thinkingdog's Thought-Out Thursday Blazers/Rockets pick

[thinkingdog]

Well, I have not posted a play in a while, just simply because I can't choose a winner.

But I'm gonna go out on a limb here for this Blazers/Rockets Game Six and side with Portland +5, -110.

The Trailblazers, albeit the youngest team in the post-season, has shown some pretty good poise, especially after the Game 1 beat down and also in elimination Game 5 - where they kept it together while the Rockets came unglued with Artest and Brooks jacking up ill-advised shots and completely ignoring any plays that Coach Adelman had in mind.

The Blazers will be coming into tonight's game with some renewed confidence, and more importantly a belief in going back to Portland with a date for Game 7. They have been fairly successful at defending Yao in the post, and have been close in every lost game since the Game One Blowout. They are a great rebounding team and should bring it tonight against the Rockets. I suspect that Roy and Aldridge will be up for the challenge, and the battles against Artest/Battier/Scola will be fun to watch.

I expect Houston to also be firing on all thrusters early on, and if they can get Yao involved (at all), then they have a great chance of closing out the series. Yao should bring the same kind of intensity he had in Game 1 and if he's lucky he'll be the recipient of some generous ref calls. Barring any more stupidity from Brooks and Artest overdribbling late in the shot clock, the Rockets should win. But not by more than five points.

They have to be composed and focused and not abandon all rational thought like they did when Portland started pressing in the last few minutes of Game 5. That win was theirs for the taking, but they crumbled under the pressure. I expect some of the same tonight, given the right circumstances, and taking the five points is a nice gift. It'll be a close one, either way, and an enjoyable game to watch!

Best of luck to all!

[Slyce]

Got a winner there thinking dog!

[thinkingdog]

Thanks Slyce....btw I always enjoy your awesome avatars!