What have we learned about this years Playoffs so far? That the team who is the most aggressive is usually the team that is coming out with the W. To put this simply, Houston was tons more aggressive than the Blazers were and they went out and won this game. The Blazers’ performance was very Game 1-esque, it might have looked different because it was in Houston but all the elements of Game 1 stank were there. Remember when like around Season 5 or 6 of the Cosby Show, Rudy Huxtable started getting old and growing a moustache and they brought Raven Symone in the dumbest way possible. And it was just Cosby doing the same things he did before but with a different kid and everyone know. Game 3 was kind of like that….except worse somehow. You have to give credit to Houston though, they made some key adjustments that worked out very well. They took Roy and LaMarcus away. Couple that with the aggression they showed and they deserved the win. It wasn’t just finding ways to stop Roy and LMA, it was also their transition defense. Portland couldn’t get out and run which means they couldn’t take advantage of Houston’s turnovers. I think their first fast-break points were on a Steve Blake pull-up three. That says it all.

My feelings on Game 3 are kind of like a Sour Patch Kid: sour & sweet. This isn’t one of those games where you can put one nice sticky band-aid on it and boom it’s figured out. This is just a weird, confusing feeling. Its the return of the painful playoff loss that just kind of sits with you like a meatball sub. It’s lingering longer than the guys in Pineapple Express. For every positive comment or thought I have about this game, a negative one creeps right by it or vice versa. It is driving me wild. Don’t believe me? Watch me do my dance then. On one hand, Portland reverted back to their Game 1 tentative ways (BOO). On the other hand, they came back from down 17 and made this a game (YAY). On one side you can say that Portland showed an ability to compete and win in Houston (YAY). On the other hand you can say the blew a chance to steal a win on the road, the type of chances you don’t get too often in the playoffs (BOO). You can say that Portland managed to be right there despite Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge combining to shoot 12-for-33 (YAY). On the other hand you can say the blew a game where Yao, Artest and Brooks combined to shoot 8-for-26 (BOO). And I could keep on going but for my sanity’s sake I’m going to stop. Just a weird feeling thinking about this game. But, at the end of the day Game 3 is in the books. Houston is up 2-1 and a completely new slate starts up with Game 4.

The most disappointing aspect of Game 3 was the return of the tentativeness. From the tip it was clear that Houston was not going to let Brandon Roy beat them. We all expected this….well apparently all of us except for the other Blazers. Their help defense was everywhere, building walls around the ball anytime Roy even looked at penetrating. They also looked at ways to get LaMarcus Aldridge out of rhythm. Double-teams worked (4 turnovers) as did quick rotations on the pick-and-roll. Also working was the fact that he started the game 1-for-7. Portland needed guys to step up, every one and their mom knew that. Was it going to be Blake? Outlaw? Batum? Rudy? It seemed like no one wanted the ball in the first half. Honestly, the only people ready to play in the first half were Rudy Fernandez and…*gulp* Channing Frye. (Oden added himself to that list later). Those two just went out and played basketball. Rudy got his mojo going early, Channing had that ‘F*** it I might as well just hoop while I’m out here’ swag. Everyone else was swag-less. The rest of the team was pump-faking, passing up shots, holding the ball, over or underdribbling. Just a lot of overthinking offensively from a lot of people. It was wildly disappointing.

Portland did a lot of un-Portland type things in this game. They got beasted on the boards (32-41) and on free throw attempts (10-24) just like in Game 1. Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge were just way off, more off than that one time Cartoon Network showed Saved by the Bell instead of cartoons. Roy had 19 points on 18 shots. If you’re a Houston fan that’s exactly what you want to see. Those are Rudy Gay, Vince Carter type numbers. The positive is he got to the line 8 times, which shows that his jumper was just off. The negative: his 8 attempts were 80% of the Blazers free throw attempts. He took nice shots he just could not get it going. It happens. LaMarcus finished with 13 points on 15 attempts. Not only that but he had 4 turnovers, struggling with the double team and the attention brought his way. He just wasn’t strong with the ball at times. The positive? At least he had 8 rebounds comparted to 1 in Game 1. Let it be known that these two cannot struggle if Portland wants to win this series. They especially can’t struggle if Portland wants to win in Houston.

It also didn’t help these two out that other than Rudy Fernandez no one decided to show up. Rudy carried the Blazers and would have gotten the game ball and my affection forever had Portland been able to pull it out. Steve Blake’s line looks ok….but he had a horrible game for being Steve Blake. It felt like he had way more than 2 turnovers. It was just weird to watch Blake play like the opposite of himself. The compliment I have always given him is that he’s solid and he doesn’t take anything away from the dinner table. Tonight he decided to break dishes in a Sergio-esque performance at times. I mean seriously, I’ve never cringed when Steve Blake has the ball in his hands until last night. The positives? He may have broken out of his slump (4-for-7 from behind the arc), he can’t play worse and he will get doubted by a ton of people over the next day. Blake has proven doubters wrong his whole career. Travis Outlaw was again a no-show, shooting 2-for-11. That means for the series he is 9-for-30. I just threw up in my mouth a little. And this is our #3 scorer who is running around out there with no confidence. He let Kyle Lowry D him up and I’m pretty sure he’s considered a midget in 15 states. How Outlaw didn’t jump over him in the post and get that fadeaway off is beyond me. Even when Portland started feeding him it wasn’t working out. If Travis keeps producing like this, Portland is going to struggle to put points up. The positives? Portland is still in this series despite Travis Outlaw playing just as well offensively as you or I could given the situation. He’s due. Greg Oden also played well…until we started trying to run everything through him.

Defensively, my biggest problem was how poorly the Blazers protected the paint, especially in the second quarter. So many uncontested layups and dunks in that quarter. I know Big Joel was in foul trouble but he let Scola get an And-1 on him and then Carl Landry low-key beasted him in the post. Definitely not calling the big fella out….but it was shocking to see. Aaron Brooks was slicing to the basket…Von Wafer was dunking…Portland just didn’t do a very good job of protecting the paint tonight. Also the performance of Luis Scola and Landry in the first half sure didn’t help. Those two combined to go 13-for-22 and scored 29 points. Getting that kind of production from those kinds of players is huge. The toughest part to swallow may be the fact that we finally got Yao, Brooks and Artest to struggle on the same night and couldn’t pull it off. That’s the toughest part if you ask me. You don’t get those oppurtunities that often. It’s kind of like Portland had the chance to take a pretty girl home but instead opted to take her number down and call her next week. It’s hard to think of a positive attached to that one because Yao and Brooks have been trouble all series. As much as I want to pull the ‘Roy/LMA can’t play much worse card’, the ‘Yao/Brooks/Artest can’t play much worse card’ is right there.

It is time to stay positive. There is plenty of basketball left to be played and believe it or not there were some encouraging things to come out of this game. The thing is, despite the disappointment…Portland somehow got into a game they had no business being in. None. I mean if Portland had come back and won we all would have been like thieves in the night. Statistically, Houston was beating them badly in every category and there Portland was surging right back. You take away Shane Battier’s three two steps behind the 3-point line and this might be a completely different ball game. I know, coulda, shoulda, wouldas…but still. What I liked most about this game was that Houston’s biggest weakness got exposed. What weakness? Their inability to execute in the 4th quarter. You take away those 6 free throws at the end and the Rockets only put up 14 points in the fourth. Their superstar is Yao Ming and he can be taken away easily in late game situations. All of a sudden you can’t get Yao the ball, the offense stagnates, there is no more kicking it to the weakside and moving the ball for an open shot or a great drive. Portland showed an ability to do that last night. It seemed like Houston just got tight, they didn’t know where to go. With a lot of series and close battles ahead this is only a good thing. Early in the fourth they like to go with Von Wafer and Kyle Lowry before subbing their starters in. Which means, in the fourth quarter the Rockets depended on Von Wafer, Kyle Lowry, Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola and Ron Artest to make plays. I’m not sure that sentence is a bad thing at all.

For Portland’s sake lets hope there is a carry-over between that second half of Game 3 and Game 4. The one thing we know about this team is that they are resilient. Now it’s Portland’s turn to make their adjustments to what Houston has presented. And if they can make the right adjustments, there is a really good chance that Portland heads back home with this series even at 2. Game 4 is going to be mighty interesting to say the least…

Game 3 of this series may not have that nifty ‘must-win situation’ tag attached to it but its importance can not be underestimated. As the series shifts to Houston and the Toyota Center, both teams are tied 1-1 but that tie runs deeper than those two numberrs. Both teams come into Game 3 ‘legitimately’ feeling good which is generally rare. And I say ‘legit’ because there is no false confidence on either side. No Carlos Boozer saying ‘We won’t go down 3-0′ instead of ‘All we have to do is take care of home-court and we’re back in it’. Portland comes into tonight feeling good because they have a new-found confidence that they can beat the Houston Rockets. And that confidence is half the battle right there. The talent and ability wasn’t in question but as Game 1 showed, no confidence = a beatdown. Fortunately all those feelings attached with Saturday night’s debacle were buried in a cavalcade of Brandon Roy buckets and LaMarcus Aldridge jumpers. Essentially, Tuesday night served as the perfect rebound girl for the horrible relationship known as Game 1. For Houston, although they lost Game 2, they accomplished their number one mission and that was to steal a win in Portland. Now they have home-court advantage in this “best-of-5″ series, and depending on the length of the series, 3 of the next 4 games are taking place in the Toyota Center. Also, there are lingering feelings that they may have given Game 2 away. They have experience in that they have been in this situation before and I highly doubt they will be giving anything away at home. Houston is essentially pulling a Kelly Clarkson; they’ve been waiting for a moment like this for years.

(Actually no, they blow it everytime they get a chance. Zing.)

Something’s gotta give.

The prospect’s of Friday night are a bit scary for the Red & Black Attack on the outside looking in. This is Portland’s first playoff road game. If Game 1 was any indication about how this team is going to deal with ‘first times’ trouble could be on the horizon. As stated before, Houston will be looking for a win in a big way. This is where that experience comes in. They (should) have a sense of urgency to take care of business at home. They know that this is the reason why they needed to steal one from Portland, so they could win games at home. Something they have done a great job of doing all year. Losing home-court advantage after stealing it would be a huge blow to this team. Not just because the momentum of the series will completely shift Portland’s way. But because if you consider all of the Rockets’ playoff struggles over the years, a huge sense of doubt will creep in. I expect the crowd to be double crazy considering Mutombo will be honored and presented with the Citizenship Award. The first quarter is going to speak volumes about this game. And, the Blazers performance in Game 3 will speak a lot about the hopes of Game 4.

Keys to success:

• Play with confidence. The Blazers can’t let playing in front of this raucous crowd rattle them. They have to show up and play a mature and confident game. If they get shy, tentative and borderline scared then the Rockets will absolutely eat them up. There’s no way around it. Portland has to be ready to take a punch early. The Rockets will have an emotional boost returning to their home-floor.
• Be prepared for Houston’s adjustments. The key to winning in the post-season is your ability to make adjustments. When you come out on the losing end it’s a lot easier to implement adjustments on what didn’t work. This fact favors Houston tonight. Let’s be honest, there is no chance in hell Yao Ming is only putting up 6 field goal attempts in Game 3. I’ll put my Captain Obvious t-shirt on and say Houston is going to look to get him the ball early and often. They know that their offense runs through Yao. You get Yao going and all of a sudden he draws even more attention which leaves the weakside open for open three pointers or drives at the basket. Guys who can’t create baskets for themselves no longer have to. Not only that but I guarantee the rest of Houston’s players are going to look to punish the Blazers on the weakside for giving Yao so much attention. They feel like they left Portland off the hook. Or at least Von Wafer does. Offensively, Portland has to be ready for the fact that Houston is going to try and take stuff away. There is no way Houston is going to let Brandon Roy beat them in Game 3. I also figure they are going to come at LaMarcus Aldridge pretty hard as well. Portland has to be prepared for that. The Blazers were able to make the adjustments and punch Houston back in Game 2, now they have to be ready for Houston to do the same tonight.
• Get ready for a lot of Yao. As usual, containing Yao Ming is issue #1 for the Blazers. I stated this above but I would guarantee that Houston will focus on getting Yao the ball a hell of a lot more than they did in Game 2. He’s shooting way more than 6 times in this game. I predict somewhere between 12 field goal attempts and 20 for Yao in this game. I can’t say this enough, when Houston runs their offense through Yao, things go so much smoother for them. Not only does he cause trouble but his kickouts to the weakside can create open looks or open driving lanes for his teammates. Portland not only has to front Yao and make it hard for him to get the ball but they have to make life difficult on Yao when he gets it.
• Be the aggresssor, attack the basket. Portland has got to come out very physical and very aggressive against this Houston team. Continue pushing and shoving Yao around. Crash the boards. Get to the free throw line. I highly doubt that Game 3 wil be officiated as tight as Game 2 was. If I’m the Blazers, I’m looking to go at Yao as much as possible. The refs haven’t given Brandon Roy one fall call as he attacks Yao Ming at the basket but Portland needs to go at him. If Yao gets in foul trouble the game completely changes. And when Yao is out, Portland definitely needs to attack the basket because the Rockets will have no one to protect the rim. Portland has to show up on the glass and has to find ways to get to the free throw line. Setttling for jumpers will not work on the road in the playoffs. Especially in a building you’ve traditionally struggled in.
• X-Factors must show up. After their performances in Game 2, Houston is not going to let Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge win this game. At least that’s what we should expect. Steve Blake, Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw and Nic Batum are going to have to establish themselves as offensive threats. If they can do this the Houston D will be spread out giving Roy and LMA better opportunites to score. If they can’t, Houston’s team defense can concentrate on the two stars. And if Houston can get their help defense going, it could be a rough night. All it takes from Blake or Batum is nailing an open J. Blake has struggled with his shot this series (2-for-8 from behind the arc), getting good looks but struggling to knock them down. Tonight he will have to knock those shots down. Outlaw will have to find a way to show up in this series. He’s made his contributions but has generally been ineffective in this series. That is being nice (7-for-19). If he can finally get going the Blazers will get a major boost. I love him going at Von Wafer. I don’t love him going at Shane Battier. Against Wafer he gets whatever he wants but I feel like whenever Battier guards him he ends up shooting a really tough fadeaway. If any one of these guys can show up in a big way, Portland will have a great chance at stealing this game in Houston. Rudy has played well but will have to keep it up. Oden just has to stay out of foul trouble. They just have to be ready because I fully believe Houston is going to try and take Roy and LMA away.
• Contain Aaron Brooks. Portland partially figured out how to guard Brooks in Game 2, containing him very well until his explosion late in the 4th quarter. They are going to have to keep it up if they want to win in Houston. Brooks can not only create his own shot with his speed but also can create shots for others. Portland has got to figure out how to guard Brooks if they want to win this series. Generally speaking if they can figure out how to take Brooks away they take away the #3 scoring option of the Rockets which is a great thing. 
• Win the battle of the benches. Houston got huge production from their bench in Game 2. If it weren’t for LaMarcus Aldridge’s production in the second quarter of that game, Kyle Lowry and Von Wafer might have won Game 2 for the Rockets. Portland has got to take advantage of their second unit over Houston’s second unit. It’s that simple. In the second quarter of Game 2 they didn’t but they figured it out in the second half. If Houston can get production out of their second unit, things will be extremely tough for the Blazers in this game.
• Stay out of foul trouble. Mainly this goes out to the big-men. Oden, Joel and LMA have to stay on the court. Have to. This just is not a good match-up for Channing Frye. And I will turn to heavy drinking if we need Ruffin to be our love muffin. Heavy. Drinking.
• Keep things close. I really feel in my heart of hearts that if the Blazers can keep it close going into the 4th that they can pull it out. Yao causes match-up problems, but as far as superstars he’s pretty easy to take away. Think about it, if you front him and discourage the Rockets from throwing the ball into him their offense will stagnate. I like Portland’s chances of executing down the stretch over Houston’s.

This Game 3 will firmly swing the momentum into one of these teams corners. A Portland win erases Game 1 completely and immediately enters doubt into all of the Rockets faithul. A Houston win re-inforces their home court advantage. As I said earlier, something has to give and one of these teams must fall. Will the Blazers show up and take control of this series? Or will they fall to a determined and prepare Houston team? We will find out tonight.