# Rd 1 Game 4: Houston Rockets vs Utah Jazz



## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

(#5) HOUSTON ROCKETS(2) @ (#4) Utah Jazz(1)










Where: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UTAH
When: 10:30PM EST
On: ESPN










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Van Gundy blames starters, reserves and himself in Rockets' loss
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy didn't attempt to find anything positive about the Rockets' performance in Game 3 of their playoff series against Utah.

It was bad -- no getting around it.

The Jazz beat the Rockets 81-67 on Thursday night to pull within 2-1 in the best-of-7 series, holding Houston to its lowest scoring total ever in a playoff game. Only four Rockets scored.

"Our starters were awful. They were awful. So was the bench and so was the coaching. Put us all in there," Van Gundy said after a long team meeting and film session Friday.

Game 4 is Saturday. After soundly winning the first two games of the series, a 2-2 tie would be very disheartening for the Rockets as they head back for Houston for Game 5.

Houston also led 2-0 against Dallas two years ago and ended up losing the series.

"We have to play better. Our mentality has to be better. I have to coach better. That was as poorly prepared to play a Game 3 as you could have a team," Van Gundy said.

Houston's reserves were completely shut out, leaving Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming to handle most of the scoring. That's not unusual, but T-Mac and Yao generally get a little help.

McGrady said the lack of scoring from most of his teammates was obvious and he didn't need to pull anybody aside to talk about it.

"I'm sure a couple of those guys know. When they looked at the stat sheet, there was a big zero there," McGrady said. "I didn't say anything to them."

It's also apparent to the Jazz that they still trail in the series and a loss Saturday would overshadow their Game 3 dominance. The Rockets set a team low for playoff points Thursday and barely avoided setting new lows for shooting percentage and points in a half.

Houston scored 10 points in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth. And after re-watching the game on video, Van Gundy said there was nothing that could explain the way the Rockets played.

"It's not what they thought," Van Gundy said. "Everybody said after the game, 'We did good things on defense.' No. 'We played hard.' No. 'We just missed shots.' No."

The game plan for the Jazz was to keep the 7-foot-6 Yao from getting the ball anywhere near the basket and force him to take jump shots. When he drove, the plan was to foul him and send him to the free throw line.

Yao finished with 26 points on 6 of 14 shooting. He hit 14-of-16 foul shots.

"Our defense was great last night from start to finish," Utah's Deron Williams said. "We were rotating a lot harder and we were helping each other out a lot more. When you do that it's a lot more effective."

Mehmet Okur has handled the defensive duties on Yao and despite giving up seven inches, he tangled up Yao most of the night and kept him away from the basket. The smothering defense was enough to impress even Sloan, who is constantly repeating the importance of defense and working hard.

Okur showed more emotion than usual and was asked if he had developed a "mean streak," which drew a laugh from some teammates who can't see the mild-mannered Turk as anything but benign.

"I don't think Memo has got any meanness in him. I think he tried to do the best he can," Sloan said. "He knows he's at a disadvantage to start with."

The win Thursday was the first in the playoffs for about half of the Jazz. Sloan said the team seems to be getting his message about how much harder they need to work to win in the postseason.

"Those guys haven't been in a playoff game before," Sloan said. "You may surprise yourself a lot of times when you play hard." ​


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

I will be back!










Come and get them!


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## unluckyseventeen (Feb 5, 2006)

Hopefully we'll see more of this. Jazz attacking the rim. Beware, Yao! I'm detecting a foul trouble game...


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## JuX (Oct 11, 2005)

I hope Houston will pull in their bench players and get more aggressive around the rim. Try to stop the Jazz post up, but it'll be a quite challenging since the Jazz has been very dominating around the hoops all series long.


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Okay! Bets on! Win this one!


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

:rofl: dick cheney


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

kisstherim said:


> Come and get them!


:lol:


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## Pasha The Great (Apr 9, 2005)

i like that van gundy took a lot of the blam saying he didnt prepare well enough. im kind of glad we lost game 3 because we have been playing horrible basketball the entire season and have needed to make big adjustments. now with the horrible loss im sure we will see some positive changes.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

> Where: *EnergySolutions Arena*, Salt Lake City, UTAH


:thumbdown: It's the *Chernobowl*!


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

Better bench tonight, hopefully.


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## Carbo04 (Apr 15, 2005)

Houston needs everyone to step up big tonight. Critical game 4. Win this and I think the series is over.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

kisstherim said:


>


I love this drawing. 
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Love how even the supporters of the Jazz call it Chernobowl or the dump.


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## some1x (May 24, 2006)

unluckyseventeen said:


> Hopefully we'll see more of this. Jazz attacking the rim. Beware, Yao! I'm detecting a foul trouble game...


Jazz is pathetic.


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

some1x said:


> Jazz is pathetic.


Harpring got a terrible grade in physics


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

The rockets are playing aggressively and the crowd is a nonfactor


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Head is playing terrible


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

Tracy needs to get going


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Well this is typical. For once can Houston or Tmac shoot above 45%? Is it honestly too much to ask?


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Where the hell is everybody? Its Saturday night, and game 4 on ESPN.....


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## Block (Apr 22, 2007)

Anyone else sorely disappointed with McGrady right now? His burst near the end of second quarter was good but he had Five seconds to get off a shot. He barely tried.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Block said:


> Anyone else sorely disappointed with McGrady right now? His burst near the end of second quarter was good but he had Five seconds to get off a shot. He barely tried.


Yeah I was wondering what the hell was going on


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Sure is quiet here on the Rockets board...


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

On the plus side this might be the first game where we shoot +.400.

No idea what that last play was..............


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

This is going back to Houston tied 2-2


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Krimzon said:


> I missed the second and most of the third. What happen? Everything was going well in the first quarter.


The Houston Rockets is what happened.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

I missed the second and most of the third. What happen? Everything was going well in the first quarter.


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## CrackerJack (Jul 2, 2005)

we suck


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

CrackerJack said:


> we suck


Ya, this series is really starting to shift


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

oh, ****, finally got to watch it and we are down by 20


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Yao and T-Mac can't do all the scoring. What happen to everyone else?


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## ryan123 (Feb 9, 2006)

how the fcuk did they mess up that 2 on 1 and let them score a 3 ... thats like -5 points...


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

**** this...

Its a flashback of 2004 all over again. The series has taken a complete 180...


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

OneBadLT123 said:


> **** this...
> 
> Its a flashback of 2004 all over again. The series has taken a complete 180...


we were never blown out except the last game though


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

the momentum is all utah's. it is their series to lose now.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

We need like a miracle to win this game.


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## debarge (Nov 13, 2005)

I hate Luther Head, I hope we get rid of his sorry no-playing *** in the off-season. Get a real two-guard who can pass and shoot like Brandon Roy or Antonio Daniels, stupid Bonehead. I told yall he was just a gloried spot-up shooter???

I can't even begin to say how dissapointed I am in the effort the team gave in UTA, they are in danger of losing this whole series now. Tmac waited too long to get into the game, Jeff's coaching was not good, and the Defense was lackluster. Too much dependence on Yao, he can't do everything? Shane and Rafer tried to to help, but not enough coaching Jeff? Shane had a mismatch all night if you'd called the postup FOOL!

Kirk Snyder needed to be defending Deron Williams fullcourt to disrupt the offense not Luther while Rafer rested. You put in Lucas and Luther? *Stupid Jefff...*now we could lose the series, the Jazz now all have their confidence back, and now understand how to beat us. What matchups to attack, Chuck on the block, dble Tmac w/ different guys early and physical, attack Yao's passers' not Yao=formula for winning against the Rockets. YOU LET MEMO AND DERON GO OFF WTF???

I think we can lose the series now, I'm not saying we will, but Tmac has lost his "Attitude that he was Talking so much Smack on TV with", here's hoping he Gets his "Mojo" back.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

:mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: 

puta la wea! Ganen un puto partido en Utah!!!

Ha! I can curse in spanish.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

This is worse than 2005................

oops

too distraught to think


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

dallas was in '05, just to clear that up. '04 we got our ***es handed to us by the lakers in 5 games.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Head should be replace by Snyder. This may sound like a bad idea, but we should just put in Spanoulis and Novak. This game is pretty much over. Might as well put them in and see how well they do.


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

Tracy is an absolute non-factor. I don't know whether it's his own lack of aggressiveness or it's him trying to play in JVG's system a bit too much... either way, he better get his act together, because it's ON HIM if the Rockets don't make it out the first round.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

"There are dancers that swing around poles who are less of a tease than the Rockets."


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## CrackerJack (Jul 2, 2005)

we better get our **** together for game 5 otherwise the final game wont even be played cos at the moment theres no way in hell we're gonna win away from Toyota Centre, this is fukn pathetic


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

A lot of the blame has to go to McGrady. Other than that brilliant stretch without Yao, he has not been a genuine superstar this season. More Shawn Marion or Rashard Lewis than Kobe or LeBron. This supporting cast is too weak for the team to win without both Yao and T-Mac playing at clear-cut superstar level.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

CrackerJack said:


> we better get our **** together for game 5 otherwise the final game wont even be played cos at the moment theres no way in hell we're gonna win away from Toyota Centre, this is fukn pathetic


As long as we win at home, we don't need to win away from the Toyota Center. But the way we're playing, maybe we won't even win at home.


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

While I understand the spin the rockets tv announcers are trying to place on these last two games that the Jazz just held serve, I'm concerned.

The rockets didn't show anythng in these two games. There was no fire. I really thought in game 4 that we were going to come out and make this game competitve down to the wire.

Always the pessimist, the rockets are probably going to lose this series.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

we totally should have traded for AI


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## debarge (Nov 13, 2005)

I guess I'm still in disbelief at Tmac's play? That last game was pathetic in a different way, it was a pathetic offensive display we just went cold all at the same time we've seen that before frankly? Just not against a good team like Utah. Our defense kept us in the game. But Tracy was so lackluster to me? He played the last two games like they were not playoff games... that bothers me and worries me. I hope he doesn't do that in Houston.

In Toyota C he WAS TRYING he was just Nervous, it was obvious though that he was trying. He didn't give total effort? Was UTA's defense that good on him? Maybe? We've just gotta play better D I think, to win. Jeff's has to coach better I told you!!! DAMN, JEFF'S COACHING SUXXX UHHHHSGGGGG


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

The Jazz aren't even supposed to be a good defensive team. They were 19th in defensive rating. We're making Gordon Giricek look like Bruce Bowen, and Mehmet Okur like Duncan.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

Hakeem said:


> The Jazz aren't even supposed to be a good defensive team. They were 19th in defensive rating. *We're making Gordon Giricek look like Bruce Bowen,* and Mehmet Okur like Duncan.


thats the thing which has shocked me the mosst


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Pimped Out said:


> dallas was in '05, just to clear that up. '04 we got our ***es handed to us by the lakers in 5 games.


Is there honestly a difference? lol


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Damn I love TMAC but if there was a possibility of a trade TMAC for Baron I would do it stright away.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

Sad. Very sad. Here's my little comment on each players after seeing these four games.

Yao is not doing to bad but needs to be putting numbers before his injury.
T-Mac needs to attack the basket. If he wants to win this, he has to do this. I bet he's still worried about back spasm again.
Alston is just Alston. :lol: . Don't know what else to say about him.
Battier isn't doing to bad. It would be nice if can work on the three pointers. It would really help us.
Chuck isn't doing to bad too. It's only his second season. I can see him improve next year.
Deke...is it me, or is he doing his part better than most of the players on the team?
Howard ran out of fuel. Not he is just playing very poorly.
Head is not getting anything in. So much for seeing him do well in the regular season.
Snyder needs a chance to play. He should replace Head.
Lucas needs to develop.
Spanoulis only played for a little bit, but he didn't do to bad. I know the Jazz didn't play to hard when he was in. I like to see him play a little bit in the middle of the game.
Tsakalidis only played a little bit too. Don't know what to say.
Novak...I want to see him play when we are up or down 15+.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

> Deke...is it me, or is he doing his part better than most of the players on the team?


Yes he is the best role player out there right now. I think we need to give him more minutes at PF becuase Chuck just cant shoot and seems too short to defend Okur in the paint(did a good job first 3 games but then Okur seemed to want to take jumpshots) plus I dont know why Juwan keeps missing but im not sure we have the time to find out. 

*Three game series now*


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

Krimzon said:


> Sad. Very sad. Here's my little comment on each players after seeing these four games.
> 
> Yao is not doing to bad but needs to be putting numbers before his injury.
> T-Mac needs to attack the basket. If he wants to win this, he has to do this. I bet he's still worried about back spasm again.
> ...


Its more like
Yao needs to do a better job absorbing the contact, but he is the best player on the team
TMac is playing like a *****
Alston sucks
Battier is showing why memphis has never won a playoff game
Chuck can't be expected to do anything offensively.
Deke- See Chuck
Howard is old, inconsistent, tends to suck coming off the bench, and shows no hustle
Head- See Alston
Snyder is too sporadic
Lucas is barely an NBA talent
Spanoulis- See Lucas
Tsakalidis- See Spanoulis
Novak- See Tsakalidis


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Head is garbage
Howard is garbage
Rafer showed signs of life tonight, but then he turned into garbage
Tmac has been garbage
JVG's system these last two games have been garbage


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## crazyfan (Dec 9, 2005)

Tracy's comments about his team mates is truly having an effect. plus McGrady himself is not performing up to his arrogance.

This will go to a game 7 where Tmac will display his usual Game 7 meltdowns.

anyways, I would not trade for B.Diddy.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

OneBadLT123 said:


> Is there honestly a difference? lol


yes. in only one of those series did the rockets give me a false sense of hope.


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

OneBadLT123 said:


> Head is garbage
> Howard is garbage
> Rafer showed signs of life tonight, but then he turned into garbage
> Tmac has been garbage
> JVG's system this game has been garbage


you win.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

We need to do some trades or sign some good players when the time comes. The Rockets does pretty well in the regular season. When playoff time comes...well you seen it today.


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## some1x (May 24, 2006)

Best plan:
Trade Yao + Tmac for rights to Oden + Durant + whatever we can get our hands on. Tank next year and develop our rookies, lottery in 2008, Chip in 2010


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

/\ dude, that's not funny

Until we lose this series, lets just sit back and watch if our guys bounce back... I haven't given up on our guys yet


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Krimzon said:


> Yao is not doing to bad but needs to be putting numbers before his injury.


I remember Yao said in an interview that his doctor told him there was no way could he be 100% this season (80% at most this season), it would took the whole summer for his leg to fully recover. He said he just hoped his doctor was wrong but now it seems that the doctor is right.


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

some1x said:


> Best plan:
> Trade Yao + Tmac for rights to Oden + Durant + whatever we can get our hands on. Tank next year and develop our rookies, lottery in 2008, Chip in 2010


Yao MAY fetch you Oden. Tmac wouldn't fetch you even a Michael Redd at this point.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Oh dam this isnt good. I think we on the verge of going to Game 7


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

I can see this go to Game 7.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

some1x said:


> Best plan:
> Trade Yao + Tmac for rights to Oden + Durant + whatever we can get our hands on. Tank next year and develop our rookies, lottery in 2008, Chip in 2010


Brilliant!


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

kisstherim said:


> <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BQ9bk3hY6Qw"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BQ9bk3hY6Qw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>


With only T-Mac can be anywhere near Kobe right now... 

And Deron's still an awesome player, much respect goes out to him.


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## TracywtFacy (Mar 29, 2005)

As long as the refs let the players play, we should win this series...


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

TracywtFacy said:


> As long as the refs let the players play, we should win this series...


I think the refs have been OK in this series, at least better than the ones in the Rockets-Mavs series 2 years ago


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

TracywtFacy said:


> As long as the refs let the players play, we should win this series...


the refs arent the reason we sucked in the past 2 games.


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