# Regular Season Game 76 Thread: Houston Rockets vs. Portland Trail Blazers



## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

​*(47-28)/(30-44)*

When/Where:
*Friday, April 6, 7:30 p.m.*
*Toyota Center*​












































*Alston / Head / Battier / Howard / Mutombo*














































*Jack / Roy / Udoka / LaFrentz / Magloire*



*PREVIEW

Luther Head was welcomed back to the Rockets' rotation Wednesday night with a new nickname.

Unable to fathom how the team's leading three-point shooter bruised his right shoulder before the Los Angeles Lakers game on March 30, Rockets point guard Rafer Alston determined that a fresh epithet would be appropriate in honor of Head's mystery ailment.

Head missed two games with the troublesome shoulder before being cleared to play on Wednesday.

"I don't know when it happened or where it happened, but ever since I showed up for the Lakers game, his shoulder has been hurt," Alston said. "It's a mystery. So I've just been calling him, 'Shoulder.'"

The Rockets, at least, don't question the guard's shooting ability.

Head returned from the inactive list Wednesday night and regained his shooting stroke with one of the finest shooting performances of his young career.

With Tracy McGrady forced out with a stiff lower back and Yao Ming rendered ineffective against Golden State's packed interior defense, Head didn't have any trouble carrying Houston's offense on his bum right shoulder.

In 28 minutes of action, the Rockets' 6-foot-3 sharpshooter canned a career-high seven three-pointers and finished with a career-best 30 points. He made 10 of 13 shots from the floor.

With McGrady listed as questionable, the Rockets could be seeking a similiar shooting performance from Head heading into Friday's game against the Portland Trailblazers. He could potentially replace McGrady in the starting lineup if the star is unavailable.

"I feel good," Head said. "I'm just trying to come in and provide some energy."

The Rockets have seen enough of Head to know that he can provide that.

Since knocking down several late-minute jumpers in the early stages of the season, Head has been regarded as the Rockets' best clutch shooter. He leads the team with 10.6 points off the bench and is sinking a team-best 43.2 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. He's ninth in the league in three-point shooting.

Over Head's two-game absense, the Rockets were missing his ability to drain open jumpers from the perimeter.

The Rockets suffered a setback to Utah Sunday after failing to maintain a seven-point lead with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the game. They missed seven of their last 10 shots in the setback.

"I can't say we would have won if I was there," Head said. "But when you watch a game, there's always something that you feel like you can do out there."

Head said his right shoulder was still a little sore after Wednesday's shooting performance, but he suspects the pain will evaporate as long as he is knocking down jumpers like he was on Wednesday night.

And how did the injury happen? The Rockets shooting guard said he was trying to turn the corner near the baseline against Milwaukee on March 26 when Bucks center Brian Skinner turned and planted his hip into Head's shoulder. Head finished that game and played against the Los Angeles Clippers two days later, but opted to rest it after the injury didn't improve.

The explanation, unfortunately, wasn't good enough to alter Head's new nickname.

"That's his name for now," Alston said.*

_*Next Games*_
vs.








vs.








vs.


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## houst-mac (Aug 7, 2004)

Anyone know is T-Mac going to play?? If he doesnt play im not worried at all, SHOULDER is going to save us


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## Pimped Out (May 4, 2005)

alston is stupid and shoulder is a retarded nickname.
with no aldridge or randolph, we should handle the blazers pretty easily. key word:should


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

McGrady update


> Guard Tracy McGrady received treatment for his stiff lower back Thursday and remained questionable to play tonight against the Trail Blazers.
> 
> McGrady played seven minutes before leaving Wednesday's game.
> 
> He has had two previous back issues this season. He had back spasms Dec. 9 and missed the next seven games. He missed a game Jan. 17 with soreness.


....



> With the Rockets struggling for much of the past two weeks, going 3-3 since their five-game winning streak, coach Jeff Van Gundy said he is considering changes to his playing rotation, including the option of removing Bonzi Wells from the inactive list.
> 
> Van Gundy said he is always weighing options and has changed his mind often this season.
> 
> ...


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

Rest TMAC and activate Bonzi, plz


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## crazyfan (Dec 9, 2005)

kisstherim said:


> Rest TMAC and activate Bonzi, plz



i agree. we can afford to do so too.

Tmac should sit out this game or not to play too minutes if he does play.

Bonzi needs to play too.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

> With the Rockets struggling for much of the past two weeks, going 3-3 since their five-game winning streak, coach Jeff Van Gundy said he is considering changes to his playing rotation, including the option of removing Bonzi Wells from the inactive list.
> 
> Van Gundy said he is always weighing options and has changed his mind often this season.
> 
> ...


Let T-Mac rest. We don't really need him for this game. Let Bonzi play tonight.


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## Dream Hakeem (Apr 20, 2006)

I say we let Head start and Bonzi start :-0


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Yeah Bonzi better get minutes hope this is our rotation

Yao/Mutombo
Hayes/Howard
Battier/Snyder
Head/Wells
Alston/Lucas

I badly want to see Bonzi get minutes before th playoffs. He needs to be included.


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## Dean the Master (Feb 19, 2006)

Bets On! Thank God It"s Friday Night!


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## Lakers138 (Feb 8, 2007)

Would be sad if the Rockets lose this game because of the Portland injuries. Maybe Luther Head should start instead of Rafer Alston and make some nickname for Alston.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

> Maybe we'll start calling him Edgar Allan Poe. Or Columbo.
> 
> Nothing like a little mystery from Jeff Van Gundy.
> 
> ...


Link


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

WTF? Possibly no TMAC & Yao............

Thats terrible.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

No Yao, no T-Mac



> OK, you've been wanting Bonzi and Spanoulis for the entire season. Tonight you'll get your wish.
> 
> Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming will both sit out the game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Both are bothered by pain in their backs.
> 
> ...


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

seriously, wtf? Isn't it already too late to tank?


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)




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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Wow, we really don't want home court in the playoffs.

Hell are we even playing like we want to be in the playoffs? No


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Holy crap, there is a Bonzi Wells sighting...


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Got to get Bonzi fit for POs

This will be a loss.
JVG needs to improve his relationship with his players. He has had fights with Bonzi Kirk & V-Span. His offense is terrible aswell. (Though that has a lot to do with having no backup PG)


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

wow this game sucks. I guess we just don't want home court.
I don't like how we are finishing the season...


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Oh well what chance did we have without Yao & TMAC


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## lingi1206 (Jun 2, 2006)

is the game on? whats it on?


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

I expected T-Mac to be out but Yao? It's 80-76 Trail Blazers right now. 48 seconds left in the game. Wells is 1-7 today. So much for seeing him on the court.


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## PriceIsWright (Oct 11, 2006)

Wow Rafer Alston sucks; even I can get a better line than that and I'm being serious


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Bonzi cant just turn up and be 100% again he needs to get game fit.

Hope he is given minutes to do that for the playoffs. I doubt it though JVG likes his tight 8 rotation. There are already too many in the rotation.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

hroz said:


> Bonzi cant just turn up and be 100% again he needs to get game fit.


I was expecting that, but I'm not sure if JVG will give him minutes for the upcoming games. This could be the last time we will see him in the season games unless T-Mac and Yao decide to take the next few games off.


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## Krimzon (Feb 26, 2007)

85-78 Trail Blazers. Luther Head has 19 points tonight.


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## debarge (Nov 13, 2005)

Luther is a total bonehead. Man I hope Yao and Tmac got some rest, and can we can ride them out in Utah. Maybe Bonzi can get his Mojo working with Snyder off the bench and we'll have a decent group w/ Juwan to work against Memo and those Jerks. 

The only thing I'm really worried about is our Defense and Jerry Sloan out-coaching Jeff.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

This isn't surprising in the least. This team is going nowhere unless both T-Mac and Yao are at near their best. 

JVG should have integrated Bonzi. I can't repeat this enough. Part of being a good NBA coach is handling your players' egos. They're not high schoolers. There are no points for lessons learned. You have to maximize your chances of winning. Bonzi in form is a better player than Battier. Perhaps he wouldn't be as good a fit, but he is good enough to make this team significantly better. Now it's probably too late.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Utah lost as well YES YES YES YES YES YES

:yay: :yay: :yay: :yay: 
:banana: :banana: :banana: 
I know im the :devil2:


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

hroz said:


> Utah lost as well YES YES YES YES YES YES
> 
> :yay: :yay: :yay: :yay:
> :banana: :banana: :banana:
> I know im the :devil2:


but we shoulda won :brokenhea


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)




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