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04.18.09 TRAIL BLAZERS (4) VS. ROCKETS (5)
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BY MIKE ACKER
The Portland Trail Blazers (0-1) saw their second season get off to a rough start, falling 108-81 to the Houston Rockets (1-0) in game one of the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs Saturday night in front of 20,329 fans at the Rose Garden.
Saturday’s loss was the worst of the season for the Trail Blazers, and the fourth-worst in playoff history for the franchise.
Portland’s trouble started in the first quarter in the form of Houston center Yao Ming. Yao scored the Rocket’s first seven points, helping the visiting team jump out to a 7-0 advantage at the 10:13 mark of the first quarter. Nicolas Batum dunked home a feed from Steve Blake with 6:05 remaining in the opening quarter, cutting the lead to 16-12. The Trail Blazers got no closer for the remaining three quarters of the night.
“They came out and jumped right on us,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “They were the aggressive team. We didn’t get any stops early, and I thought that was a shock to our guys.”
Yao finished the opening quarter with 16 points, hitting all seven of his field goal attempts, and Houston lead 34-23 after 12 minutes.
Houston started to pull away in the second quarter. University of Oregon star Aaron Brooks converted two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining in the half, putting the Rockets ahead 60-41. Brandon Roy scored a driving lay-up and was fouled on the next play, converting the free throw with 4.4 seconds remaining, but Brooks countered with a full court dash and a six-foot bank shot at the halftime buzzer. Houston entered the halftime locker room leading 62-44.
Roy was the lone bright spot in the Trail Blazers first half, connecting on 7-of-14 field goal attempts, and finishing the half with 15 points. Yao converted all nine of his first shot attempts, and finished the opening half with 24 points.
“We came out a little jittery,” Roy said. “Yao established himself early. They played like they’ve been here before.”
Things went from bad to worse for the home team in the third quarter. The Trail Blazers made only 6-of-18 shots from the field in the second to last quarter of the night, getting outscored 23-14, entering the fourth quarter behind 85-58. Portland shot 39 percent from the field through three quarters, and Houston shot 61 percent from the field over the same period.
“We’ve played really good basketball, and I think we second guessed ourselves coming out tonight,” Roy said. “We didn’t play with the same confidence and rhythm that we usually play with at home.”
Brent Barry gave the Rockets their biggest lead of the night at 104-73 on a driving dunk with 3:52 remaining in the game.
Roy finished Saturday’s game with 21 points. Greg Oden was the only other Portland player to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with 15 points.
“The regular season is over, and now it’s postseason,” McMillan said. “They have to win four games. We’ll go back to work tomorrow, and get ready for Tuesday.”
Game two of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for a seven o’clock tipoff Tuesday night at the Rose Garden.
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NATE MCMILLAN
“They came out and took control and we got back on our heals. They were the aggressive team tonight. We didn’t get any shots to fall early and I think that was a shock to our guys. When we did score those baskets weren’t coming easy.
“Part of their good start had a lot to do with Yao, although their whole first unit played well. We wanted to get LaMarcus started as we usually do but their defense was really aggressive on the post. Brandon hit some shots but they were all tough shots. That’s a good team you saw tonight. They’re good on both ends of the floor; they spread the floor and they use their bigs effectively which opens up things on the perimeter. If they have deep post position---and Yao didn’t miss a shot tonight (9 for 9)---it gives their perimeter players a lot of room to maneuver.
“This was a bad night for sure. We lost but we’ve got to make some adjustments for Game Two. No matter what the score they still have to win four games to win the series. We have to go back and look at film and work on what we’re going to do to adjust to them. I think we’re going to need our best shot. They’ll be even more aggressive in Game Two. Tonight we didn’t control the ball at all. It allowed a lot of their players to have wide-open looks.”
STEVE BLAKE
“We’ve got to learn from our mistakes and go forward. They jumped on us from the start. They did a lot of really good things out there. You’ve got to give them credit. And we’ve got to work on the things that we did well.”
GREG ODEN
“That’s the big thing: They were just making shots. We’ve got to play better defense. The shots they made were tough. We weren’t making our shots and they came out with a different intensity. We need to play a lot more aggressive, to play harder. We’ve played them three times. We knew what they were going to come with. They just came with their intensity. He (Yao) was making shots. We needed to stop him but we didn’t have an answer for him tonight.”
JOEL PRZYBILLA
“Definitely (it was humbling). We just didn’t come to play. They came on a mission like Coach McMillan said. They pretty much dominated us from the start. I thought we were (ready) but I guess we weren’t ready. We tried to play behind him (Yao) like we said. I’m sure we’ll make adjustments. He made every shot he took. He just dominated tonight.”
BRANDON ROY
“We came out a little jittery. Yao established himself early and they just played like they’ve been here before. The disappointing part is we didn’t play like we (had) played the last six games. We played like a young team that was a little intimidated. Sitting on the bench, it reminded me of the first game of the year against the Lakers. I felt like we weren’t ready. We’ve played really good basketball and I think we second-guessed ourselves coming out tonight. So that’s what I’m most disappointed in. The guys they didn’t get shots they normally take. We just didn’t play with the same confidence and rhythm that we’ve been playing with at home. We’re disappointed but we can’t let this break us. We’ve got to come together and find some confidence because we can play with them. We just have to believe we can.”
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• Portland’s 27-point margin of defeat ranks tied for its fourth-worst loss in playoff history and marks its largest loss in 2008-09.
• The Trail Blazers’ 81 points is tied for its seventh-lowest scoring output in playoff history.
• Houston has now won seven of nine playoff meetings between the teams … The Rockets have taken Game 1 in all three playoff series in history (Houston won both previous series, 3-1).
• The Trail Blazers have lost Game 1 in five straight playoff series, dating back to the Western Conference Finals in 2000.
• Portland lost at home in Game 1 of a playoff series for the first time since Apr. 29, 1993, vs. San Antonio ... If the Trail Blazers win the series, it will be the first time Portland has won a playoff series when losing Game 1 at home (0-6).
• Portland’s 15 defensive rebounds marked an all-time franchise playoff low (17, 4/26/83 at L.A. Lakers) ... The Trail Blazers had just six defensive rebounds in the first half compared to 21 for the Rockets.
• The Trail Blazers made at least two three-pointers in every regular season game ... Portland’s 9.1% shooting from downtown was also lower than any regular season mark.
• Houston’s 34 points in the first quarter were more than any Trail Blazers opponent’s mark at the Rose Garden this season.
• Yao Ming did not miss a shot in the game (9-9 FG, 6-6 FT), with all 24 of his points coming in the first half … He finished the first quarter with a game-best 16 points (7-7 FG), two shy of a Houston record for points in a quarter in the playoffs (Hakeem Olajuwon, 5/5/95 vs. Utah) ... Yao scored the game’s first seven points (3-3 FG, 1-1 FT) and 12 of Houston’s first 14.
• Houston’s starting frontcourt of Yao Ming and Luis Scola combined for 16-for-18 shooting and 43 points to go with 17 rebounds.
• Houston starters outscored Portland’s starters, 94-43, in the game … Trail Blazers reserves held a 38-14 advantage over their counterparts.
• Rockets starters shot 21-for-28 (75.0%) from the field and 9-for-9 (100.0%) from the foul line in the first half.
• Houston made its first four shots and went 15-for-20 in the first quarter.
• The Trail Blazers scored their first 14 points in the paint and held a 50-32 edge down low in the game.
• Aaron Brooks’ 27 points were three shy of his best career scoring game … He tied a career best with five three-pointers.
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