Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET the Western Conference No. 4 vs. No. 5 opening series will get Game 2 underway after a playoff classic went down to start the matchup. Tonight's game will be on TNT, and can be live streamed free by clicking this link. Rockets fans can tune in to the radio broadcast on KBME 790, while Blazers fans can hear the game on Fox Sports Radio 620.
Houston nearly survived the game of LaMarcus Aldridge's life in Game 1, making it to overtime despite the Blazers forward's 46-point, 18-rebound outburst. Part of their failure to launch was an off performance by James Harden, who finished with 27 points but missed 20 shots.
"I wasn't really driving and attacking and being aggressive like I needed to be," Harden said after hitting just 3-of-14 from beyond the arc. "I think when I get into the attack mode everything else opens up, the assists come and the easy layups come and whatnot. So I've got to be more aggressive."
Driving and getting to the foul line is when Harden's at his best, which is why head coach Terry Stotts has his defense drilled on forcing him into becoming a jump shooter.
"That's what he does and we just need to make them difficult," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "We need to contest them and do as good a job as possible. ... He's going to get his shots, but we've got to find him in transition, we've got to limit his attempts at the rim, do it without fouling, all of those things."
Rockets coach Kevin McHale, however, needs to figure out a plan of action for stopping Aldridge. The Rockets keyed on Portland's 3-point shooting in Game 1, but clearly more attention must be devoted to the interior.
"We were really cognizant of trying to take the 3-point line away, probably too much so," McHale said. "We didn't dig, we didn't help. We didn't do a lot of things."
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