Game One Notes: What I Saw From My TV

Yelling. Screaming. Throwing fists in the air. All those had some part of my night last night. What a game one it was!

I watched the game with a few friends and my brother in my apartment in NYC. One of my roommates is a New York Rangers fan so he had the big TV. I was regulated to a TV in one of the other rooms.

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It actually worked out quite nicely. I was able to shut the door, just me and my buddies yelling, screaming, and throwing fists in the air with just ourselves, instead of having my other friends chime in with stupid anti-Houston or anti-Harden remarks. Many people outside of Houston tend to do it and do it quite often.

Enough about my night. I’m sure anyone and everyone who watched last night’s game had similar feelings. The start was amazing, the middle wasn’t as fun, but the Rockets finished strong and a win is a win.

Here are my notes from last night’s win:

James Harden didn’t have his best shooting night and the Rockets still won. Dallas did a good job forcing him to be a facilitator but Harden is plenty good enough to make the right passes and the Rockets converted on many of his lobs/kick-outs.
Dwight Howard was in foul trouble for breathing on players. The good news is that he was DOMINANT in his 17 minutes of play. His minutes should be up to the low-to-mid 30’s once Joey Crawford isn’t an official.
Great work by Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni to run the offense and knock down shots. Rajon Rondo was a -25 when on the court, something many Mavericks fans thought would be a strength for their team (the PG matchup). Though the Rockets veteran guards switched a bit too early for my taste, they did a fine job on the night. I’ll take a few more repeat performances from those two.
Enough can’t be said about Trevor Ariza. Excellent defensively and he knocked down his shots, including a big, long two with the shot clock expiring. He’s versatile enough to defend both Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki. So impressive.
Terrence Jones was a beast tonight and should dominate most of the series. He didn’t seem to finish around the rim as well as he has earlier this season which is a pretty good sign. Defensively I though he looked good against Nowitzki. Dirk hit tough shots over him, eventually those all won’t fall.
Josh Smith looked pretty bad last night and the Rockets still won. He overhelped on Amare and didn’t box out much last night. His passes were off and he didn’t hit many shots. He’ll play better.
Clint Capela was forced to play 16 minutes last night and did a heck of a job for a rookie. He knows where to be on offense for the lobs, just needs to finish better around the rim. Defensively he could use some work but that comes with experience. He did a fine job considering the circumstances.
Corey Brewer was HUGE in the 4th quarter, knocking down trey treys when it mattered most. He’s someone that can get you important buckets in transition and also defend both a point guard and a power forward in a series.
Kevin McHale did a great job tonight with his rotation. We ripped on him last offseason for his playoff performance so it’s only fair to credit him here. Job well done.
Officiating was horrendous both ways and let the Mavericks back in the game. Joey Crawford didn’t allow Howard to play defense, set picks, or post up. I guess he’ll just have to dunk his way to dominance and hope not to pick up more ticky-tack fouls.

So the Rockets won and I still have my voice…for now. We’ll see what changes are made by both coaches in game two but there’s a lot to like if you’re a Rockets fan.

Click here for Brian Patterson’s recap of last night’s victory.

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