SIMULBLOG FOR SONICS V. ROCKETS

Rockets 93 Sonics 90 with 2:20 left in the Quarter
Welcome to the Ray/ Tracy show – Ray has 14 in the Q – Tracy has 11 in the Q


Sonics 84 Rockets 83 with 6:52 left in the 4th Quarter
Ray Allen has put Seattle on a 7-0 run all by himself.
Sonics are -11 when Flip is on the floor and +12 when he is on the bench.

Rockets 83 Sonics 76 with 8:04 left in the 4th Quarter
If you play Flip Murray you lose. That simple.
Moochie Norris just burned Flip for back to back to baskets that had to be the worst defense. Once Flip came off his feet at 35 feet and Norris blew by him and then on the next possession Flip allowed Norris to go backdoor on a basic give and cut.
Luke who is not playing well either replaces Flip.



Rockets 77 Sonics 76 with 9:26 left in the 4th Quarter
Close game – Neither team has lead by more then 4 in the second half.
This game is very slow. Each possession is dragged out


Rockets 73 Sonics 71 at the end of the 3rd quarter
McGrady had 11 in the quarter
Reggie Evans played very well in the quarter, however some of Reggie Evans weaknesses are exposed in that Howard is 8 of 10 for 16 points.
Luke Ridnour is 3 of 11 . He has to shoot better for this team to win.


Sonics 64 Rockets 60 with 5:18 left in the 3rd quarter
Ohhhh No !!!!! Tracy McGrady has heated up.
Interesting move by Van Gundy to put McGrady on Ridnour defensively in the second half.
The Sonics offense is Reggie Evans in the paint.
This makes you wonder what kind of a defender Yao Ming is
Yao Ming is mammoth.

Sonics 51 Rockets 48 at the half
The Rockets look like a team that played last night
Danny Fortson played great against Yao Ming
Seattle got 48% of potential offensive rebounds in the first half
McGrady is just 3 of 11 and looks noticeably uncomfortable.
Sonics had a poor defensive second quarter.


Sonics 41 Rockets 37 with 4:26 left in the 2nd Quarter
Danny Fortson has played 8 minutes without a foul.
Rockets were +3 with Ming on the bench
The ball movement with Flip Murray on the floor disappeared.
Ridnour returned and sparked a 8-3 run with great ball movement.


Sonics 31 Rockets 28 with 8:35 left in the 2nd Quarter
Not much feel to this game.
Sonics need to take advantage of Yao Ming on the bench and they have not done that yet in this game


Sonics 22 Rockets 20 at the end of 1st Quarter
Snail paced game
Seattle took care of the ball well.
Flip Murray dominated the ball when he was in and scored just 1 point in the 3 possessions that he used.


Sonics 19 Rockets 13 with 3:39 left in the 1st Quarter
Luke Ridnour is conducting the offense as well as you could ask from a point guard
The Sonics twice allowed Juwan Howard to drive the basket without restistance.
Reggie Evans is wrecking havoc and flopping everywhere. Jeff Van Gundy came off the bench yelling, “he weighs 260 pounds and he is falling all over the place. That is a flop.”


Storylines
1) Can the Sonics defend at all
2) Rockets do not force turnovers and commits a good deal
3) Take advantage of Yao Ming's lack of mobility.