I´m devestated right now... Yeah, the Lakers would have won most likely regardless, but the guy just deserved to have a great and healthy run here ... He is like the most likeable player in the league all things considered, pure class act and terrific competitor. Means he played the 2nd half with that type of injury ...
Guys that big aren´t build to play 82 game seasons in the NBA ... :( Add to that the commitment he is making to his national team (not just the big tournaments but even asia champioships and all with long training camps) and the fact that he has to work harder than any other player to keep/get his continioning up to a level to be able to run with guys at least 5 Inches smaller and 50 sth pounds lighter.

Maybe in his later stage he can make an Ilgauskas type of career playing 30 minutes a game with lesser duties alongside a real star player. Ilgauskas is also the one guy that makes me hope year in and year out that it might work out for Yao. The guy was basically injured for years and then sth changed and he has been out there without problems ever since.
But again : Being 7´6 isn´t just a nice thing, more of a curse than people can even begin to imagine.
Get better soon Yao !

Dang- that's it for us. :(

It's been a really fun season and I can't wait to see what we do in the offseason :)

SI

Don't forget the conspiracy to extend the Mavs/Nuggets series with a bad no-call.

Oh wait...

It was nice of David Stern to give up that extra money so we could all see Mark Cuban get mad enough to push the cameraman.

Yeah, by issuing a statement about the "missed" call.

I'm hoping for statements about the two hooking fouls not called on Jason Kidd, the scrum that should have been a jump ball that resulted in two Maverick FT, the steal by Anthony Carter where he was beyond half court when they call a foul on Birdman and somehow it turns into a defensive foul sending the Mavs to the line for two FT or the fact that the Mavericks went to the line 33 times in the second half while the Nuggets went to the line 16 times despite being the far more aggressive team driving the basketball, or better yet watching Brandon Bass take 14 FTA when he'd had 6 FTA in his 114 previous minutes in this years playoffs.

If Dallas would have won the game, the Denver fans (of which I am one) would have railed at the horrific decisions in this game.

Having said all of that, I wish they would have called the damned foul. Melo hits last second jumpers on a pretty high percentage of his attempts. I'd have rather seen him hit/miss and Denver to finish off the Mavs in 5 games anyway. The better team is going to win this series regardless, it would have been nice to do it without the controversey.

Denver vs. Lakers? I don't see how the Nuggets can overcome the Lakers size. Their depth doesn't scare me. I'll take my chances with JR, Birdman,and AC off the Nuggets bench against Bynum, Walton and Vujavic.

What I don't like is the Lakers size. The Nuggets don't have a true 7 footer in their rotation. The Lakers have two. That size causes so many mismatches on the offensive end that it's a nightmare for the Nuggets to defend. I don't think the Lakers sweep through the Nuggets, but I don't think the Nuggets get 4. Lakers in 5 or 6. (God, please oh please let me be wrong)

That confused me. The statement clearly indicated that the refs missed an "intentional foul." So the NBA is saying that Denver should've gotten two shots and the ball. Is that really what the Mavs were going for? Of course not.

again, there is no such rule in the rule book. There are clear path fouls resulting in that penalty and there´s away from the ball fouls in the last 2 minutes (ala Hack a Shaq) that result in 1 FT and the ball back.
There is no special treatment for an intentional foul unless it´s ruled a flagrant foul, which that obviously wasn´t.
There is no punishment for intentionally fouling in late game situations, it is simply the common term for this kind of foul late in a game. You want to foul, thus it´s intentional.

NBA.com - RULE NO. 12-FOULS AND PENALTIES

No Yao no problem thus far.

Fun game so far

Good start by the Rockets. The Lakers were caught sleeping in that first quarter. Should be a fun game when the pace slows down in the 2nd half.

It's basketball.

Lakers will win by double digits.

'mon Rockets!

LOL at the shots of Yao and T-Mac in suits on the bench while the Rockets are destroying the Lakers. Rockets without Yao > Rockets with Yao. Artest getting to chuck up more shots is a win for everybody except the Lakers.

I know sports fans, including myself, are fickle, but you just take it to a whole new level. Whatever is happening at any given moment becomes the rule to you. If you were an NBA GM, and somebody showed you that clip of Jason McElwain (the autistic kid) hitting all those threes, you'd probably take him first overall.

The Rockets are not better without Yao.

Kiss of death for Rocket fans.

lol

I know, I was joking. Which is why I included the comment about Artest. Every time he chucks the ball up I realize that the Lakers will win this game easily.

They aren't better without Yao (McGrady is another story). But isn't there a bit of a history in the NBA where a team loses a star and they go out and win right off the bat. Kind of an FU game to the people who wrote them off. Never seems to last but they get a good win off of it. The Magic were dominate without Dwight Howard in their playoff game.

Can we get Phil Jackson equiped with a mic at halftime ? He should go ballistic on how little effort the Lakers show. wow are they flat ...

You say so many idiotic things, but this takes the cake.

That being said, this has been an inspired performance by the Rockets. Hopefully, they can finish out the game strong.

So, i got bored during halftime and cause i again got to apreciate the awesomness that is named Chuck Hayes, some little and disturbingly odd facts about him :

Did you know that he in this season in 12 MPG averaged 1,3 PPG ? Which is about 1/3 of his rebounding output ? That he shot 37% from the field and the Free Throw Line ?
That he has as many Assists as Field Goals ?
That he shot 74% from the FT Line in College ? :eek:

Seriously though : If a guy that "unproductive" gets into and stays in the league on a playoff team than that guy sure does a lot of things well that the casual fan doesn´t see. Now today some may see it. I hope.

A lot of Rockets players are ill-equiped to play in a slow pace alongside a post presence, but still this is likely a fluke game. I think the Lakers figure that out by next game. It´s a huge adjustment for them not centering their Defense around Yao, too.

Artests´s shot selection is so bad it should be used in a campaign against bad shot selection, show as a bad example in high school classes ...

Wow, WTF is going on here ? Lakers don´t know what´s hitting them ... If only they played this confident in game 3 and 4 ... Up 27 ! TWENTY SEVEN

The Lakers are ridiculous. This teams seems to have huge character issues. Sorry, but the way they lost leads against a Jazz team in a sorry state, the way they lost game 1 seemingly not even having prepared mentally and now today this ...
The Rockets just scored on a alley oop out of bounds play with 0,7 s left from behind half court. To a 6 foot PG receiving the lob ... That disgusts me.

The Lakers are pulling a 76ers in round 1. The opponent's big star is out and they lose miserably. They've decided that they have home court and that's why they've given up today.

The examples here are dated but....I give the Ewing Theory 101.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1193711

Meh, so much for in 5

too little too late here by the Lakers. But it still irritates me how extremely the Rockets play to maintain instead of just playing, everytime they are up in the 4th quarter.

there's still hope, the league will find a way to make it happen

Are you just joking, or are you and RainMaker in cahoots?

Boy, people are out on a limb when they suggest the NBA fixes game :rolleyes:

SI

No, this is what Rocket fans refer to as the "Kiss of Death" ;)



SI

The Ewing theory.

Entertaining game so far in Orlando.

Is there a superstar in the league who touches the ball less in the half court offense than Dwight Howard? It is amazing how many times he does not get a touch.

Good acting job Glen

my favorite sports moment ever.

Yao Ming might rival him. :)

Unlike Yao though, Dwight doesn't really have any post moves other than trying to use his speed and athleticism to try and get a dunk. He's far better when he catches the ball in a position to finish, or from offensive rebounds.

Gotta question Van Gundy's coaching here. Celts big men in foul trouble early, but the Magic keep playing an outside game, shooting a bunch of wild threes.

Pierce picks up his 5th foul on a mysterious call.

lol at that 5th foul on Pierce. He ran into a guy.

C's are down ANOTHER big man.

Perkins left with an injury. Without him, the Celtics are finished. Especially because that means Mikey Moore gets more playing time.

How many traveling calls is that on Davis? 4? 5?

At least. And he's missed just as many free throws. He's worthless. Here's what the Celtics need to do- Get the ball to Pierce and watch him win the game.

Nice shot by "worthless" Davis.

Down to one shot here. Who takes it?

Lewis

Turkoglu will take the shot. Hopefully Baby Davis gets the rebound this time.

Pierce will take the last shot.

Celtics turn. Pierce, Allen, or Option C?