Game 3 Recap: Venting

The easiest way to sum up Game 3 would be this: the Lakers' role players all found their stroke, confidence, NBA talent, whatever the hell was missing, and the only thing the Rockets did exceptionally well was turn the ball over. It was a long frustrating night of good shooters missing open looks for the guys in red and guys who are not expected to consistently hit threes (I'm looking at you, Trevor) consistently hitting them. I really am in no mood to recap a game that broke my heart on at least four different occasions, but someone has to get the readership up right?

The Good

-Kobe Bryant had another human night, scoring 33 points on 28 shots. He took 8 free throws, but 4 of them were late in the fourth quarter when the game was already decided. His Spanish partner went 4-11 with 13 points, so there's no complaining there either. What's scary was that they didn't seem to miss Pau very much.
-The Rockets showed that when we defended hard, rotated well, and contested open shots, they can stop the Lakers' offensive machine. Put your hand down Sasha, I meant the Lakers' offense as a whole. The reason this game was relatively close and not an absolute blowout was because of the Rockets' ability to defend.

The Bad

-The Rockets turned the ball over 17 times to the Lakers' 6. With a team as talented offensively as the Lakers you cannot afford to give them such a heavy turnover advantage. They thrive on pushing the pace of the game and were able to make life easier for their struggling offense by a steady dose of fast break points. Also, the last thing any human being with eyes wants to see is the sight of Sasha Vujacic/Pau Gasol running down the court on the fast break, their hair flowing in the wind. Blind people, you caught a break here.
-The Rockets offense sputtered in the second and third quarters, putting up 34 points in the two combined. The defense kept the game close, but there's no way the Rockets were going to win without being able to put the ball in the basket. The Rockets' offensive struggles are like a scar on the face of the perfect girl. Usually her other great qualities are good enough to overcome it, but last night she forgot her makeup.
-Lamar Odom realized that he is one of the most versatile, talented players in the NBA and that the whole reason they got him was so when offenses focused too much on Bryant, he would score. He had 16, matching his point total for the series up till Game 3.
-The Lakers' role players, known by Lakers' fans as the "bench mob" and by everyone else as the "wait they really have someone named Sasha AND someone named Shannon? And these two guys actually play? mob," started to make the open looks that they got. Trevor Ariza is included here, as he went 3-4 from behind the arc.
-Yao Ming left the court limping in the fourth quarter and looked as though he was playing through pain for most of the second half. He said he's good to go, but let's face it, if Yao's not at his turnaround shooting, jump hooking, agonized face making best, we are not winning this series.

What Happened
After getting into the second round and taking home court advantage from the Lakers, the Rockets strayed from what had gotten us this far. We came out flat in the third quarter, allowing the Lakers to build a cushion that we were never really able to erase. I hate bitching about the referees because I usually believe that bad calls even themselves out over the course of a year, but Game 3 was a whole new level of poor officiating. An example that comes to mind was in the fourth quarter when Pau Gasol was trying to manhandle Yao in the post, which the referees actually ignored until Pau said "Screw it, I want to see just how dumb these refs actually are" and threw Yao to the ground. That's all I'm going to say on the officiating, that it was bad. Really, really, really, game influence-ingly bad. Yao went down with an injury and for the 107th time in the last four years I found myself asking God why bad things always happen to good people and why he made my life's hopes and dreams revolve around a 7'6" Asian man. We turned the ball over way too much to have a chance, the only thing we have really done well this series. To put it simply, we're not going to win if we keep that up. We missed our threes, going 6-19, 2-12 after that 4-7 start. The Lakers started to run their offense and make open shots, which apparently is actually what NBA teams are SUPPOSED to do. Who would have guessed, right? Add those things up and you have a game that was never really as close as it seemed and 18,000 sad, sad faces.

The Point
After an impressive Game 1 win in which we stole home court from the Lakers, they marched into the Toyota Center and took it right back. We're down, but we're not out. I'd like to remind you that in 1995 we knocked of 2nd seeded Phoenix in 7 games as the 6 seed, so despite my attitude, all is not lost. The difference is that the 1995 Rockets were not missing two of their best three players, which we might be if Yao can't go Sunday. And yes, I said two of our best three players. You can say all you want about how he's declined or injury prone, but Mutumbo is still a huge part of our team. So what now? We dust ourselves off, make the necessary adjustments, and pray to Guede, the Haitian Vodoo god of fertility, that Yao Ming is starting at center on Sunday.