April 25, 2014 7:04 AM

Hey, Houston: Don'tcha think it's a bit too early to panic?

Five things we learned in the Game 2 loss

1. The Rockets are in a world of trouble. Only three teams have ever come back after losing the first two games of a seven-game series at home - the 1968-69 Lakers, the 1993-94 Rockets and the 2004-05 Mavericks (against the Rockets). Since the Rockets’ championship seasons (1993-94 and 1994-95) every time they lost Game 1, they also lost Game 2. In each of the previous six of those instances, they also lost the series.

2. The Rockets have no clue what to do with LaMarcus Aldridge. His phenomenal shooting has taken him from outstanding to dominant, but the Rockets could not do anything with him in the regular-season either. On Wednesday, they went back to putting big bodies on Aldridge and that helped keep him out of the paint. He instead just moved without the ball, took pick-and-pop jumpers and burned the Rockets for 43 points a game after smacking them with 46.

3. If not for the beard, James Harden would be unrecognizable. The top scoring shooting guard in the NBA this season, Harden went from just missing shots to falling apart completely. He went 6 of 19 on Wednesday and is 14 of 47 in the series. This is not entirely without warning. Harden finished the regular season 36.1 percent of his shots in the final five games. He has made just 33.3 percent of his shots in those games plus the first two of the series, seeming increasingly hesitant and reliant on fouls that the Blazers refuse to commit.

4. The Rockets are completely healthy, but short-handed, anyway. Kevin McHale played just eight players, including Francisco Garcia’s four minutes. It is not unusual for coaches to shorten their rotation, but when Rockets starters struggled, there was no lift coming from the bench. Rockets reserves combined for 13 points with Jeremy Lin, the Rockets’ top scorer off the bench in the regular-season, making just 1 of 5 shots.

5. It’s the TNT jinx! The Rockets are now 0-2 on TNT, but Game 3 is on ESPN. Unfortunately, Game 4 and Game 5, if necessary, are back on TNT, where the big topic of discussion on “Inside the NBA” involved how the Rockets should defend against Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge. “I think Dwight Howard’s gotta guard him more,” Charles Barkley said. “Omer Asik is too slow, and Terrence Jones is too little. . He’s just a chair.” Just as telling on the Rockets’ plight was this exchange between Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. Shaq: “Where was James Harden tonight?” Smith: “Missing in action.”

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on April 25, 2014 7:04 AM.

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