Rockets Defeat Blazers, Time To Beat LA

Well, that took long enough. After failing to make it out of the first round of the playoffs since the waning years of Hakeem and Clyde's careers, after surviving the career of the woefully mis-nicknamed Stevie Franchise, after watching Tracy McGrady go back to the OR more often than House, M.D., the Rockets are in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

In last night's game six against the Portland Trailblazers, the Rockets dominated the entire game, eventually winning by sixteen points behind a hot scoring night by Ron Artest who had a fun (if ironic) moment with the crowd in the 4th quarter after chasing a loose ball into the stands. Yao gritted through a foul-happy defense to score 16, and Tracy McGrady looked sharp sitting on the bench in street clothes. NTTATWT.

It's been a long time since Yao Ming showed up in Houston, six long years in fact, and now that the correct complimentary cast has been assembled behind him, he's ready for his time in the spotlight, like Hakeem before him. And like (h)Akeem in 1986, the Lakers are the next in line.

Let's face it, Kobe Bryant is a force of nature. A raping and pillaging...wait, bad analogy. Anyway, all the talk about Shane Battier's ability to contain Kobe, and all of Ron Artest's toughness will need to be brought to bear on the dymanic #24. The Rockets didn't beat the Lakers once during their four regular season meetings, but that doesn't mean that they can't find four wins somehow. None of their loses were blowouts, and two came in the T-Mac era, and the team has played dramatically better (and tougher) since he quit got hurt.

It's been a long time since Rockets fans have had a chance to chant "Beat LA", and it felt very sweet to hear the Toyota Center crowd bring out the old classic. Beat LA indeed, dammit.
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photo: flickr user baldheretic