Houston, We Had A Dynasty - Officially Retired

[Axel The Great]

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.

Yeah, the game will definitely be won in the paint. Robin Lopez being out is definitely a blessing.

Since they have Nash, you might lose a game.

Oh please, let's not have that argument from a season ago.

4-2 Rockets Win

Of course, those two games will be won by Steve Nash.

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?

The sim engine organizes their starters by overall rating, and Grant Hill's and Jared Dudley's ratings are lower than Wafer's. Not sure which is which, but one is a C, and the other is a guard I think (referring to Cooke and Marshall).

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

Steve Nash has help now though; Channing Frye was an MVP Candidate near the end of the season.

With the way the Heat has been playing (sweeping Detroit, and taking out the first-seeded Magic in five games), your hopes may be crushed.

[Murat]

You'll win this one I think, but I can't see sweep at the end of road to ring.

[kibaxx7]

I don't care if Grant Hill or J-Rich are injured, you just can't start Wafer Not sure if you will sweep, I'd say 4-1...

[Axel The Great]

Badger, I lost one game on the road to the ring last season, I think I may lose more than that this season.

Thierry, Grant Hill isn't injured, he's just declining. But yes, starting Wafer is a bad move.

RedNation News Article

Houston Rockets 103-88 Phoenix Suns


Channing Frye showed his MVP-esque year wasn't a fluke. He posted 24 points, 10 boards, and four blocks.

The first half was pretty one-sided, the Rockets cruised to a nine point lead at halftime. The Suns came out in the third quarter with energy, playing defense and shooting the ball well. After the third quarter, it was still a ball game. However, the Rockets went on a hot streak, with Kevin Martin rolling; he had 33 points. That however, doesn't compare enough to Steve Nash's 37 points. Despite Nash's huge night, the Rockets take Game 1.

SPOTG-

Aaron Brooks
18 points | 10 ast | 2 stl | 1 reb

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 33
Suns: Steve Nash- 37

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 12
Suns: Nenad Kristic- 16

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 10
Suns: Steve Nash- 8

Box Score-
28 25 20 30 103
22 22 24 20 88


Consistency is the key to Kevin Martin's game. He has not scored any less 24 points in these playoffs.

Houston Rockets 105-97 Phoenix Suns


Steve Nash's foul trouble was key to this Game 2 victory.

The Suns led for almost the entire second quarter. Both teams had a slow start in the first, but with less than 10 seconds left in the first quarter, the Suns took the lead, and would not relinquish it until just before halftime. Free throws kept the Rockets in the game, they went 31/31 as a team, and it explains their low assists number. In the third quarter, the Rockets dominated, and got out to a 17-point lead. The Suns were just not playing defense, and to make matters worse, Steve Nash picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter. Without Nash, the Suns appeared out of it.

As a team though, they battled back, dumbing down the Rockets lead to five. Steve Nash came back into the game with less than two minutes left, but fouled out by an intentional foul on Aaron Brooks. Still, he had 10 points and 11 assists after fouling out. The Rockets closed out the game with free throws, and they head to Phoenix with a 2-0 lead. Noteworthy was Yao Ming's strong performance, he had a double-double at the half, and finished with 22 points and 18 rebounds. He's been key to these two games.

SPOTG-

Yao Ming
22 points | 18 reb | 1 ast

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 28
Suns: Channing Frye- 30

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 18
Suns: Nenad Kristic- 15

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks and Jared Jeffries- 2
Suns: Steve Nash- 11

Box Score-
19 27 31 28 105
20 23 20 34 97


Yao Ming's inconsistency in the regular season seems to have just been energy being stored for the post season.


Chase Budinger's play as of late has been phenomenal, if this keeps up, he may get the starting job over Battier.

In Other News

Heat Dominate Nets, Go Up 2-0
Dwyane Wade went 6/11 from downtown in Game 2, and the Heat take a commanding 2-0 lead, heading home to Miami. Looks like the Finals series is decided.

Read More...

[Houndy]

Heat-Rockets

[Bucket]

Nash


Nice job beating Suns 2-0, now Sweep them.

[George7]

KD#35,


Great job taking advantage of your home court.I believe that Suns are capable of stealing a game,but most possibly the sweep is yours

[Axel The Great]

Houndy, yep. I'll have to go against the Greatness that is Joel Anthony.

KD#35, oh, nice.

George7, their high octane offense makes them capable. From the next 2-game recap, they did steal a game.

[Axel The Great]

RedNation News Article

Houston Rockets 103-85 Phoenix Suns


Yep, just your normal Phoenix Suns.

Everybody thought this game would be a lot closer than the last two games. It turned out as if the Rockets were at home, and let's not even get started on the Rockets bandwagoners...

There are sometimes days where you botch everything offensively, including layups. Well, this was one of those days for the Suns. Futility on offense and defense, they never got their offense on a roll, and are just one loss away from elimination. That ring keeps eluding Steve Nash...

SPOTG-

Yao Ming
14 points | 12 reb | 2 ast | 1 blk

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 21
Suns: Steve Nash- 29

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 12
Suns: Nenad Krstic- 12

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 10
Suns: Steve Nash- 12

Box Score-
27 26 26 24 103
21 18 20 26 85

phpBB [video]

Houston Rockets 81-97 Phoenix Suns


From deep, the Rockets were Fryed, by the hot Suns!

The Suns basically returned many favors here to the Rockets. They blew them out, only in the second half though. The Rockets had the lead for the vast majority of the first half, but in the second half, the Suns jumpstarted to a 12-4 run, and would not relinquish the lead ever again. In the fourth quarter, the Rockets would come within two points, but the Suns got to the free throw line, and made back-to-back threes to seal the game, and shattered the Rockets' hopes of a sweep. The Rockets went cold in the fourth quarter, missing their last five field goal attempts.

SPOTG-

Channing Frye
23 points | 12 reb | 3 ast | 2 blk | 1 stl

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 28
Suns: Steve Nash- 35

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 8
Suns: Nenad Krstic and Channing Frye- 12

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 7
Suns: Steve Nash- 9

Box Score-
27 18 17 19 81
24 19 28 26 97


There were many highlight plays like this from the Rockets, but just not in the fourth quarter.

In Other News...

Heat Close to Advancing As Well, up 3-1
It seems like the 2011 NBA Finals is decided, the Heat lost a close Game 3 102-100, but then came back in Game 4 to win it 93-85.

Read More...

[rise]

I'm still waiting for that 50 point explosion from Nash! Good job so far.

[Houndy]

I will lol if something happens and the Heat choke and you choke to. Probably won't happen, but fun to imagine

[Andrew]

Heat/Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals...well, half of that is plausible. Looks like you're both poised to advance to the Finals.

[kibaxx7]

Now I see why Frye spent some time on MVP Candidates list. But no problem at all man, one more win!

[George7]

Too bad you didn't get the sweep.I predicted that Nash would be the reason Suns would stole you a game,but I clearly couldn't thought of Frye

[Stress Fracture]

I told you Axel, the Lakers were swept! Now Phil's quiet.

Why in the world Wafer's starting?! Might as well change my user name again. And on KD#35's picture,

[Axel The Great]

I'm still waiting for that 50 point explosion from Nash! Good job so far.

Will never happen. Never had a player drop 50 on me before, and I don't see it happening anytime soon.

I will lol if something happens and the Heat choke and you choke to. Probably won't happen, but fun to imagine

Not fun to imagine actually. I'd like to win a championship since this is my last season for the dynasty.

Heat/Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals...well, half of that is plausible. Looks like you're both poised to advance to the Finals.

The Heat did us a favor in eliminating the Magic, and now the Nets. The Magic beat me twice in the regular season, and the Nets really pushed us to the limit. We had no trouble against the Heat though.

Now I see why Frye spent some time on MVP Candidates list. But no problem at all man, one more win!

Yeah, it was pretty hard to believe that he was an MVP Candidate, but it's only natural that he'd step up after Amar'e Stoudemire's departure. Now if he would do that in real life...

Too bad you didn't get the sweep.I predicted that Nash would be the reason Suns would stole you a game,but I clearly couldn't thought of Frye

Yeah, he's been snatching up offensive rebounds. I'll expect Yao to slow him down next game, so we can take it in 5.

I told you Axel, the Lakers were swept! Now Phil's quiet.

Why in the world Wafer's starting?! Might as well change my user name again. And on KD#35's picture,

Yeah, definitely change your username, Wafer's long gone man. Silencing Phil Jackson is an excellent feeling.

End of the series and Finals preview (lol, if I don't choke) should be up by the end of today. My goal is to finish/win the championship by Thursday or Friday, and have the epilogue(s) up.

EDIT: Added a video to the latest recap.

[Axel The Great]

RedNation News Article

Houston Rockets 117-103 Phoenix Suns


Yao is in pursuit of his second ring.

This was an offensive powered game. Don't get me wrong, the Rockets were playing heavy defense, it's just that the Suns had the hot hand all game. They were making heavily contested jumpshots and layups, and getting offensive rebounds. The Suns would've stolen this game had the Rockets gone cold. But they didn't; Kevin Martin scored 38 points on 16/22 shooting, and 3/6 from beyond the arc. Yao Ming also had a post-season high 26 points, and Aaron Brooks rounded it out with 18 points and 12 assists. The Rockets shot 58% from the field.

A way you can measure the Rockets defense, they forced turnovers, especially in the second half. The Suns had 15 turnovers compared to the Rockets 10, and the Rockets had 12 steals as a team. Fourth quarter execution helped the Rockets pull away from the Suns, they had a 93-92 lead with about six minutes left in the game. Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks scored three combined three-pointers to pull away, and then there was nothing the Suns could do.

Steve Nash was the culprit of all of this frustration; he had 33 points and 16 assists, but the performer of the game award went to the all mighty Yao Ming. "I never hesitated to put a hand in Steve's face, even to the point where he just couldn't see the basket. Despite that, he scored that many points. As a player, it's frustrating when that happens," Aaron Brooks said on guarding Steve Nash. The Rockets move on to the Finals in search of a repeat, and are stunned to see who they will be facing.

SPOTG-

Yao Ming
26 points | 8 reb | 3 ast | 3 stl | 1 blk

Top Scorers-
Rockets: Kevin Martin- 38
Suns: Steve Nash- 33

Board Crashers-
Rockets: Yao Ming- 8
Suns: Channing Frye- 12

Assists-
Rockets: Aaron Brooks- 12
Suns: Steve Nash- 16

Box Score-
29 26 33 29 117
21 29 31 22 103


Heavy defense just didn't work on Steve Nash this game.


Similar to Steve Nash, Kevin Martin could not be stopped either.


Von Wafer had his best game of the series, with 12 points.


Channing Frye has come a long way, and being consistent against the Rockets is a good measure of that.

phpBB [video]

Kevin Martin gets bumped by Channing Frye, but still gets the layup to go.

In Other News...

Heat Choke, Nets Win Three In A Row
The Nets pulled the impossible, and that was defeat the Miami Heat after being down 3-1 in the series. The Nets will now make their third Finals appearance in franchise history.

Read More...

After such a frustrating game that this was, I'm gonna go wash my mouth out with soap.

[Martti.]

At least you got it done. Sucks Miami choked against the Nets.

[rise]

WTF, Nets are in the Finals?!?!

Great win Axel. Have fun sweeping the Nets.

[Houndy]

I CALLED IT (part of it)

[kibaxx7]

OMG, the Russian has done it!

[Andrew]

Congrats on making the Finals for the second straight year! The sim engine clearly likes the Nets, I wouldn't have expected that...but then again, given the sim engine's tendency for upsets, maybe I should have. In any case, the regular season was then and this is now; I'm expecting you'll win in four or five for the repeat.

[Axel The Great]

Martti., yeah, the greatness that is Joel Anthony wasn't enough for them to win.

z02, based on the Finals preview that's coming up, I'm not sure I'll be able to sweep them.

Houndy, a very bold prediction at that. How dare you predict against the greatness that is Joel Anthony?

Thierry •, in Soviet Russia, the Nets make Finals.

Andrew, thanks. Yeah, the sim engine is a dictator, it's hardly ever kind to the user, and usually picks just one team to favor. Either way, in 5 or 6 games would be a reasonable prediction. You'll see why in the Finals preview.

[Axel The Great]

2011 NBA Finals Preview



Houston Rockets against the New Jersey Nets. If someone had told me last season that the Nets would be in with the Rockets in the Finals, I would've asked, "do they have Jason Kidd back?" and also probably said that they were crazy. Well, here they are, their third Finals appearance, while the Rockets are making their sixth Finals appearance. These two teams don't have a rivalry or history against each other, but this could turn out to be what sparks a rivalry for many years to come. Many Nets players are searching for their first ring, while many Rockets players want their second. We'll see who wants that ring more.



The Starters


C Dan Williams | PF Brook Lopez | SF Courtney Lee | SG Devin Harris | PG Nate Robinson

The Bench


Marcus Thornton | Josh Boone | Keyon Dooling | Bobby Simmons | Kris Humphries | Terrence Williams | Mark Blount

Inactive List


Richard Weber



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:
New Jersey Nets: Like two out of the last three series, the Rockets find themselves facing another strong frontcourt. Dan Williams, the third overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft is a 7'6 center out of St. John's. He is still pretty raw offensively, but defensively, he'll definitely get Yao Ming out of his comfort zone. Brook Lopez slid over to power forward, and we all know he's an excellent scorer and rebounder; one of the best in the league. Courtney Lee plays small forward, and is likely to guard Kevin Martin this series. He's also a potent scorer, the Rockets will need to watch out for him.

The Rockets find themselves facing a very fast backcourt in Nate Robinson and Devin Harris, something they haven't ran into in their past series. Both excellent scorers, but the Rockets have the size in their backcourt. Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks have picked up a few defensive tricks from Shane Battier, so they won't be very vulnerable here.

Houston Rockets: The Nets may have a tall center of their own, but Yao Ming is not raw, he has experience, and will need to use that to his advantage if he wants to dominate Dan Williams. Luis Scola has been very aggressive here in the playoffs, look for him to continue to attack the rim, and maybe he and Yao can get their frontcourt in foul trouble. Shane Battier will likely be depended upon to guard either Courtney Lee or Devin Harris. Shane hasn't had much to offer offensively, and pretty soon he may lose his starting job to Chase Budinger or Donte Greene, but if he plays excellent defense, his job is secured.

The Rockets' backcourt is a red blur. Both Kevin Martin and Aaron Brooks are bigger and arguably faster than their respective matchups, they will have to use that to their advantage. The Rockets will also need to utilize their bench; they have a much better bench than that of New Jersey, and putting the Nets starters in foul trouble would be a good way to put the Nets in a corner.

Overall, it's experience that'll decide the winner of the series, and the Rockets have it all. They've been here before, and know how to take care of business.
Prediction: Rockets win the NBA Championship in six games.

[Alpha_]

Damn the Nets ripped the Heat! good luck buddy!