Rockets/Jazz Game Threecap.
Brooms no longer necessary.
by Russ Bengtson
Well, I didn’t see that coming. Actually, I didn’t see it at all. I had a prior committment to see a friend’s band in Brooklyn, and I figured the Jazz would take care of business at home.
Oops.
As usual, this game was Tracy McGrady’s fault. He scored a series-high 27, including 7 key points in the fourth quarter (he played the whole quarter but scored all his points after the 3:30 mark). It helped that starting point guard Rafer Alston was back in the mix, looking like he hadn’t missed a step, scoring 20 points and dropping a 50-cent piece. And Carl Landry, who received a little in-game dental work courtesy of Carlos Boozer, came back and wound up blocking Deron Wiliams’s potential game winner.
As for the Jazz, there’s no excuses. Three guys had double-doubles—Williams had 28 and 12, Boozer had 15 and 13, and Mehmet Okur had 12 and 11. Andrei Kirilenko was once again a non-factor, with five points, two rebounds and no assists in 31 minutes. Two major problems, though:
PAINT SCORING: The Jazz were outscored inside by Houston, 40-26. Inexcusable, especially with Yao Ming watching from the bench. This is why having a three-point specialist as a center isn’t the best thing in the world.
REALLY FOUL SHOOTING: The Jazz earned more trips to the stripe—33 to 22—but only converted 20 of them. As Deron Williams helpfully pointed out afterwards, “Free throws definitely hurt us. You lose a game by two points and you miss 13 free throws, it’s definitely frustrating.” One would imagine.
So. The Jazz still have home-court advantage, but the Rockets know they can win in Salt Lake. Of course if they don’t win in Salt Lake tonight, they might not get another chance. Not this year, at least. Seeing that the road team has won every game so far.
I might want to watch this one.
22 Responses to “Rockets/Jazz Game Threecap.”
Apr.26 at 6:54 pm
Holly MacKenzie says:
Threecap!! And yes, weak, bailing on your boys. Also, star…….Just saying.
Apr.26 at 6:58 pm
RV says:
Brooms were NEVER necessary!
Apr.26 at 7:06 pm
RV says:
and i think they knew they could win there even before game 3, they were one of the 4 teams that won there and even if tmac had to score 47, it counts for something. Also, they’re a great road team because their chemistry off the court helps them stay together and focused on the road, and tmac also plays better on the road.
Apr.26 at 7:08 pm
RV says:
AK47 was also 0 for 1 from the flopping area
Apr.26 at 7:26 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
You’re giving them a lot of credit re: winning in Utah. Yes, they’d won there this year—on November 1st. With Yao. Meanwhile the Jazz had only lost once at home in 2008 and they took care of the Rockets in Houston. Twice. I’m not saying they weren’t confident they could win, but they probably weren’t THAT confident.
Apr.26 at 8:00 pm
Tariq says:
Prior to Game 1, I was sure that the Rockets would pull off the upset, which was pretty inexplicable in retrospect. Then, after Game 2, I was sure that the Jazz would sweep. Now I feel like George Costanza from Seinfeld when he did the opposite of whatever his instincts were and all his decisions suddenly became wise and beneficial. So I say: Suns in 7.
Apr.26 at 8:05 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Watch out for Mark Eaton tonight.
Apr.26 at 8:11 pm
Tariq says:
I don’t know a Mark.
Apr.26 at 8:45 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
*punches yacht*
Apr.26 at 9:13 pm
B. Long says:
Good for TMac, maybe we can call off that suicide watch after all.
Apr.26 at 9:17 pm
Hursty says:
Go Tmac. go Rockets, fu(k Kirilenko and the Jazz. Boozer looks like a hitman.
Apr.26 at 9:20 pm
Hursty says:
If we take this (like all decent maths people would know) it evens the series and lets us have homecour for a 3 game series.
Apr.26 at 11:15 pm
RV says:
did i not call it in the links post? Utah had its first foul called in the 1st with under 1 minute left, all because Sloan said they were going to be more physical this game
Apr.26 at 11:32 pm
RV says:
Russ, i think they were at a point were they realized they were on their way to getting swept if they lost game 3, and they made up their minds this team would not get swept, not after the streak, after the playoff spot, after gaining homecourt, it would be accepting they got lucky and didn’t belong in the playoffs at all, so they HAD to be extremely confident, otherwise they would not have responded with that much pressure on them, just ask philly
Apr.26 at 11:45 pm
RV says:
Booz hammered Landry across his forearms on thefast break, no call, and it was obvious too, Sloan is a genius
Apr.26 at 11:47 pm
Hursty says:
too right RV.
Apr.26 at 11:48 pm
Hursty says:
Fu(k Kirilenko.
Apr.26 at 11:50 pm
Hursty says:
Utah fans are soft. They make almost no noise for anything except Korver 3’s and dunks. weak.
Apr.26 at 11:53 pm
Hursty says:
wtf!!! the espn screen just went totally green! i dont wanna listen to fu(king league pass audio!!!! BS!
Apr.27 at 1:09 am
RV says:
i’ll agree tmac isn’t completely at fault for the lack of offense, for losing at home, even for the budweiser, but what does he have to say about free throw shooting?
Apr.27 at 1:18 am
RV says:
i’ma blame Scola for this one too though, could have been closer had he made both of his freebies
Apr.27 at 1:22 am
RV says:
nope, make that tmac, he tipped that rebound away from landry who had position and it went off the backboard to Okur..