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Saturday April 25, 2009 3:27 AM

Rockets Hold On For Big Win Over Blazers

86-83 victory gives Houston 2-1 series lead

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - After getting torched by Yao Ming in the first half of Game 1, the Portland Trail Blazers might as well have released a mission statement reading, “Anyone but Yao.” As in, the Blazers were willing to let any other Rockets player beat them on the offensive end, so long as it wasn’t Houston’s All-Star center.

But after Portland successfully rode that strategy to victory in Game 2, the rest of the Rockets rose to the challenge for Friday night’s Game 3 as Houston held on for an 86-83 win, despite seeing its top two regular season scorers – Yao and Ron Artest – combine for just 16 points on the evening. As a result, the Rockets now own a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 first round series which will resume Sunday night at Toyota Center.

“I'm really proud of our guys,” said Shane Battier, who scored 16 points and posted a playoff career-high with 4 blocked shots. “Yao had another tough night with them focusing on taking him away but when that happens we have to find a way to make extra points. Luis (Scola) had a great game. Carl (Landry) had a great game. Our fours are going to have the opportunity to score big and this was a nice effort.

“We lost a lot of games this year trying to throw the ball into Yao when it’s just not working. The lesson we learned there is we have to attack where the defense is giving us. Right now they’re giving us the power forward jump shot and Luis and Carl did a great job of it, and hopefully that will loosen the defense up on Yao.”

Indeed, the Blazers repeatedly dared Houston’s power forwards to burn them, and Scola and Landry were only too happy to oblige, joining forces to shoot 13 of 22 from the field – with most of those shots arriving in the form of elbow jumpers. Both players know they have to make Portland pay for applying so much attention to Yao, though after the game Scola himself admitted that it’s tough to argue with the Blazers’ strategy.

“If I would be them,” he said, “I’d just say, ‘Try to keep the ball out of Yao’s hands as much as we can.’ Today Yao didn’t shoot the ball a lot but we’re still winning and that’s what we need to try to do.

“I think we’ve got one good thing and that’s that we play as a team. Because of that we can afford for Ron and Yao to have a bad offensive night and we’re still winning, and that’s a good thing to have. Not many teams can afford for their two best players to shoot so (few) shots and score that (few) points and still win.”

Still, the Rockets realize there’s more work to be done in order to ensure Yao isn’t relegated to secondary status on the offensive end. The process begins by having other players step up as they did Friday night, but it also includes better execution from both Yao and his teammates.

“I think any player, when the other team is doing things to you, you have to make adjustments,” explained Rockets’ head coach Rick Adelman. “You can’t try to do the same thing. ( Yao’s) got to let the game come to him – let us come to him. He doesn’t have to work so hard. Let us try to find you with some movement - then it’s on the other guys.

“It’s a combination. We have to do it as a team. There were times when he worked and had great position, and we did not throw him the ball and I don’t understand why. We’ll look at it and find out.”

While the Rockets might not like everything they see on film from an offensive standpoint, they should come away pretty pleased about their effort on defense. Houston limited the Blazers to just 42.1 percent shooting, while doing an especially effective job controlling Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. After combining for 69 points in Portland’s Game 2 win, the duo managed to total only 32 points Friday night, connecting on just 12 of their 33 (36.4 percent) shots in the process.

“It’s got to start with defense,” said Battier. “We’re playing at a really high level defensively, and with that said we know we’re going to be in every game – it’s just a matter of making enough shots.”

Friday night they did, whether it was the combo of Scola and Landry from the elbow, Von Wafer throwing down a pair of vicious second quarter dunks, or Battier draining a clutch 28-foot bomb in crunch time. Also not to be overlooked is the playmaking of Aaron Brooks, who seems to be growing with each game this series. Though his red-hot shooting touch from Games 1 and 2 abandoned him Friday night, the ball was placed in his hands during the final minutes and he responded once again, this time making a key assist and several big free throws to rein in the win.

“He’s the one that makes the best plays for us down the stretch,” said Adelman of his young point guard. “He can get by his guy, he can make shots, he can make plays. I felt confident. I told him when I put him back in, ‘You have to finish this game for us.’”

Brooks did just that, along with plenty of help from his Rockets teammates. And though Houston's win probably won't force Portland to reconsider its mission statement anytime soon, one gets the feeling the Rockets really don't mind. After all, they don't care if it's Yao who beats the Blazers, so long as they just get beat, period.

QUOTES
RICK ADELMAN

(On the game) “I'm pleased with the win, it was a tough win. Both teams really battled. We had control but they got back in it but we made most of our free throws down the stretch and got the win.”

(On the play of Ron Artest) “I don't think it matters who takes shots. Everybody gets caught up in that. We were up 11 (points) at halftime and it didn't matter who took shots. They were playing a certain way and we were being effective. So, I'm tired of that being brought up. The object is to win the game and that's what we did. I have no idea why (Ron didn't take that many shots), but it was pretty obvious Luis (Scola) and Carl (Landry) were getting shots because of the way they were playing. They were the people who were supposed to be taking the shots and getting the shots, so it's fine with me.”

(On the play of Ron Artest & Yao Ming) “We defended a lot better tonight. If we defend the way we are capable of defending and played as hard as we played, certainly we can win the game as long as guys step up and we had guys that did step up and that's what you have to have. We still have to find a way (to get the ball to Yao in the post). I thought we passed up a number of times where Yao did have position but again he's got to change what he's doing. He can't just continue to try to play the same way because they are not going to allow him to get the ball. So I think it's those little things. He got two offensive fouls for absolutely no reason in the first half and that takes him out of the game. He's just got to understand how they're playing him and be patient enough. If they want to take that away and we win the game, so be it.”

(On Yao): I think any player, when the other team is doing things to you, you have to make adjustments. You can’t try to do the same thing. He’s got to let the game come to him – let us come to him. He doesn’t have to work so hard. Let us try to find you with some movement, then it’s on the other guys. I just think it’s a combination. We have to do it as a team. There were times when he worked and had great position, and we did not throw him the ball and I don’t understand why. We’ll look at it and find out. It’s hard to miss him when he’s standing there with the guy on his back.

(on Aaron Brooks): He’s the one that makes the best plays for us down the stretch. He can get by his guy, he can make shots, he can make plays. I felt confident. I told him when I put him back in, ‘You have to finish this game for us.’

(on the team’s youth): There’s little things on this team, maybe because of their youth or whatever, like when Blake took the three, Aaron pressured the (heck) out of him and he shot an airball. Then we’re up five and Aaron backs six feet off him and lets him have a wide open three. Why would you back off him? We don’t want a three there. Let him go around you and get a two. There are those mistakes we make that you can’t make because it’s going to hurt you. It’s just little things and I think our team has to grow because they are young. People keep talking about the Blazers being young but our youth showed tonight, too.

YAO MING

(On the Rockets stepping up their scoring when he only had 7 points) “I think we still need to find a way to get me the ball in the low post. That's where I'm effective. Right now, there are a lot of different defenses coming at me. My teammates were really stepping up and making a lot of shots. Luis was really trying to release the pressure. I tried to get a lot of rebounds and help the team by guarding people.”

(On trying to get open in the post) “I feel there were a couple of times where I was open in the middle of the paint and obviously from my standpoint I was open but maybe from the perimeter it looked like it was too crowded to pass me the ball. We will watch the film tomorrow and find out why I can only score 7 points.”

(on how the Blazers defended him): I think it was tough for me because there was always one person ahead and one person behind – almost like a sandwich. I need to find a way to get the ball. I cannot let that defense beat me.

AARON BROOKS

I think Ron did a great job passing the ball. He drew a crowd today and made the right decisions. Yao, even though he only got 7 shots, we still got him the ball a couple times and he got us open. I think the [Blazers] defense had to spend so much time thinking about them that we got shots because other things were open. So I think we did a good job to get this win, we played great defense and now we need to pick it up on the offensive end next game.

LUIS SCOLA

I just want to win. If we would have won Game 2 I would have been happy regardless and if we would have lost today I would have been pretty down. It’s a playoff series and it’s going to be like that. Today Yao didn’t shoot the ball a lot but we’re still winning and that’s what we need to try to do. Sometimes it’s going to be days when somebody is going to play better and somebody’s going to play a little bit worse. We have to be able to produce as a team and still win - that’s what we need to look for.

You don’t know exactly what they’re going to do or how they’re going to react, but if I would be them then I’d say just try to keep the ball out of Yao’s hands as much as they can.

I think we’ve got one good thing and that’s that we play as a team. Because of that we can afford for Ron and Yao to have a bad offensive night and we’re still winning, and that’s a good thing to have. Not many teams can afford for their two best players to shoot so (few) shots and score that (few) points and still win.

(On the closeness of the game) “Yes, it was really close but they are a pretty good team. It's not like we are just going to come here and win games. They are going to come here and they are going to fight. It's going to be really hard if we want to win and if we want to win there are going to be close games that we have to win.”

(On his quick start in the 1st quarter) “I was being a little aggressive and I was making shots. I'm happy because Yao and Ron didn't score a lot of points but we were still able to win the game. Only good teams are able to do that and I think we are a good team and we play like a good team. We can get as far as or as short as we can get but we have to play as a team and that's a great thing.”

SHANE BATTIER

(On tonight's game) “I think tonight's game is going to be pretty indicative of how the series is going to go forward. They're not going to go out quietly and neither are we. It seemed like we had great control of the game, we played great defense but we let up just for a second. They have too many shooters and too many good players. They really made a run there, but luckily we made our free throws and plays at the end. But this was a nice win for us.”

(On getting the win without Yao & Ron scoring as much) “I'm really proud of our guys because Yao had another tough night with them focusing on taking him away but when that happens we have to find a way to make extra points. Luis had a great game. Carl had a great game. Our fours are going to have the opportunity to score big and this was a nice effort.”

We lost a lot of games this year trying to throw the ball into Yao when it’s just not working. The lesson we learned there is we have to attack where the defense is giving us. Right now they’re giving us the power forward jump shot and Luis and Carl did a great job of it, and hopefully that will loosen the defense up on Yao.

(defending Roy): What you have to understand about the great players is if they’re going to score in double digits, what you do is you make them work. If you make them work you can eliminate a lot of the feel good baskets. We didn’t do that at all in Game 2. But by making them work and eliminating those feel good baskets you make them earn every bucket. He’s a heckuva player and he’s going to come back more determined in Game 4, and we need to have the same intensity we had tonight.

There’s no secrets anymore. We know what they’re running and they know what we’re running. We know their weaknesses, they know our weaknesses – as players and as a team. Now it just comes down to: Can you make the play with that knowledge out there?

(winning a tight game): It gives us a lot of fodder to come back and improve. I think that’s what happened in Game 1 – we won by so much that the edge isn’t there. But you don’t lead your edge with a tightly-contested win; you feel good about it but we’ll still have that edge for Game 4.

It’s got to be with defense. We’re playing at a really high level defensively, and with that said we know we’re going to be in every game – it’s just a matter of making enough shots.

CARL LANDRY

(On the Rockets rebounding) “Luis (Scola) and Yao (Ming) do a good job every night. Luis had 9 rebounds tonight and Yao had 13 (rebounds). It's really important for us to be aggressive on the offensive end and to try to get offensive rebounds. Defensively, we can't give them second chances. We've got to rebound. That's going to be really important in this series.”

(On Yao Ming & Ron Artest scoring 16 points combined) “I'm looking at the stat sheet right now. That's crazy. Both of them combined for 16 points but hey, I'd rather them score 16 points and we win the game then for them to combine for 50 points and we lose the game. It's a great win for us.”

NATE MCMILLAN

(on the team’s play) “We’re going to need a team effort. It’s been that way pretty much all season long. We haven’t been a team that has had a lot of success if both units haven’t played well for us. We need everybody to be productive out on the floor. I thought it felt kinda helter-skelter out there, just no rhythm. Right from the start it seems like the team that establishes themselves at the beginning of the game has been the team that has won the game. The first game and tonight’s game they came out right away and established themselves on both ends of the floor and we never got a rhythm.”

(on the Rockets defense against Brandon Roy) “I thought Brandon saw the same defense (as he did in the first two games). I don’t think we set good screens. Our execution wasn’t as good as our last game. They pretty much just fought through the screens. They got more aggressive, they got tighter on the ball. The change was double-teaming LaMarcus (Aldridge) on the post. They mixed up their post defense and went with some goes early. They played Brandon the same way. Artest and Battier tried to stay close to him. They got through some screens. Occasionally they got aggressive with the four man but that wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen.”

BRANDON ROY

(on the low-scoring game) “It was game 3. Both teams made a lot of adjustments. We felt like we did a good job of slowing them down, but we felt like our offensive execution wasn’t good enough at all. You’ve got to give them some credit. They did a good job, and we have to do a better job of being patient, offensively and getting better shots….better movement.”

(on the change in Rockets defense tonight) “They really tried to take the paint away. Anytime I was penetrating, it didn’t matter, they were going to collapse. Late I was maybe trying to force it a little too much, but they were setting up to take charges. Next game I’ve got to look to get my teammates involved a little more.”

STEVE BLAKE

(on his final 3-point attempt) “I felt like I rushed the last three a little bit. I probably shot it too quick as I didn’t have my feet set.”

(on team’s comeback attempt) “We weren’t going to give up. It’s tough to give ourselves any moral victories. We have to learn from our mistakes and take advantage of opportunities when they come.

GREG ODEN

(on defending Yao) “ Yao is always going to put you in foul trouble. I have to figure what I can do around Yao. I have to move my feet and limit his touches inside the paint. We have to bring it all when we play on Sunday. Things just weren’t going down for us tonight.”

TRAVIS OUTLAW

(on the game and the series) “We’ve got a chance to get another one on Sunday. We just didn’t execute down the stretch. We have to jump out early on them. We have to pick up our aggressiveness. It’s not over, and we still have a chance.”

RUDY FERNANDEZ

(on the game) “We had an opportunity to win but we came up short. I made some three’s but it really doesn’t matter because we lost the game. I felt good. We lost the game but now we have to look to Sunday.”

NOTES

Tonight’s attendance of 18,371 marks the fifth straight sellout for the Rockets dating back to the regular season (3/28/09-4/24/09).

The Rockets recorded an 86-83 win over the Trail Blazers tonight to take a 2-1 lead in the series. The victory improved Houston ’s record against Portland to 5-0 all-time at home in the playoffs. Overall, Houston has captured seven consecutive games at Toyota Center after winning the final six home outings of the regular season.

Houston took a 40-30 advantage in the paint tonight. Portland had held a 90-60 scoring edge in the paint over the first two outings of this series.

The Rockets connected on 12-of-15 (.800) from the field in the second quarter. Houston ’s best 12 minutes during the 2008-09 regular season was a 15-of-19 (.789) first quarter at Detroit (1/25/09).

Houston held the Trail Blazers to 37 first-half points (.378, 14-37 FG). Portland then got back into this game by limiting the Rockets to 38 second-half points (.355, 11-31 FG), while connecting on 7-of-14 (.500) 3-pointers over the final two quarters. The most 3-point field goals made by the Trail Blazers in a game with the Rockets this season was six (done twice in the regular season). Overall, Portland was 10-of-23 (.435) from beyond the arc.

Luis Scola equaled his postseason best in scoring with 19 points (8-15 FG), nine rebounds and three assists tonight. Scola set his playoff career high with 19 points (7-9 FG) and eight rebounds in Game One at Portland (4/18/09).

Shane Battier finished with 16 points (6-10 FG, 2-4 3FG) and a playoff-career-high four blocked shots. His previous best in the playoffs was two blocks done six times (last on 5/2/08 at Utah ). Battier’s regular season high was also four blocked shots vs. Cleveland (2/26/09).

Yao Ming had seven points (2-7 FG, 3-3 FT), 13 rebounds and three blocks tonight. Yao registered his first double-digit rebounding effort in the postseason since setting his playoff career high of 15 boards vs. Utah (4/30/07).

Carl Landry registered 10 points (5-7 FG) tonight, marking his second career double-figure scoring game in the playoffs. Landry also netted a playoff-career-high 13 points last year at Utah (4/26/08).

Brandon Roy scored a team-high 19 points (6-18 FG) tonight. Roy also led Portland with 24 points (10-23 FG, 4-4 FT) at Houston (2/24/09) and 22 points (8-20 FG) in the second meeting at Toyota Center (4/5/09) during the regular season. Roy has now shot a combined 24-of-61 (.393) from the field over his three outings in Houston this season.

Rudy Fernandez (17 points, 5-7 3FG) and Steve Blake (16 points, 4-7 3FG) became the first two Portland players to hit at least four 3-pointers in a game against the Rockets this season. Fernandez and Nicolas Batum each had a three-make game from beyond the arc during the regular season series with Houston .

Steve Blake added a playoff-career-high 10 assists tonight. The last double-digit assist total against the Rockets in the playoffs came a year-to-the-day with Deron Williams dishing 12 assists at Utah (4/24/08).

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