Houston, We Had A Dynasty - Officially Retired

[Houndy]

Nice wins. I would've liked the Clips making it. Then Phil would commit suicide

[Andrew]

Sounds like the team showed the resolve of a champion in the fourth, even with K-Mart struggling from the field. Looks like you've got this one in hand.

[Lamrock]

Nice wins to get up 2-0 on the Fakers. Looking good for your repeat hopes.

[Martti.]

Joel Anthony had an excellent Game 2 with 23 points and 15 boards,

WTF?

[George7]

Easy 2 wins there!!
Now go for the sweep

[kibaxx7]

I don't know what you are so surprised about, Martti. Anthony's awesomeness carried the Heat to another triumph.

[Stress Fracture]

Joel Anthony had an excellent Game 2 with 23 points and 15 boards,

WTF?

He's really epic!!

Hey,Phil's quiet, huh.

[Axel The Great]

Nice wins. I would've liked the Clips making it. Then Phil would commit suicide

Would've done a story on that, but not the suicide part.

Sounds like the team showed the resolve of a champion in the fourth, even with K-Mart struggling from the field. Looks like you've got this one in hand.

As long as the team fills up some gaps (eg K-Mart's struggles), we're good to advance.

Nice wins to get up 2-0 on the Fakers. Looking good for your repeat hopes.

If we make it out of the WCF alive, the East (other than the Magic) is no challenge.

Joel Anthony had an excellent Game 2 with 23 points and 15 boards,

WTF?

Made up of course, since the sim engine doesn't realize his greatness. 23 points is a career high for him.

Easy 2 wins there!!
Now go for the sweep

Goin' for it.

I don't know what you are so surprised about, Martti. Anthony's awesomeness carried the Heat to another triumph.

Yes, and considering it was against the Magic, even more awesome.

Joel Anthony had an excellent Game 2 with 23 points and 15 boards,

WTF?

He's really epic!!

Hey,Phil's quiet, huh.

Zen Master Phil has been silenced.

PS: Added two videos to the recap, be sure to check them out. One's definitely a treat to see for us Laker haters!!!

[Andrew]

Nice video, but a reminder that the game really needs some good "dunked on" animations. Hopefully they can polish up the real time physics for NBA Elite 12.

[rise]

Awesome. I love to see the Lakers down in a series.

[Axel The Great]

RedNation News Article

Choke in Overtime, Clutch City Advances

Houston Rockets 102-96 Los Angeles Lakers


I'll be living in this thread from now on; the real-life Yao is just too far away from the one seen here. Yao went 20 and 11 this game.

Unlike the first two games, this game was close the whole way. The Rockets' biggest lead of the game was 14; for a brief amount of time. Again, Kevin Martin replicated his 9/28 shooting from last game, coincidentally. Despite that, he brought defense to the table, and he was the performer of the game. In the second half, the Lakers were able to keep up with the Rockets, as they were only down by five at halftime.

The third quarter was a different story though. The Rockets' bench came out on a hot shooting streak, and the Lakers went cold. Midway through the third, the starters were brought back in, and continued the streak that the bench had. The tables were turned in the fourth however, as the three-ball was falling for the Lakers late in the game. Clutch free-throw shooting from Aaron Brooks (14 points) and Kevin Martin closed out the game, and the Rockets are now really in control of this series.

SPOTG-

Kevin Martin
24 points | 6 ast | 2 reb | 2 stl | 2 blk

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 24
Lakers: Shannon Brown- 25

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 11
Lakers: Andrew Bynum- 16

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 9
Lakers: Ron Artest- 8

Box Score-
24 26 28 24 102
22 23 19 32 96


Luis Scola chipped in an excellent 12 points and 9 boards.


The Lakers went 9/26 from three as opposed to the Rockets' below mediocre 3/11.

phpBB [video]

Houston Rockets 110-109 Los Angeles Lakers


Kobe has a reputation of being clutch. He didn't live up to that reputation this game.

Excitement around every corner, nobody knew this game would go to overtime based on how the first half went. The Rockets were in complete control. They were forcing turnovers, shooting the ball well, and holding the Lakers to a poor shooting night. In the second half though, that changed. The Lakers started the second half on an 8-0 run, and would eventually gain their first lead of the series.

In the fourth quarter, the Lakers went on a 12-0 run, and it looked like the Rockets were done for the game. However, clutch buckets by Chase Budinger, who scored 13 points on 5/5 shooting, Yao Ming, and Kevin Martin willed the Rockets to fight back. With the game tied at 93, Kobe missed a 17-foot jumper, and the Rockets had a chance to win the game. K-Mart was stripped of the ball, and the clock ran out.

In overtime, both teams got right to work on offense, and the Lakers clearly showed they were the better team. They had a five-point lead with less than a minute left. After a timeout, Aaron Brooks hit a three off the inbounds pass to make it a two-point game. Then the Rockets got a defensive stop, and got the ball in the hands of Kevin Martin. He got hit a tough layup to tie the game.

The Rockets got another defensive stop, got the ball in Martin's hands again, and everyone thought he would call for a screen and pull up at the elbow, but he took it all the way, and got fouled by Pau Gasol. He knocked down both free throws, with only seven seconds left in the game. After a timeout, the Lakers made a mistake to go inside to Bynum, who was fouled by Yao. Needing both free throws to tie the game, Bynum missed the first and made the second, and just like that, the Rockets sweep the Los Angeles Lakers.

SPOTG-

Kobe Bryant
29 points | 7 reb | 6 ast | 2 stl | 1 blk

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 32
Lakers: Kobe Bryant- 29

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 20
Lakers: Andrew Bynum- 21

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 8
Lakers: Shannon Brown- 10

Box Score-
26 22 21 24 17 110
18 22 23 30 16 109


Aaron Brooks was able to knock down this crucial three.


Kevin Martin converted this tough layup to tie the game in OT.

In Other News...

Steve Nash's 13 Assists Crucial to Phoenix's Game 7 Victory
It's official. The Phoenix Suns will compete for the Western Conference Championship. They defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-110, Channing Frye scored a game-winner on a backdoor cut in which Steve Nash threaded the needle to get the ball to him. Once again, the King falls short of a championship.

Read More...


Heat Pull an Upset
The Miami Heat took it to the first-seeded Orlando Magic, defeating them in five games. Dwyane Wade's scoring was crucial to their advancement. This is a relief for the Rockets, because the Magic was the only team in the East that was capable of taking them to the limit.

Read More...

New Jersey Will Compete Against Miami
The Nets eliminated the Indiana Pacers in six games. The Pacers were without stars Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert, and they had not gotten this far in the playoffs since 2005.

Read More...

Fuck... we're in trouble.

[rise]

Holy shit, I love like 10 things about this page right now, Rockets won, Lakers lose, Lakers were swept , Kobe got REJECTED, and phoenix is playing... etc..

[Andrew]

The sweep makes it a pretty one-sided series, but seems those last two games were pretty full on and competitive. Narrow escape in Game 4, but a win's a win.

Good luck against the Suns!

[Warlock95]

Holy shit, I love like 10 things about this page right now, Rockets won, Lakers lose, Lakers were swept , Kobe got REJECTED, and phoenix is playing... etc..

Hope KB24(+1) retires.

[Warlock95]

Holy shit, I love like 10 things about this page right now, Rockets won, Lakers lose, Lakers were swept , Kobe got REJECTED, and phoenix is playing... etc..

Hope KB24(+1) retires.

[Warlock95]

Holy shit, I love like 10 things about this page right now, Rockets won, Lakers lose, Lakers were swept , Kobe got REJECTED, and phoenix is playing... etc..

Hope KB24(+1) retires.

[Phil89]

Sweeping the Lakers? Very nice.

How did the Thunder not win with Durant and LeBron?

[kibaxx7]

Incredible sweep man Is Martin the PPG leader in the playoffs?

[Axel The Great]

Too lazy to quote, so I'll go the other way.

z02, I guess it's your favorite page because 25 is Kobe's number in this dynasty? jk

Andrew, yeah, they really brought it to us the last two games. I'm gonna need all the luck I can get with Steve Nash's bullshit nature.

J-Bark #95, I hope so too. You may not have noticed, but you triple-posted.

Phil89, someone by the name of Sim Engine. Either way, the WCF will be very competitive.

Thierry •, just checked, yes he is. Averaging 29.3 ppg, Kobe is in second with 28.3. Anyone who says he's a fluke back-to-back scoring champion can suck it.

[Axel The Great]

2011 NBA Playoffs: Conference Finals Preview



These are the matchups for the 2011 Western Conference Finals. Let's focus on the Suns-Rockets series. Back in '94, the Suns had a 2-0 lead against the Rockets, and people began to call the Rockets "Choke City". The Rockets would eventually come back from that deficit and beat the Suns in seven games, and go on to win the championship. Now, 17 years later, here they are again. This time, there's no Charles Barkley, there's no Hakeem Olajuwon. Let's take a look at the team previews and the Toyota Keys to the Series.



The Starters


C Nenad Kristic | PF Channing Frye | SF Von Wafer | SG Leandro Barbosa | PG Steve Nash

The Bench


Grant Hill | Jason Richardson | Jared Dudley | Goran Dragic | Earl Clark | Pat Cooke | Sean Marshall

Inactive List


Dwayne Jones | Robin Lopez



The Starters


C Yao Ming | PF Luis Scola | SF Shane Battier | SG Kevin Martin | PG Aaron Brooks

The Bench


Kyle Lowry | Ray Allen | Donte Greene | Chase Budinger | Jordan Hill | Jared Jeffries | Chuck Hayes

Inactive List


Brad Halstead | Gregory Costa

Keys to the Series:
Phoenix Suns: Now you may be thinking: "Why are J-Rich and Robin Lopez not starters?" They're both injured. Their frontcourt is a weak spot. The Suns have shooters all over the place, and with a point guard like Steve Nash, they'll be getting open looks all night long. And basically, when you're against Steve Nash, yeah, you're pretty much screwed. He's averaging 25.8 ppg, and 11 apg. This will be a very interesting series.

Houston Rockets: The Suns lack efficient frontcourt players; they'll have to take advantage of that with Yao. Yao had double-doubles in every game against the Lakers, he should have no trouble in this series. The Suns' shooters are a big concern though; the Rockets must not allow many open looks. They must rotate over and contest every shot, and must not allow easy baskets. When you're against Steve Nash, that's much easier said than done. Because of the lack of perimeter defenders, Kevin Martin and Ray Allen (both didn't shoot very well against the Lakers) should have no struggles this series.

A heated series expected from both teams, we'll see how it all pans out. The Rockets claimed the season series 3-1, and the Suns went 58-24 in the regular season.
Prediction: Rockets advance in six games.

[George7]

I think that you will going to get a 4-1 win on the series.
Dominate the paint,and the win is clearly yours.


As it seems so far,the key to the ring is your job in the paint and how you're going to utilize Martin.

[Martti.]

Since they have Nash, you might lose a game.

[Houndy]

4-2 Rockets Win

[rise]

Since you are extremely good with your team, I'll say you win 4-2.

The Suns line-up is screwed. Even with the injuries, I can think of a couple things the Suns did wrong. They should have started either Grant Hill or Jared Dudley instead of Wafer. Wafer is a guard.

What positions do Cooke and Marsall play?

[Kenny]

I think Steve Nash... I mean, the Suns might be able to steal a game from you, but I'll pick you to win the series.

Hoping for a Houston Vs Jersey Finals series