Here's the Trail Blazers' game plan for Game 2

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Apr 20, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

Brandon Roy, trying to get a shot off against the defense of Yao Ming in Game 1, says the Trail Blazers need to give the Houston Rockets their "best shot" in Game 2 on Tuesday.

L.E. BASKOW / THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

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Lose a game and lose the city?

Well, not quite. But the doubters came out from under the bridges after the Trail Blazers went tips up against Houston on Saturday.

And here we are at Game 2 Tuesday night at the Rose Garden, and it’s a must-win situation for Portland. You can’t lose the first two at home and expect to win a seven-game playoff series.

On the other hand, the 27-point margin doesn’t carry over. As Danny Ainge told me after the Blazers’ 122-89 first-game loss to Chicago in the 1992 NBA finals, “This isn’t the Tour de France.” Portland went on to win game two of that series.

Tuesday’s game starts at 0-0, and if the Blazers win, they will go to Houston needing to split a pair of games at the Toyota Center to regain the homecourt advantage.

But some changes have to be made if the Blazers are to get from point A to point B.

Let’s start with slowing down the Asian giant, Yao Ming, who did little for international diplomacy by not missing a shot (9 for 9 from the field, 6 for 6 from the foul line) in a devastating Game 1 performance.

Portland’s post men — mostly Joel Przybilla and, for a short while, Greg Oden — played behind Yao and were left pretty much to single-cover the Houston center through his 24-point first half. Might the Blazers front Yao more Tuesday night?

“We were supposed to front him the last game,” Portland coach Nate McMillan says. “We didn’t do a lot of things.”

Will the Blazers change things up, then?

“There are some things we can tweak and do different,” McMillan says. “But really, for our guys, it’s, ‘Just do it.’ A lot of it, we didn’t do (Saturday). There were certain spots, if any of the Rockets get deep post position, the plan for our (defenders) was, ‘Don’t let him catch it; front him.’ "

The challenge guarding Yao is immense, and not only because of his size. “You’re talking about a center who can score, pass and be smart on the block, and he’s 7-6,” McMillan says. “They pretty much always have an outlet when things go wrong in their offense, because you have to guard Yao. Whether you front him or play behind him, he is an outlet. As a defense, you’re committing possibly two players to him, so other guys will be open, and it’s a matter of them making their reads.

“It’s one of the toughest matchups in the league. He can score, he can hit free throws, he can shoot from the perimeter. You don’t stop him. You hope that he’ll miss, or you take away the post-ups by double-teaming.”

The defensive plan Tuesday night will be to keep things varied.

“They have guys in the perimeter who can knock down 3s, so you have to mix up your coverage,” McMillan says. “You can’t give him the same look. Yao has seen a front. That’s not going to faze him.”

The No. 2 priority will be to get LaMarcus Aldridge going. Portland’s “L-Train” (Shhh. Don’t tell Lionel Hollins) was chugging along with the brakes engaged in the opener. The power forward made only 3 of 12 shots and scored seven points with three rebounds. That from a player who averaged 23.3 points and 8.7 rebounds in the three regular-season meetings with Houston.

Luis Scola did a marvelous job keeping in front of Aldridge.

“He’s a good defender,” Aldridge acknowledges. “He’s very active, very energetic. Anywhere you go, he’s bumping you. That gives you problems.”

In the regular season, Houston was forced to go to Chuck Hayes — a much more offensively challenged player than Scola — to defend Aldridge. Things went so well with Scola on Saturday, Hayes never got off the bench until the final two minutes.

“If I can force that change,” Aldridge nods, “it’s good for us.”

Equally problematic was the presence of Yao for help on the drive.

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