Lin redeems himself and scores 14 points with 6 assists off the bench and Daniels scores 25 with a three in Mo Williams' face. Harden finally closes out a game strong scoring 30 points with five assists with Rockets winning another OT game.
I think Lin will redeem himself in game 5. It's his last chance and it seems like he plays well when everyone is against him. Whether we win or not is another story. I'm already predicting a 4th quarter collapse. The question is if we will have built up a big enough lead to withstand it.
this may be going out on a limb but i predict Harden will play great defense. Rockets win 115-96 book it!
portland doesn't give a crap about Asik. They are after getting in the head of howard and harden I think they will get one of them ejected. Portlands strategy going forward in this series will be to bait howard and harden out of the game. They have plenty of chances to do so with 3 games to burn.
I believe the Rockets must be committed to not allowing another close game. They have to stay zoned in all 48 minutes - no lapses. At the same time, I do not think Howard and Harden should be sat at the same time - that opens it up for a Blazers run as well. I hope the Rockets have learned their lesson about letting the Blazers get back into games and win by double digits - too much talent on offense and Dwight on defense.
My friend is a huge Bulls fan and I'm stuck rooting for that team because apparently we are the Crimson Twins and when they lose, we lose... Knowing is half the battle!
Harden takes more step back 2's instead of 3's. Dwight provides more pnr after he starts getting double teamed. Daniels gets 20 minutes and shoots the lights out. Lin is unable to predict. And not in a good way. Parsons doesn't disappear in the 2nd half.
I think the Rockets will win game 5. They're due for a home win. You'll see a more energized team. There was a point in the second half of game 4 where the Rockets were shooting so well that it seemed too easy and that's when the Blazers turned up the intensity. I think you'll see a more dominant performance end to end. Playoffs begin when a team is facing elimination and I think James Harden will play a more efficient game.
Lin will redeem himself in part but redemption will not be complete unless they get to a game 7 and win the thing outright. Daniels will come down to earth. Stotts is smart and he knows that the deficit that his team faced for most of game 4 was all about Daniels. The stats between the teams were otherwise even but Houston had a working margin of 3 scores because of his shooting. That won't happen in game 5. Someone else will have to step up.
