Houston leads series 1-0

GAME 2

Tuesday

at Portland

9 p.m.

TV/radio: KTXH, NBA TV; 610 AM, 850 AM

GAME 3

Friday

at Toyota Center

8:30 p.m.

TV/radio: KTXH, ESPN; 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

GAME 4

April 26

at Toyota Center

8 p.m.

TV/radio: KTXH, TNT; 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

GAME 5 *

April 28

at Portland

TBD

TV/radio: KTXH, TBD; 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

GAME 6 *

April 30

at Toyota Center

TBD

TV/radio: KTXH, TBD; 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

GAME 7 *

May 2

at Portland

TBD

TV/radio: TNT, KTXH; 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

* - if necessary

PORTLAND, Ore. - For two stunning, glorious hours, all the concerns were obliterated.

The playoff losing streak, the season-finale dud in Dallas, even the matchup issues with the young, talented Portland Trail Blazers were no match for the pummeling the Rockets inflicted, rolling from a start-to-finish 108-81 thrashing of the Blazers in the Rose Garden on Saturday night, taking a 1-0 series lead heading into Tuesday's Game 2.

"Our goal was to come out, especially in the first quarter and get the tempo of the game in our favor, control the game and not let the crowd get into it," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We were able to get the first hit in the first quarter and get control. On both ends of the court, that was about as consistent as we played in a while."

Yao Ming hit the Blazers with a perfect first half, hitting all nine of his shots to score 24 points despite not taking another shot and playing just six second-half minutes.

"Yao got us off to a great start," Adelman said. "He was very active, made every shot. He just got going. He was on a roll. He was making turnaround jumpers, jump hooks, face-up jumpers. He did everything."

Aaron Brooks, two seasons removed from the University of Oregon, dominated throughout, rolling up 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting with seven assists.

In the matchup that might have given the Rockets the most worries, Luis Scola dominated LaMarcus Aldridge. Scola hit seven of nine shots for 19 points, 15 in the second half. Aldridge, who was Portland's leading scorer against the Rockets this season and especially effective in those three games against Scola, made just three of 12 shots, scoring just seven points with three assists.

The Rockets had been in command from the moment Yao won the opening tip, and following it with three consecutive jumpers before the Blazers scored.

Never threatened

The Rockets never trailed, led by as much as 31 and never seemed threatened.

"I made a lot more calls, trying to be sure we were getting things we wanted and we executed it well," Adelman said. "We ran a lot of pick-and-rolls, but different looking pick-and-rolls. But the main thing is not lose your focus defensively. We had to continue to defend them and rebound the ball. When you continue to defend and start picking your offense up, that can separate you. By the end of the third quarter, we were pretty much in control.

"What I really liked in the second half, Yao didn't score and we still maintained control of the game. We found other ways to score when he was in foul trouble and out of the game."

Even a few ragged minutes in the third quarter did little harm. Just as they had at the end of the half, they were at their best in the final minutes of the quarter, with Brooks finishing an 11-3 run in the final four minutes of the third quarter with a 3-pointer to a 27-point lead.

The Rockets had gone nearly six minutes without a field goal when Artest put in consecutive jumpers. Scola scored on a drive and hit on the baseline before Brooks' 3 gave the Rockets a 27-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Rockets got the lead to 25. But Yao had not taken a second-half shot when he got his fourth foul midway through the third quarter. With the Rockets' lead at 19, Portland had just the hint of an opening.

Even Yao's fourth foul midway through the quarter did little damage. After his 9-of-9 first half, the Blazers had switched to a fronting defense on Yao and he did not get another shot. But the attention paid to stopping him did open chances to drive to the basket for everyone else. And when Yao went out, Dikembe Mutombo came in and grabbed four of his nine rebounds.

Mutombo had trouble with Greg Oden in the fourth quarter, but by then, the Rockets had taken the lead to 30 when Brooks opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer.

Taking crowd out

"They're a great, great team," Brooks said. "Their crowd was really into it, like we knew they would be. We had to come out early and establish the way we wanted to play. Our game plan was good and we executed it.

"We went to Dallas and lost that game and people were down on us a little bit, but we won five out of our last six games. We had a good rhythm going into that game. I think we picked it back up with this game."

The Rockets did that and more, slamming the Blazers and for now, all those nagging issues.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com