome.  

11. San Antonio Spurs- They have been battling injuries to Duncan and Parker so it’s hard to tell how good this team really is. There bench has been performing decent in their absences.

12. Toronto Raptors-  This team gives teams trouble because of their big men’s ability to play away from the basket. Look for them to utilize this all season long.

13. Utah Jazz- Deron Williams is battling injuries again and they need him to be full strength in order to compete.

14. Chicago Bulls- The Bulls continue to play well. They aren’t doing great, but they are competing to win each game, night in and night out.

15. Milwaukee Bucks- This team is playing surprisingly well, despite the injury to Michael Redd. They have learned to play as a team and the rookie,Brandon Jennings, is leading the way.

16. Oklahoma City Thunder- Last year, this team had no defense. This year, they are winning games based purely on their defense. One of the best defensive teams in the league because of players like Durant, Green, and Westbrook have all picked up how to play defense together.

17. Houston Rockets- I don’t know how this team is winning games without their two best players, but they are, and I have to give them credit for that.

18. Detroit Pistons- It looks like their signings over the offseason have turned out well due to some injuries to the starters. Villanueva and Gordon are coming up big.

19. Washington Wizards- This team is a lot better than they are playing currently. They need to step up their game before they fall out of contention.

20. Indiana Pacers- This team is silently competing in the East. They have one of the best players in the game, Danny Granger, and yet they still don’t recieve media attention. Maybe that’s a good thing.

21. Philadelphia 76ers- Elton Brand needs to start living up to his contract and this team needs a player to lead them. They don’t have that right now and will continue to lose.

22. New Orleans Hornets- What a mess! Their coach, who by the way won COY in 2008, was fired. Chris Paul is injured and this team looks lazy out there on the court. They need a spark and soon before they end up moving the team out of New Orleans.

23. Los Angeles Clippers- Chris Kaman is the comeback player of the year, and now the question is how will Blake Griffin fit into the equation when he gets healthy. They need to get rid of Camby and watch this team roll.

24. Sacramento Kings- This team is doing surprisingly well and that’s without Kevin Martin. Their big men are playing like All-Stars. Jason Thompson is the surprise player of the year.

25. Golden State Warriors- Well they got rid of the bad seed, Jackson, but they didn’t get anything in return. Why let a talented player like him sell for nothing. They screwed up big time on this one.

26. Charlotte Bobcats- The Bobcats got a great deal by buying low on Jackson. He will improve their team 110 percent. That is, if they can keep him under control.

27. Memphis Grizzlies- I don’t understand how they aren’t winning more games. They have some of the most talented and athletically gifted players in the league, but still aren’t winning. Maybe a coaching change is under way?

28. New York Knicks- The Knicks are just awaiting the Lebron James era, but until then they need to find a way to not look so pathetic.

29. New Jersey Nets- This team still hasn’t won a game. Maybe Vince Carter was the heart and soul of the team. They need to find a way to win quickly or somebody is going on the chopping block.

30. Minnesota Timberwolves- This team just looks bad. They have no bench whatsoever, and they don’t have a whole lot of talented starters. This team is the worst team in the league. 

Predictions

Western Conference Finals: Trailblazers over Nuggets

 Eastern Conference Finals: Celtics over Hawks

NBA Championship: Trailblazers over Celtics   

I’m the first to admit that I’m not a big NBA fan.  I do enjoy the college game, so I don’t hate the game.  I’ve taken issue with some aspects of the pro game in recent years, so I gave up a bit on the NBA.  Don’t get me wrong, I do follow the Wizards since they’re the closest team to me geographically speaking, but I’m not at the point where I have to watch every single game.  I do find myself following guys that I loved while they were in the NCAA, and that’s what brings me to this post.

I’ve found myself on more than one occasion watching Blazer games. (Probably because of this guy!)  I’ve also discovered that this team is not only fun to watch, but they’re kinda hot!  So take a trip with me to Rip City after the jump.

Up first…it has to be Brandon Roy

Then we have my dirty little crush -

Joel Pryzbilla

Then we have the adorable Jerryd Bayless

Now move over Rafael Nadal…there’s a new Mallorcan in town!  My new crush…

Rudy Fernandez

Ok so you may not find him the hottest, more like hideously goofy, but I had to include some love for the reason that I now love the Blazers: Steve Blake.

and because of I love pictures of men holding babies…here’s Steve with his son.

Now indulge me for a second here…but thinking about Steve Blake brings back fond memories of my sophomore year of college when Mr. Blake and Company led the Terps to their first ever National Title.  I was in Atlanta for the Final Four that year, and it was my greatest sports moment.  Ahh the good ole days!  Here is some love for Steve and the two greatest plays in his years at Maryland.

Goodness, gracious. In front of the family, too.

Earlier this year the NBA became the first league to officially hand over local digital rights to its teams and local media providers, contrary to the tight control that MLBAM has kept over local rights. After no movement last season, and a trial run by the Yankees and Padres during baseball, the Sixers and Blazers both went to market with local streaming offers at the start of this season.

The Blazers plan to charge a la carte or flat rate for the full package of 15 games, but thats where the problem starts – 15 games. Portland plans to stream the 15 games scheduled for over-the-air broadcasts, none of the remaining games to which Comcast Northwest hold the rights. Portland is one of the markets with carriage problems preventing fans from watching the team. CSN Northwest does not have carriage deals with Charter, Dish, or DirecTV.

This is where live streaming is most valuable, the fans who can’t receive the broadcast on television. Those fans likely have a higher willingness to pay for live streaming, a higher likelihood of using advanced online features and becoming the type of engaged user that advertisers covet. Yet, Comcast excludes them, just as the Yankees and Padres did during the season.

We understand offering it to subscribers that also receive the cable network to prevent cannibalization and prevent free riding from undermining the cable business. But its still hard to convince those customers to pay incremental fees to watch on a laptop the same game they can watch in HD on the big screen, though the number of people interested continues to grow.

However, fans that are not cable subscribers – or not subscribers to a provider with carriage of the local rights holder – arguably have more overall value. If CSN has a functional authentication process in place, it could still offer the package for non-subscribers, possibly using price discrimination and charging a higher fee since they don’t technically pay affiliate fees for your cable channel. The team benefits by extending its digital marketing platform and adding value to the advertising inventory, the right holder benefits by luring in valuable new customers. Customers from Comcast competitors, and customers from the same MSO’s that CSN is negotiating carriage deals with. And everyone earns additional revenue.

Why would CSN not want to make money off customers from the same companies that won’t carry its channel. It could help provide leverage in the carriage negotiations. If not, at the very least, it increases revenue and may help add a premium price component to the product if they can charge non-subscribers a higher rate.

The team and rights owner both maintain control and it’s paid content, so I’m not sure why none of the local streaming deals has gone this route yet. It’s possible the authentication schemes are not as advanced as providers would lead us to believe, its possible they want to take baby steps for now, but for streaming to move the needle it needs to be accessible to the entire local market using a well-thought, profitable pricing scheme.

Week Two showed the Beast in Chris Paul, however the Hornets still struggled.

 

1. Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers played without Bynum and Gasol last night and still resulted in victory. The Lakers are the top dogs in the league right now. No questions about it. Lamar Odum also translated well into his role on Keeping up with the Kardashians.

2. Boston Celtics: A slip up against the now formidable Phoenix Suns lost some credibility as well as the near win over the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves cost the C’s to slip to #2 in my rankings. However, they still head their own conference and very well could earn homecourt advantage, minus any major injuries.

3. Phoenix Suns: Surprised? Maybe a little but the Suns are the hot team in the league for now. You forget this team has Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, and Jason Richardson. As well as a rejuivenated Grant Hill and an up-and-coming Channing Frye. Will they stay at three? Probably not, but this is Week Two.

4. Orlando Magic: I know the Magic are missing Rashard Lewis, Ryan Anderson and Vince Carter. But a team that brags of their outstanding depth should not be blown out by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Just Saying.

5. Denver Nuggets: a 5-2 start is very promising for Carmelo’s team. With J.R. Smith returning from his seven game suspension the Nuggets should click even better.

6. Dallas Mavericks: Despite a loss that never should have been in New Orleans, the return of Josh Howard has sparked the Mavs.

 7. Atlanta Hawks: The Ivy Leaguer’s Finals pick have had a decent week. Jamal Crawford provides a nice spark off the bench.

8. Miami Heat: have to put them here. I don’t know how the Heat are doing this well this early in the season, a season arguably just waiting to finish, but I will give the Heat credit, they are playing well.

9. Cleveland Cavaliers: the Cavs are still finding their way, losing to the Bulls on a subjective call, then blowing out the Knicks in MSG. At least the Cavaliers’ distraction in New York are done for the season.

10. Portland Trailblazers: Yes the Blazers will be OK. A few close losses result in a little bit of panic. Hopefully the Blazers will come along soon and show their great potential.

Missing From Last Week:

San Antonio Spurs although I have full faith in the Spurs’ sucess this season, the 2-3 record does not make the cut this week.

Two weeks have gone by in this young NBA regular season. We are starting to see teams separate themselves from other teams in their divisions and conferences. There are a few great teams, a handful of good teams, and then there are those struggling greatly. I’m going to mix it up this week and add a few things to the blog. I’ve decided to add a performance of the week segment and also another segment called Stock Up, Stock Down. Performance of the week is pretty self-explanatory, basically who impressed me the most in a game this past week. Stock Up, Stock Down is a game you may have seen or heard of before. It’s not too complicated, basically which teams are moving up in my standings and which teams are moving down and why.

Performance of the Week

My P.O.W. this week was a battle between 2 players, Kobe and LeBron…who else would it be? On Friday night, The King made his only visit to MSG this year and boy were the LeBron fans out in The Garden. The atmosphere for this game was electric. A handful of Yankees players were in the crowd after just winning the World Series. Jay-Z was there to show support for his man LBJ as well. You just knew LeBron was going to put on a performance with this type of crowd.

Also on Friday night, the Lakers were taking on the Memphis Grizzlies, not a game anyone had marked on their calendar. Even though this was not a marquee match-up, Kobe did something special this game. His stat-line was spectacular with 41 points, 4 boards, and a dime. 24 dropping 41 is not anything unheard of but with these 41 points, he became the youngest player to score 24,000 points. Not only did he become the youngest player to score 24,000 but he also passed Allen Iverson on the all-time scoring list in this game (I found it amusing that Kobe did it with Iverson in the building). Usually when Kobe has an offensive explosion, he does it by going to the free-throw line a handful of times throughout the game. What was impressive about this performance is that he only went to the charity-strike 4 times. He was 19/30 (that’s 63% for you math junkies) from the field…very impressive. Kobe has transformed his game from and above-the-rim style to more of what I like to call the “Jordan in his late years” game. Kobe took undersized defenders into the post and used his size advantage, hitting numerous MJ-esque fade-aways.

So, who gets the week 2 P.O.W.? You must think I’m giving it to Kobe because I am a Lakers fan. I want to, but this one needs to go to LeBron. The King was 12/17 from the field, bettering Kobe in field goal %. He also grabbed 8 boards and dropped 9 dimes for a stat-line of 33, 8, and 9. LeBron put on a show in the first quarter. The score after the first 12 minutes of play was LeBron-19 Knicks-21. Now at this point in the game, I thought he was going for 60 or 70, which would have been great to see. Unfortunately, LeBron wasn’t played as much as I thought he would be due to the Cavs were up by 20 most of the 2nd and 3rd quarter. The shots he made were just amazing. If you were watching the game, you remember the 3-pointer he nailed over Larry Hughes in the 1st quarter. The shot clock was running down and LeBron really had no other choice but to put up the difficult 3. Hughes played great defense but great offense beats great defense any day of the week. LeBron and Hughes shared a laugh after the shot. Later in the game, LeBron hit a tough turn-around, fade-away jumper and then ran down the sideline, giving Jay-Z and A-Rod a high-five. He makes it look so effortless to hit those types of shots. This night, 23 was greater than 24.

Stock Up, Stock Down

Let’s start in the Western Conference for Stock Up, Stock Down. The Phoenix Suns had a hell-of-a week 2, going 3-1 with a win over Dwayne Wade and the Heat, a loss to a tough Magic team, a great win over the Boston Celtics (best team in the East), and a victory against Agent Zero and the Wizards. Before the season started, I thought this Suns team was on the decline with an aging Steve Nash and an all-star caliber player in Amare Stoudemire who I wasn’t what he was going to give them. Steve Nash showed he still has some gas left in the tank, dropping 30 and 8 against the Heat, 16 and 12 against the Celtics, and 11 points and 17 dimes against the Wizards. Amare is just a monster. When he plays hard, he is one of the best big men in the league. His explosive style can swing the momentum of a game at any second. The x-factor for this squad is J Rich. When he plays well, this team is very hard to beat. This was shown in the Suns victory over the Celtics when he tallied a double-double, dropping 34 and grabbing 10 boards.

Now for stock down in the West. San Antonio went 0-2 this week with losses to the Jazz and Portland. I’m not saying these teams are automatic wins but for a team that is supposed to contend for a title this year, they should get wins over these teams. Are they distracted by the Manu-bat incident? I’m not sure what is going on in San Antonio, but they need to pick it up. This 2-game losing streak drops them to 2-3 overall, 3 games in the West.

Time to move on to Stock Up in the East. Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat had a great week with wins over a young and talented Bulls squad and a Western Conference power in the Denver Nuggets. They had a tough loss to the Stock Up winner in the West, the Phoenix Suns. This team goes as Dwayne Wade goes. He truly is a warrior on the basketball court. He dropped 23 in a losing effort against the Suns, carried the Heat to victory with 40 in a shoot-out against Gilbert Arenas, and torched Denver for 22. In my opinion, he is the 3rd best player on the planet and the Miami Heat are a dark horse in the East because of him.

Now the tough one, Stock Down in the Eastern Conference. I really didn’t know who to give this award to. I could have went with the Cavs, but they are starting to figure things out over in Ohio. The only 2 other teams I could think of are the Nets and the Knicks. Both teams this year a horrible. Both teams have basically cleared out their rosters in hope of getting King James when he becomes a free agent. There is however, one difference between these 2 teams. The Nets have an all-star caliber player and the Knicks do not. Devin Harris is an exciting young player who can score 30 on any given night. The Knicks best player is David Lee, who is at best a good role player. You can argue Al Harrington is a good player all you want, but the fact is he is not. He is a mediocre player who gets a lot of shots up throughout the course of a game because he thinks he is better than he is. For the reason of having an all-star quality point guard, the Nets avoid Stock Down this week and it goes to the New York Knickerbockers.

Eastern Conference

Not too much has changed in my rankings from week 1 to this week. The Celtics are still atop the East for one simple reason, the play DEFENSE. They have only let up over 80 points once the entire season and that is to the up-tempo Phoenix Suns. Miami has moved up in my rankings but other than that, it has stayed pretty consistent in the East. Here is how the East wrapped up after week 2:

1. Boston Celtics (7-1) (previously 1st in the East)
2. Orlando Magic (5-1) (previously 2nd in the East)
3. Miami Heat (5-1) (previously 5th in the East)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) (previously 3rd in the East)
5. Atlanta Hawks (5-2) (previously 4th in the East)
6. Chicago Bulls (4-2) (previously 8th in the East)
7. Philadelphia 76ers (3-3) (previously 7th in the East)
8. Milwaukee Bucks (3-2) (previously 9th in the East)
9. Toronto Raptors (3-3) (previously 10th in the East)
10. Detroit Pistons (3-4) (previously 11th in the East)
11. Charlotte Bobcats (3-3) (previously 12th in the East)
12. Washington Wizards (2-5) (previously 6th in the East)
13. Indiana Pacers (2-3) (previously 13th in the East)
14. New York Knicks (1-6) (previously 14th in the East)
15. New Jersey Nets (0-7) (previously 15th in the East)

Western Conference

My standings this week in the West has seen a lot of movement. We still have the defending champs on top however. They are playing great, even without Gasol. I don’t think there is another team in the league where you can take the 2nd best player out of the lineup and they still can function on all cylinders besides the Celtics. The Suns have picked up their play as well as Denver, with Dallas slipping just a little bit. Here are the West standings after week 2:

1. Los Angeles Lakers (6-1) (previously 1st in the West)
2. Phoenix Suns (6-1) (previously 5th in the West)
3. Denver Nuggets (5-2) (previously 3rd in the West)
4. Houston Rockets (4-2) (previously 7th in the West)
5. Dallas Mavericks (4-2) (previously 2nd in the West)
6. Portland Trailblazers (3-3) (previously 6th in the West)
7. San Antonio Spurs (2-3) (previously 4th in the West)
8. Utah Jazz (2-4) (previously 10th in the West)
9. Los Angeles Clippers (3-4) (previously 14th in the West)
10. Oklahoma City (2-3) (previously 9th in the West)
11. New Orleans Hornets (2-5) (previously 8th in the West)
12. Sacramento Kings (2-4) (previously 15th in the West)
13. Golden State Warriors (1-3) (previously 13th in the West)
14. Minnesota Timberwolves (1-5) (previously 11th in the West)
15. Memphis Grizzlies (1-6) (previously 12th in the West)

This concludes my week 2 update for the NBA regular season. I am looking forward to week 3 and I’ll see you again this time next week. Feel free to leave any comments you have concerning any part of my blog. The photos are courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.

To the internet of course. In more ways than just time sensitivity and general news content, too. It’s almost 2010 now, and the internet in all of its mighty ways is just now starting to develop into the TV substitute it was destined to become. For a long time we’ve been able to look up cool stats, game recaps and box scores, but now it’s time to start watching all the games and television shows we used to watch on cable.

Though I’m not as well versed in MLB’s online broadcast offerings, it seems pretty commonplace that they were the first of the four major sports to break the mold. My experience and concern comes moreso with the NBA and NHL.

First, hockey. Never mind the fact that hockey is less of a draw in most of the United States than, say, arena football, paint ball or televised pie-baking competitions, the managers of NHL’s Game Center Live have taken it upon themselves to charged $200 for a yearly subscription. That number is in Canadian dollars but at this point it doesn’t really matter.

The NBA on the other hand runs at $150 and even that is significantly increased from the season prior. I hope that the people responsible for operating this innovative new digital frontier understand that the majority of people computer-savvy enough to want to watch hockey games online in the first place, are also savvy enough to know that there are places to watch them for free.

Until every computer and every internet connection is absolutely flawless, I can’t consider charging anybody a substantial sum to watch the sports they are used to seeing for free on television as a good business idea. I have less sympathy for this relatively new model than the more piracy-troubled music and movie industries because online, all-inclusive sports packages are far less rooted in tradition.

If I’m the NHL already struggling to get young people south of the border interested in my product, there’s no way I’m going to ask them to put down half a month’s rent just to watch a jumpy and sometimes non-functioning video broadcast. And trust me, more often than not the streams of these games is riddled with lag and bugs.

The NBA seems to have a better understanding of the purpose of this new potential, considering their significantly lower fees, but at the end of the day even they seem to fail to grasp the true power of the endeavour – advertising. What’s more beneficial in the long run, having thousands of people pay hundreds of dollars to watch a season’s worth of basketball, or having millions of people get hooked on and obsessed with the sport? With advertising funds and general brand awareness (if you can call it brand awareness) the NBA, or any of the major sports that do so, position themselves to truly cash in on the power of the internet.

This has all been basically one unorganized rant, but now that we’re on the subject. Blackouts. Last night Greg Oden held his own against Tim Duncan. Neato, you say. I said it too. This morning I woke up anxious to see the archived game only to find out that it was blacked out from my NBA Choice package… meaning that just because it was broadcast to the minute few that subscribe to RaptorsTV on a national scale, I’m unable to watch it. Never mind the fact that I went out of my way at the beginning of the season to designate both Portland and San Antonio as two of the seven teams in my Choice package, this game is unwatchable.

The amount of internet users is preposterous and with such stupid growth is mind-blowing power. If we can all agree that the internet is how things are going to work from now on, can we have a little bit more logic involved in the process? A better advertising system that results in cheaper subscriptions, more sensible blackout restrictions, and quality at least high enough to make sitting down in front of your laptop worth your while?

If that’s not possible then there’s absolutely no reason for viewers to do anything other than just familiarize themselves with the many free, live broadcasting websites and save their money for tickets to a game in person. I hear there’s not as much lag when you’re watching from the Air Canada Centre.

Tomorrow night, in front of a sold out crowd and a national television audience, the Portland Trail Blazers will wear commemorative “Rip City” jerseys, paying homage to the enduring 40-year bond between the team and its fans.

The jersey, designed in conjunction with the team’s 40th anniversary season, unofficially debuted during the October 14 preseason game vs. Phoenix. It will be worn twice during the regular season – Friday night vs. San Antonio and on Fan Appreciation Night, April 14 vs. Golden State.

“Since the day that Bill Schonely first uttered the words in 1971, ‘Rip City’ has become synonymous with Portland and Blazermania,” Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Mensah said. “These jerseys were our way of using the 40th anniversary platform to celebrate and recognize the role our fans have played in the success the Trail Blazers franchise.”

On February 18, 1971, Schonely yelled the first ‘Rip City!’ cry in response to a long-distance field goal by Trail Blazer Jim Barnett. The rest, as they say, is history.

The most famous of many terms coined by the former Trail Blazers voice, Rip City grew to become synonymous with the basketball fervor that enveloped the city when the team won the 1977 NBA Championship and make 26 playoff appearances in a 27-year stretch from 1977-2003.

Click to watch more

COMMEMORATIVE JERSEYS PAY NOD TO FOUR DECADES OF SUPPORT

Trail Blazers to make first of two regular-season appearances in “Rip City” gear

in the open view of a sold out crowd and a international television audience, the Portland Trail Blazers will wear commemorative “Rip City” jerseys,this is to pay homage to the enduring 40-year bond between the team and its fans…..more on-

http://khichdiall.blogspot.com/2009/11/portland-blazers-to-wear-rip-city.html

THE NBA SEASON HAS STARTED and I’m so excited that i can barely control myself.  Watching highlights every night, the fast paced action, the dunks, Kobe, Lebron, D-Wade.. damn I LOVE THIS GAME!!   My thoughts this week may be a little off, but hey, it’s the first NBA thoughts of the season and  we’re only 5 games into the seaosn… So enjoy DDISBORED’s 10 Thoughts on the NBA.. thus far…

1. The OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER aka THE BABY BOLTS lead by Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, & Russell Westbrook will make the Playoffs this year after only winning 23 games last year!!  And Durant may win MVP… stay tuned..
2. Lebron James still lacks the Killer Instinct that he needs to be great!  LeBron is 6 years in the league and against the Celtics instead of beasting through the lane down by 4 with 3 minutes left… he gives up the ball twice, Cavs Lose!  He needs to take some lessons from Kobe on how to put that dagger in and start twisting it!
3. Rudy Gay is soooooo smart for not signing a contract extension with the Memphis Grizzlies (even though it was for 50 million).  Heck, I don’t even know if I would sign with Memphis.  Gay, is a diamond in the deep rough of the NBA, just looking for a team (cough, Cleveland) to find him!!
4. The Celtics, Rajon Rondo is one of the best Point Guards in the NBA and starting a battle with the BEST point in the NBA, Chris Paul, is good for the league! Though, Rondo, may want to shut his mouth and focus on winning another championship now because KG, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, & Rasheed Wallace could all retire after this season.
5. Rookie, Brandon Jennings is a genius for not going to college last year!  I know that is an oxymoron if I’m talking about the local bartender, but the Milwaukee Bucks point guard is averaging 22 points, 2 steals, and 6 assists per game, after spending last year playing in Europe.
6. KOBE BRYANT IS STILL THE LEAGUES BEST PLAYER AND HAS BEEN SINCE 2003! ..stop kidding yourself..
7. I wish that the NBA showed more teams on TV, but I know they won’t because of ratings and such.  The only teams shown every week are: The Lakers, Cavs, Spurs, & Heat… I would love to see the Warriors, Hornets, Thunder, & Blazers every once and awhile…
8. I said this in July, but I feel like I need to say this again… THE TORONTO RAPTORS ARE GOING TO BE THE SURPRISE TEAM IN THE NBA THIS YEAR!! So, if you want to win some money… put it on the Raptors!  Chris, Hedu, Andrea, Jose, & DeMar are ready to shock some people!!
9. All NBA pregame, halftime, & postgame coverage should be handled by Charles, Kenny, and EJ from TNT! The ESPN & ABC crews just don’t compare!
10. 5 GAMES DOWN… 77 GAMES TO GO… til the PLAYOFFS!!  YESSIR!!

5 games into the season those are my thoughts… whether you love ‘em or you got a problem with ‘em

COMMENT BELOW or Hit Me On Twitter @DDISBORED

After one week of the season has passed, we now have a good idea of how teams are going to look for the rest of the season. Here are my first power raknings of the season.

Lebron James looks to lead the Cavs to a championship.

Power Rankings

 

 

 

 

1. Los Angeles Lakers- The Lakers once again look like they are the team to beat around the league with added talent from Ron Artest.

 

2. Orlando Magic- The Magic have incredible depth. The addition of Carter will make this team the best in the East.

 

3. Boston Celtics- The Celtics added Wallace which gives them depth in the frontcourt, a position where Brian Scalabrine was starting last year due to injuries.

 

4. Cleveland Cavaliers- The Cavs haven’t quite meshed yet, but they will be fighting for the top at the end of the season.

 

5. San Antonio Spurs- The Spurs addition of Jefferson will be the perfect fit for this aging team. This team could make a run at the championship if they stay healthy.

 

6. Portland Trailblazers- Oden looks like a new man in Portland and if he stays healthy, they can compete with the Lakers.

 

7. Washington Wizards- The Wizards are a great team with Butler and Jamison. Once Jamison gets back from his injury he has to make an immediate impact.

 

8. Utah Jazz- The Jazz need Williams to perform a lot better than last season if they want to make the playoffs. I think he will.

 

9. Denver Nuggets- The Nuggets have remained the same team this year as last, which I don’t think will be good enough to compete with the improvements of the other teams in the West.

 

10. Atlanta Hawks- The Hawks have tons of talent and will make the playoffs again.

 

11. Chicago Bulls- The Bulls lost a great scoring threat in Gordon, but Salmons and Deng will step up and lead this team to the playoffs.

 

12. Dallas Mavericks- The Mavs need to win a championship this year, because there years are numbered with their aging lineup.

 

13. New Orleans Hornets- The Hornets added a great frontcourt presence in Okafor and could be a serious contender with the Paul/Okafor tandem.

 

14. Philadelphia 76ers- The 76ers lost Andre Miller, but still look like they could fight for a playoff spot with Igoudala and Brand.

 

15. Toronto Raptors- Turkoglu was a solid addition to this team and teamed up with Bosh, they should contend. This team is solid with Calderon, Bargnani,Turkoglu and Bosh.

 

16. Miami Heat- D-Wade will lead this weak team once again and get them close to a playoff spot.

 

17. Los Angeles Clippers- The Clippers look like they could contend this year. They have a great frontcourt with a decent backcourt. This team could make the playoffs.

 

18. Phoenix Suns- The Suns look to be a more fastbreak team with Shaq gone, but they have enough talent to slow it down. They should compete for a playoff spot.

 

19. Detroit Pistons- The Pistons added a lot of depth in the off season, but did nothing to establish their frontcourt. They should struggle without any bigmen.

 

20. New Jersey Nets- The Nets loss of Carter will hurt. They don’t have enough talent this year to contend.

 

21. Memphis Grizzlies- The Grizzlies have tons of talent, but why would they sign A.I. This wasn’t a smart move and will come back to hurt them.

 

22. Oklahoma City Thunder- The Thunder have loads of talent, but no frontcourt. They need one more piece to the puzzle before they can compete.

 

23. Golden State Warriors- The Warriors also have a lot of talent, but they don’t mesh. If this team gets along, they could compete.

 

24. Indiana Pacers- The Pacers have a star, Danny Granger, but not a great supporting cast. They need a lot of help.

 

25. Minnesota Timberwolves- The T’Wolves are in a rebuilding process and they are building around Al Jefferson. If he can stay healthy over the next couple years, they could be a real force.

 

26. New York Knicks- The Knicks look like the Knicks. They are just waiting for Lebron to come their way.

 

27. Houston Rockets- The Rockets are without Yao and McGrady. They are going to look bad for awhile.

 

28. Milwaukee Bucks- The Bucks don’t have enough talent and if Redd could stay healthy, I would look into trading him for younger talent.

 

29. Charlotte Bobcats- Sorry Bobcats, you took a step back by trading Okafor.

 

30. Sacramento Kings- This team is bad and don’t seem to be getting better. Expect some of their frontcourt to have big years, despite the low talent level.

 

 

 

PREDICTIONS

 

Western Conference Finals: Trailblazers over Lakers

 

Eastern Conference Finals: Cavaliers over Magic

 

Championship: Cavaliers over Trailblazers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rockets hosted the Trailblazers on Halloween night and got a chance to avenge their loss in the 1st game of the season. Houston would not miss the opportunity as they picked off where they left on in the 4th quarter of the game in Portland.

Aaron Brooks started off the game with a purpose, to make it obvious that Steve Blake did not belong on the court with him. Watch the cross-over, step-back move he puts on Blake in the following videos and you’ll agree. He wasn’t the only Rocket who came out of the gate well; Trevor Ariza had 16 points in the 1st period on 6 of 6 shooting and he was only getting started.Those two helped the Rockets to a 33 – 28 lead after 1 and the reserves would pick it up from there.

Chase Studinger came in and knock down a deep 3 immediately. Carl Landry also kept the intensity up with a tremendous block from behind on Joel Przybilla to start a fast break. Aside from Landry’s block though, it was a half of explosive offense and little defense.

Both teams shot over 55% from the filed and exactly 50% from the 3 in the half but the Rockets still lead 54 – 59 going into the lockerroom.

Houston started top play a little bit of defense in the 2nd half led by the NBA’s #1 steals man, Chuck Hayes. And the perennial defender, Shane Battier, finally got invoolved inthe scoring with 6:32 to go in the 3rd when he stepped to the FT line. Things looked under control until Luis Scola got his 4th foul with 6:00 in the quarter and the Rockets up by 3. Ariza continued to carry the load on offense but he was not helping the cause on the defensive end. As I’ve siad repeatedly, he reaches and gambles too much and this style prompted Clyde Drexler to say aloud, “Trevor Ariza, you’ve got to make him shoot over the top. Quit gambling!”

Despite the defensive lapses, the Rockets were doing enough when they had the ball to maintain the edge at 83 – 79 going into the 4th where they picked up the physical play.

Kyle Landry finished strong over the much taller Travis Outlaw to start the quarter and Battier started to man-handle Outlaw on the other end. Outlaw is too light to handle physical play (as I said in my game 1 post) and he got a personal and a tech when he threw Battier to the ground. From there the game got rough and both teams were in the penalty with over 7:00 still to go. The 2 men who started the game so well would take over from there.

Ariza, unlike Outlaw, showed that he could handle the physicality though as he set his career high in scoring with a strong “and 1″ over Lamarcus Aldridge. He would go on to score 33. Brooks followed that with a tough fade-away from 22′ to make the score 103 – 96 with 4:15 left. That shot looked like it would be the dagger but Brooks had to hit another 3 with 3:00 and the Blazers still wouldn’t fold.

Battier threw an in-bounds pass directly to Brandon Roy but Roy couldn’t control it and he lost it out-of-bounds with :17.5 to go to keep the score at 109 – 105. The Rockets also missed 4 of their final 6 free throws but came away with the victory because they played defense when they needed it.

111 – 107 final score.

Interesting that the Portland Trailblazers are using their marquee opponents to sell single game tickets.  On the tickets page of their official team website, the Trailblazers have a section on Upcoming Home Games.  In it they say, “Can’t wait to see guys like Lebron, Shaw, D-Wade and Kobe when they come to town…”  Directly above it they have a photo of Lebron James and Dwayne Wade (see image below).

There is nothing wrong with Portland promoting their opponents to sell more tickets, many teams have used this same technique.  The New Jersey Nets are giving their fans jerseys of the star player on the opposing team.   And there are certainly more people in Oregon who want to see a Blazers game against global icon James, so promoting a name like Lebron creates more awareness.  But I’m surprised a team as good as Portland, with such strong fan support, would want to  promote an opponent just to sell more tickets.

The story that Portland’s marketing department needs to tell is about their own young, exciting, talented squad.  They need to be connecting the fans in Portland with the players on the Trailblazers.  This is no longer the “Jailblazers”; this Portland squad has marketable young stars in Brandon Roy, Lamarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden.  The Portland front office needs their fans to know that Rudy Fernandez’s favorite food is paella and that Jerryd Bayless was born the same year that Bull Durham hit movie theaters (1988).

These days there is no shame for a professional sports team doing whatever it takes to sell more tickets.  The bottom line for most of the teams and leagues is that attendance figures are what they are judged on.  But I hope the Portland Trailblazers don’t overlook their own great story.  More long-term success will come from promoting their own team.

Portland Trailblazers ticket offer

I was just finishing up my facial hair tribute to Jayson Werth.

Look, here’s the deal, in the absence of content and the overall satisfaction of routine, pretty much everybody involved with The Good Point has been going through withdrawal. As I’m sure you’ve noticed things are changing at the site but behind the scenes we’ve been figuring out where our priorities lie. Now that we know, we’re adapting the site to fill not just our own needs, but yours as well.

This The Blog Point project will likely take on a significant role with the new look when we re-spring ourselves on everybody sometime in the next few weeks, but for now, it’s my vehicle for communicating with the outside world. It’s the best time of the year for sports fans with hockey, basketball and football all in abundance and World Series baseball still somehow under way. I just thought we should, you know, talk about it.

Last night my sister was set to dress my dog in a Reggie Miller jersey for Halloween, which was fine and well until she gave him a headband. I objected on the basis of Reggie Miller never actually wearing a headband and instead he walked around as Morris Peterson.

At seven the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Portland Trailblazers which should tide anyone over until the big Phillies game and with Jeff Green the newest addition to my Keeper League team, I’m pretty sure I can’t wait. The ratio of how awesome this match up is this year to how awesome it would have been two years ago is astounding – or maybe that’s just me.

Today’s halfdog nominee is Greg Oden. Last night Oden had a chance to put his team up and possibly win with 4 seconds left, however he missed both free throws. Oden scored 6 points to go along with 9 rebounds. With Kevin Durrant playing so well, and Oden being injury prone, did the Blazers pick a number one overall dud like Ryan Leaf?

After much pressure from the readership contingency, I’m getting these goals DONE, especially because a lot of you Northwest dwellers want to know what is going to happen with the Blazers this year.  Well, your patience has finally paid off!  First, I would like to say something up front: they need to change the name of the Northwest Division.  I think that it’s cool that it is called that because I am from the Northwest, but since when were Denver, Minnesota, Utah, and most absurd of all Oklahoma City considered in the Northwest part of the country?  Yes, I am smart enough to realize that Oklahoma City used to be in Seattle, but it still isn’t an excuse in my opinion.  My memo to the NBA: Clean it up!  Let’s get to some goals:

Oklahoma City Thunder: The goal for OK City is once again going to be to rebuild this year, but I tell you what there is a monster-to-be lurking in the south.  Kevin Durant is turning out to be the man among elite professional players, and he can score on anyone.  Russell Westbrook, who just dropped 13 assists last night (albeit on Sacramento), is developing into a rising star and one that can not only distribute the ball, but also put it in the hoop as well as grab some rebounds.  Jeff Green has also shown his knack for the game in his last couple years in the NBA, and the Thunder scored big time in the draft with James Harden from Arizona State.  They are also beginning to create an offensive and defensive identity, and have seemingly moved on from the fact that they are not playing in Seattle anymore.  Other than that, this is a mediocre team.  I wouldn’t expect great things this year, but I would like to see the Thunder push 30 wins this year and keep these players healthy and continually on the rise.

Minnesota Timberwolves: I very much liked what the Timberwolves were doing as an organization in the post-Kevin Garnett era.  That was until they decided to draft two top-five caliber point guards in the draft last summer, one of which won’t even be making the trip over here until probably around 2012, not to mention signing Ramon Sessions in free agency.  Huh?  They very well could have packaged those picks to make a bigger deal, and/or found a player lower on the board (Jordan Hill, DeMar DeRozan, Stephan Curry, etc.) to draft.  Luckily they found a super player in Jonny Flynn who can lead this team, which is the only redeeming factor of the entire ordeal.  We can’t forget about some of the other pieces the T-Wolves have picked up over the last few years, including Center Al Jefferson (the second best center in the league in my opinion), Kevin Love, (who is a good talent), Corey Brewer, etc.  Look for much of the same for the Wolves this year, as the fate of the season lies in the hands of Jefferson.  I’d say this team should shoot for 30 wins like the Thunder, though their future doesn’t look near as bright as I would have hoped.

Utah Jazz: It’s really hard for me to say this is the third best team in the division, but I really do think that’s the case.  Denver took a knock by losing a few role players but they are still strong, and Portland only got better this offseason, so Utah will have to take the backseat once again.  This is not to say that I could be completely wrong with that, because there is definitely the talent in Utah to make some noise this year; with names like Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Paul Millsap, Mehmet Okur, Andrei Kirilenko, Ronnie Brewer, etc. there is enough talent to do some damage this season.  The goal then, at least for me, is to make a push at a home court advantage spot and contend with Denver and Portland at the top of this division.  I honestly think that they could get in the third or fourth spot in the West, they are that good and have that much experience, but I’m still not sold 100% as of now.

Denver Nuggets: Last year the Nuggets won 54 games last year, and that was when they had Chauncey Billups fresh from the Pistons and learning a somewhat new system.  Now, with the Denver scheme and a great playoff resumé, Billups could escort the Nuggets into a similar situation this year.  Unfortunately for them, Portland and San Antonio both improved (some would argue drastically) in the offseason, whereas the Nuggets did not make any major changes over the summer.  I’m somewhat torn on how well the Nuggets will do – I’m expecting a 50-win season out of them, as should they, and probably win a first round series would be an expected goal.  Other than that, I’m not sold on anything yet.

Portland Trailblazers: Blazers fans unite!  This is the best team Portland has seen in years, and I don’t think that they will disappoint.  I’m somewhat scared that now everyone has expectations of this team they are going to fold mid-season, but let’s hope that isn’t the case.  From the coaching of Nate McMillan and his staff to the leadership of Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, to the fact that the bench can go ten players deep is scary.  The only real player they lost in the offseason was Sergio Rodriguez, and they replaced him with the best free agent point guard on the market in Andre Miller.  If Greg Oden is half of what people say he was this summer he is going to dominate the centers of the Western Conference, and Roy and Aldridge are going to have stellar seasons again.  The goal this year is definitely win a playoff series regardless of what they do in the regular season, though I do think that they should shoot for a division championship as well.  50 wins also seem possible for this year’s Blazer team.

That does it for the goals, look for more thoughts as the season moves on!

Yes you do, Lebron!

Como tal vez ya sepan, ahora Shaq es el nuevo compañero de equipo de Bron Bron en Cleveland y anoche en el home opener de los Cavs contra los Celtics, anotó 8 puntos en la primera mitad! Y terminó el partido con un doble doble… de 10 puntos y 10 rebotes. Sí, solo 2 puntos en la segunda mitad. That diesel should runs out quick!

Después de que Lebron se dio cuenta del tipo de contribuciones que puede esperar de Shaq, él anotó 38 puntos para ayudar a los Cavs.

Los Cavs llevaban una racha de 8 partidos ganados en casa contra los Celtics. Pero anoche acabó… Marcador final 95-89.

En otras noticias, los Mavs perdieron contra los Wizards (pobre Nowitzki can’t catch a break), los Blazers le ganaron a los Rockets y los Lakers recibieron sus anillos y una victoria contra los Clippers. WHATEVER!

Esta noche comienza la temporada para los Suns, quienes visitan a los Clippers… GO SUNS!!!!

Más detalles de los primeros partidos de la temporada aquí.

The 2009 – 2010 NBA season is finally here and it should be an adventurous one for the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are talented but young annd they are thrusting a lot of players into roles they may or may not be ready to fill because of the injuries to Yao and T-Mac. The lack of a true post presence and a legitimate #1 option on offense mean we are going to see a different team than Rockets’ fans are used to but that could be a good thing.

Houston opened on Tuesday night in Portland against one of the best and deepest teams in the West. The fact that they are good was not the main problem for the Rockets, it was the fact that they are gigantic. With Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Lamarcus Aldridge and Travis Outlaw the Blazers have more quality bigs than any team, including the Lakers. Aldridge, a UT product, took advantage of his height advantage to score the 1st 7 points of the game from the power forward spot. The Rockets can handle 1 quality big with Chuck Hayes or David Andersen being the primary defender but 2 back to the basket scorers are going to present issues.

The Rockets were able to keep pace in the 1st thanks to 3-point shooting. Trevor Ariza knocked down his 1st two attempts but he did not play as well on the defensive end. He did not have a prayer against Brandon Roy giving, giving up a wide open 3 then an uncontested dunk. Ariza is not a great individual defender; he is a passing-lane defender who needs to be off the ball to wreak havoc on the opposing team with his length. There is no way that Shane Battier should be on Martell Webster while Roy is torching Ariza.

One of the few bright spots for the Houston 1st quarter was Aaron Brooks. He was going right by Steve Blake at will and setting up teammates for open shots. The shots weren’t falling inside the arc though and that is partly because Houston did not play intelligently. Travis Outlaw was killing Luis Scola on the perimeter so the point guards have to make it a point to punish Outlaw in the post. They did not go to Scola at all and only looked at Carl Landry once with that matchup. To compound matters, the Rockets shot free throws poorly for the 1st half of the game (9/14). The score was somehow tied though after one at 23 – 23.

Chase Budinger came in to start the 2nd but he did not help much. He had a 1-on-1 with Przybilla on a break and settled for a 17 ft. pull-up jumper that rattled out. When you have a big guy back-peddling you have to go around him and use athleticism to finish. Don’t shoot a jumper!

You know who wasn’t settling for jump shots on fast breaks? Travis Outlaw. He had 2 fast break dunks in a row in the 2nd quarter on his way to 12 points in his 1st 9 minutes of playing time. That’s alot of the reason the Rockets have to pound guys like him in the paint; he weighs 87 pounds so the Blazers have to pay for playing him at the 4. If you’re not going to do that things happen like an 11 – 0 run to start the 2nd followed by a 9 – 0 run later in the quarter.

Chuck Hayes was playing on both ends but he and Brooks were basically out there alone. Portland blew the lead out to 41 – 54 by halftime thanks to 9 of 14 from the line, 34% FG shooting and bad defense. Houston blocked 0 shots to the Blazers’ 6 and was outrebounded 15 – 26.

The 3rd quarter didn’t look much netter at the start as Martel Webster dunked on Hayes off a simple backdoor play.

You could tell Scola was getting frustrated by the Rockets’ play and by the referees who were calling things Scola usually gets away with. Things began to look up though when Aaron Brooks made a beautiful “and 1″ drive around Webster and over Przybilla.

The offense was starting to flow more smoothly but Outlaw continued to crush everyone who tried to guard him. I was thinking that Rick Adelman should put Ariza on Outlaw because Trevor has the length and skill set but, upon further inspection, Ariza reaches way too much so he is basically useless as an on the ball defender. Instead Landry got lit up all night but, finally, he started to play on the offensive end mid-way through the 3rd.

Ariza, on the other hand, continued to struggle. He tried to drive through traffic twice in a row and turned the ball over. It was so bad that the Blazers put Andre Miller, a point guard, on the 6′8″ Ariza! That’s embarassing. I hope Joey Dorsey and Chuck Hayes grabbed him and threw him into the weight room as soon as the game was over. 56 - 75 heading into the 4th.

I don’t know if the Blazers took the 4th quarter off or if the Rockets started to figure it out but Aaron Brooks and David Andersen led Houston back into the game. Brooks made a jumper and a few nice penetrating drives and Andersen got in there and took Outlaw down on the block and went to work. I was elated to see someone punish him down low the way Portland did to Ariza all game. An Andersen fade-away cut the lead to 10. The Rockets tried to step up the defense and Studinger did a solid job on Roy and played a little offense too:  

Andersen splashed 2 free throws to cut the lead to 6 at 83 – 89 but that was close as the Rockets would get.

87 – 96 Final Score.