The Trail Blazers believe they have found out a lot of things that will help them when they visit Houston's Toyota Center Friday night for Game 3 of the first-round playoff series.
In Houston's 108-81 opening-game romp, the Rockets ruled the backboards 44-30 and Yao Ming did whatever he wanted in the post, scoring 24 first-half points. In Portland's series-evening 107-103 win on Tuesday, the Blazers won the rebound battle 36-35 and held Yao to six shots and 11 points. Game 2 "was huge for us," Portland forward LaMarcus Aldridge said. "Now we go down to Houston and we know what we have to do. We have to be physical with those guys and play with confidence."
"We know what it takes to win in the playoffs," Portland guard Brandon Roy said. "We have to give 110 percent every game. Houston's not going to let up.
"(On Tuesday), we matched that intensity. We have to take that on the road, which will be even harder."
BLAZERS 107, ROCKETS 103: It was too much Brandon Roy, too little Yao Ming.
Roy scored 42 points while Yao, limited to 31 minutes because of foul problems, managed only 11 points and eight rebounds.
Portland seized command of a tight game down the stretch, then held off a late Houston surge to post the franchise's first playoff victory since May 2, 2003. None of the current Blazers were on that team.
"It's our first playoff win, so we're pretty excited about it," said Roy after delivering one of the greatest performances in franchise playoff history. "It's hard to win in the playoffs. It takes a lot of work. I'm glad we're able to get this experience now."
