The AP reports: For the first time in 12 years, the Houston Rockets advanced in the NBA playoffs. Ron Artest scored 27 points, Yao Ming had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Houston reached the second round for the first time since 1997, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 92-76 in Game 6 on Thursday night. Aaron Brooks scored 13 points and Shane Batter tied a career playoff-high with nine rebounds as the Rockets won for the first time in their last seven first-round series. They lost Game 6s the last two seasons, both to Utah. Houston put this one away with a big second quarter and moves on to play the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night at the Staples Center. The Lakers won all four meetings in the regular season. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and Brandon Roy had 22 for the Blazers, who were making their first playoff appearance since 2003. Portland improved 13 games from last season and reached its highest win total since 1999-00.
Category: Houston Rockets Blog
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NBA team notes swine flu
I generally talk almost entirely about basketball, occasionally touching on fun stuff in entertainment, and avoid discussing anything nasty in the world, but today, an NBA team located down near Mexico has sent a reaction to the current swine flu issue.
The Houston Rockets, showing that they’re on top of things, took a positive step to state that they’re aware of the swine flu’s existence and are monitoring the situation and making sure everyone is safe. I think they’re the first NBA team to say something about the issue, though they didn’t actually mention it by name in the release they sent out.
Here’s what the Rockets said:
“We are aware of the situation and concerned for all involved. We have been working with city health officials and the mayor’s office, as well as monitoring the situation from state and regional authorities. At this time, Toyota Center has been advised to continue its normal operations pertaining to Rockets and Aeros playoff games as well as concerts. We will continue communicating with the various agencies and will keep our fans apprised if any operational changes are implemented based on the directives we receive from local authorities.”
Until there’s reason to do so, I’ll probably not mention the issue again. Good for the Rockets, for being proactive.
Now, back to focusing on the playoffs!
Blazers beat Rockets 88-77 to avoid elimination
The AP reports: Brandon Roy had an IV before Game 5, then went out and scored 25 points to help the Trail Blazers stave off elimination with an 88-77 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. LaMarcus Aldridge also had 25. The Rockets, who have not advanced out of the first round of the playoffs in six tries since 1997, hold a 3-2 advantage in the series going into Thursday night’s game back in Houston… Luis Scola led the Rockets with 21 points. Yao Ming had 15 points and 12 rebounds… Portland went on a 17-4 run in the first quarter, taking a 23-13 lead on Aldridge’s 18-footer. But Houston’s Scola hit seven of nine shots from the floor and ended the quarter with 15 points, and the Rockets cut the deficit to 29-26 to start the second quarter.
Rockets take 3-1 series lead with win over Blazers
The AP reports: The Houston Rockets are one win away from finally escaping the first round. Yao Ming had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Rockets took a 3-1 lead in their playoff series with Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 89-88 on Sunday night. Luis Scola scored 17 points and Shane Battier added 14 points and six assists for the Rockets, who snapped a six-game losing streak in Game 4s, coinciding with their 0-6 record in first-round series since 1998. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Portland. Brandon Roy scored 31 points and went 13-for-13 from the free-throw line for the Blazers… LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points and Outlaw had 14 for the Blazers.
Scola, Rockets hold on to beat Blazers 86-83
The AP reports: The Houston Rockets got away with another quiet night from Yao Ming because they forced Brandon Roy into one, too. Luis Scola scored 19 points and the Rockets bottled up Roy in an 86-83 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night that gave Houston a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. Yao scored only seven points on 2-for-7 shooting, but Shane Battier scored 16 points as Houston beat the Blazers for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings at the Toyota Center. Game 4 is Sunday in Houston… Roy, who scored 42 points in Portland’s 107-103 win in Game 2, had 19 points, but went 6-for-18 from the field. Even when he broke free from Battier or Artest, Houston’s defense seemed to converge on him in the lane… Steve Blake scored 16 and had 10 assists, and Rudy Fernandez sank five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points for the Blazers, who trailed by 17 in the second half before rallying in the final quarter.
Dikembe Mutombo suffers career-ending knee injury
Dikembe Mutombo, 42, was carried away on a stretcher in the first quarter of the Rockets’ 107-103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 with what he said was a career-ending left knee injury. “It’s over for me for my career,” said Mutombo, who will be examined by team doctors when the Rockets return to Houston today. An eight-time NBA All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Mutombo is one of the game’s great humanitarians and had a distinguished 18-year career with Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Houston.
More Dikembe quotes from the Chronicle: “It’s not something that I planned,” Mutombo said. “All I can say right now is I had a wonderful run of 18 years and stayed injury-free. I thank God a lot for all this blessing and putting such great people around me for all of my career in the NBA. I’m just happy. “I have to go out with my head high and not be disappointed and have no regrets. I have so many things I can be so thankful for over my 18 years.”
InsideHoops.com note: Mutombo was banging for position against Blazers center Greg Oden, who has had several early-career knee injuries himself, when he suffered the injury.
Read fan discussion of Mutombo’s career in this forum topic.
Rockets players imitate Mutombo’s voice:
Roy scores 42 to even Rockets and Blazers series
The AP reports: After winning their first playoff game in six years, the Portland Trail Blazers couldn’t help but be a little amazed with their victory over the Houston Rockets. “We kind of laughed about it, `Man, it’s hard winning games in the playoffs. It takes a lot of work,”’ said Brandon Roy, who had 42 points in Portland’s 107-103 victory Tuesday night. The playoff series, now even at a game apiece, moves to Houston for Game 3 on Friday. Aaron Brooks led a late charge and finished with 23 points for Houston, which has not made it out of the first round since 1997. Von Wafer came off the bench to add 21. LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 12 rebounds for Trail Blazers, who had never dropped the first two games of a playoff series at home and played one of their most physical games of the season… Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo injured his left leg in the first quarter and left the court on a stretcher.
Rockets-Blazers team connections
Connections: Rick Adelman still ranks as the second winningest coach in Trail Blazers history behind Jack Ramsay, racking up a record of 291-154 (.654) in the regular season and a 36-33 (.522) mark in the postseason … Adelman twice coached the Trail Blazers into the NBA Finals, qualifying Portland for the playoffs in all six of his seasons … Elston Turner also served as an assistant coach with Portland … T.R. Dunn was drafted by Portland with the 41st overall pick of the 1977 NBA Draft, spending his first three NBA campaigns with the Trail Blazers … R.J. Adelman was a four-year letterman in basketball at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon … Pat Zipfel joined Houston after serving three seasons as an advance scout with Portland … Rockets guard Aaron Brooks was an All-Pac-10 standout at the University of Oregon … in the 2008 NBA Draft, Houston traded the draft rights to Nicolas Batum (25th overall pick) to Portland for the draft rights to Darrell Arthur (27th overall pick) and Joey Dorsey (33rd overall pick) … Rockets guard Von Wafer played eight games with the Trail Blazers in 2007-08 … Houston guard/forward James White was originally selected by Portland in the second round (31st overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft before having his rights traded to Indiana … Portland center Joel Przybilla was selected by Houston in the first round (9th overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft before Milwaukee acquired his draft rights.
Dwight Howard named Defensive Player of Year
Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2008-09 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today.
The 6-11 center led the NBA in rebounds and blocks, averaging 13.8 boards and 2.92 blocks. He also averaged 20.6 points on .572 shooting from the floor. Howard recorded nine 20-point/20-rebound games while leading the team in scoring 39 times and in rebounds on 69 occasions.
Howard, a three-time NBA All-Star, helped the Magic to its second consecutive Southeast Division title (59-23), including a 32-9 record at home. The Magic held opponents under 100 points 54 times this season — compiling a 43-11 record — including a season-low 68 points allowed by New Orleans on Dec. 25. Orlando allowed 94.4 ppg (7,737 points), which ranked sixth in the NBA, and overall the team was in the NBA’s top 10 in seven defensive categories.
Howard became the fifth player in NBA history to finish the season leading the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic). The select group includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers, 1975-76), Bill Walton (Portland Trail Blazers, 1976-77), Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston, 1989-90) and Ben Wallace (Detroit, 2001-02).
Howard received 542 points, including 105 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Cleveland’s LeBron James finished second with 148 points and Miami’s Dwyane Wade finished third with 90 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.
Finishing fourth was Shane Battier, fifth was Ron Artest, sixth was Chris Paul, seventh was Kobe Bryant, eighth was Kevin Garnett, ninth was Chris Andersen and 10th was Rajon Rondo.
Mike Brown named Coach of Year
Cleveland’s Mike Brown is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.
Brown totaled 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
In his fourth season at the helm in Cleveland, Brown guided the Cavaliers to a franchise- and NBA-best 66-16 (.805) season, marking only the 12th time an NBA team has won at least 66 games. Cleveland started the season with a franchise-best 23-straight wins at Quicken Loans Arena and finished with the best home record in the league at 39-2. Cleveland is the sixth team in NBA history to record 39 home wins and the first to do so since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers’ 21-game improvement over last year’s 45-37 record tied the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the second biggest improvement all-time among teams with at least 45 wins in the previous season.
Brown was named NBA Coach of the Month for December, February and March. At the All-Star break, Cleveland owned the highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference (36-9, .800), earning Brown the spot as head coach for the East in Phoenix. It was Brown’s first appearance as an All-Star head coach and the second in franchise history (Lenny Wilkens, 1989).
Brown led the Cavaliers to at least 45 wins in each of his first three campaigns, marking only the second time Cleveland won that many games in three consecutive seasons (1991-92 to 1993-94). With a combined regular season record of 211-117 (.643) in four seasons, Brown has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in franchise history. In each of his first three seasons in Cleveland, Brown has led the Cavaliers to the playoffs, amassing a franchise-best 26-20 (.565) postseason record. In 2007, he led Cleveland to its first trip to The Finals.
Brown joined the Cavaliers after two seasons as associate head coach for the Indiana Pacers. Prior to that, Brown served as assistant coach for three seasons in San Antonio, helping guide the Spurs to the 2003 NBA championship. Brown began his coaching career with the Washington Wizards, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach under Bernie Bickerstaff.
The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Houston coach Rick Adelman finished second in the voting with 13 first-place votes and 151 total points.
Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy finished third with 13 first-place votes and 150 total points.
Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan finished fourth with 15 first-place votes and 127 total points.
Denver Nuggets coach George Karl finished fifth with 11 first-place votes and 117 total points.
The next five coaches to receive some votes were Jerry Sloan, Erik Spoelstra, Mike Woodson, Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers.