Luis Scola Knows His Role-a

Rockets 107, Raps 97

When opposing teams take Yao out of the mix, Luis Scola knows his role.  Even though Bosh and Bargnani played good defense on Yao last night, the rest of the Houston Rockets knew their roles and made shots when needed.  Yao is always the primary focus for any opposing team but this opens a hell of a lot more shots for the rest of the Rockets.  If guys like Von Wafer, Luis Scola and Carl Landry make shots (and they did last night) the opponent will have a tough time hanging with the Rockets.  This is what killed the Raps down the stretch.  Carl Landry had 22 pts, Scola had 16 boards, Battier shut down Anthony Parker and Von Wafer scored 14.

As for the Raps, they came out strong.  Bosh and Bargnani got it going early scoring the first 17 points for the Raptors.  Bargnani definitely showed his speed against Yao blowing by Yao for easy baskets.  Bosh, Bargnani, Calderon and Marion put up good numbers but the rest of the Raps put up garbage.  Parker shot 1-8, Joey Graham was 2-9 and Kapono was a nasty 3-11.  Like the Dallas game, the Raps competed for three quarters but the Rockets proved to be too much.

Key Notes:

• Luis Scola had 20 pts, 16 boards
• Yao had 20 pts and 11 rebounds
• Landry and Wafer were effective scoring 22 and 14 respectively
• The Rockets shot 50% from the floor while the Raps shot 42%
• Bosh/Bargnani combined for 50 pts
• Calderon had a career high 16 assists

The Raps play the Miami Heat on Friday

Photo credit: (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)