The Rockets looked like a different team tonight in Oakland. They outscored the Warriors 35-19 in the third quarter and they made their lead stand up….barely. Trevor Ariza was outstanding in this game leading the way for the Rockets with 25 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Luis Scola bounced back after having a dud game in the season opener as he finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists. Aaron Brooks had another outstanding game as he finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals. The Rockets are now 1-1 on the season after getting this nice road win.

The Rockets really looked pathetic last night in Portland. They were trailing this game 75-56 heading into the 4th quarter before a rally made the final score not look so bad. The Rockets were out-rebounded 51-33 and they only shot 37% from the floor and that was a recipe for disaster last night. Aaron Brooks led the way for the Rockets in this game with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. He was the only starting player for the Rockets that came out with fire in his eyes. Trevor Ariza also started but he finished up with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Kyle Lowry was solid off the bench for the Rockets as he finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. David Andersen also had a good game in his NBA debut with 11 points and 5 rebounds in only 19 minutes on the floor. The Rockets are 0-1 on the season and they are going to lose a lot of games if they don’t start playing better than they did last night.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news Rockets fans but I would have to take the under on this bet. If the Rockets win more than 37.5 games with the roster they currently have then Rick Adelman will win the Coach of the Year Award in the NBA. With T-Mac out until December and Yao out for the season I just don’t see where the points are going to come from this season and the Rockets aren’t good enough to play stall ball this year. Take the under with confidence.

The Rockets have released veteran shooting guard Brent Barry in what was a surprise move. He already has a T.V. gig so he probably knew that this time was coming. Still, with the absolute lack of depth that the Rockets have at shooting guard Barry’s release was a surprise. They are probably banking on rookie sharpshooter Chase Budinger replacing as a long range threat from behind the three point line.

Rick Adelman has always been a good NBA coach but we will see what he can do going into a season where he will be without Yao for the whole year and T-Mac until at least December. Adelman has a 108-56 (65.9%) record in his two years with the Rockets during the regular season and he is 9-10 (47.4%) in the post season. He now has a career NBA regular season record of 860-537 (61.6%) as a head coach and he is 79-78 (50.3%) in the post season. The Rockets will be hard pressed to win half of there games this season.