Glad that's over with.
The Clippers lost their 59th game of the season in the finale. Appropriately, pretty much no one played particularly well. Maggette had 22 points, but only 4 after halftime, and he turned the ball over 4 times. Elton Brand had 18/12 and 3 blocks, but shot only 5 for 14. And sadly, Al Thornton followed up three straight 20 point performances with one of his worst games of the season - 2 points on 1 for 8 shooting. Not really ending on a high note.
I know the Rockets handled the Clippers easily twice in the last 10 days (which isn't saying much of course), but I just get the impression that these guys are first round fodder. Tracy McGrady is shooting under 40% in March and April, which happens to correspond to when Yao has been out. And seriously, where are they going to go for points in the playoffs if McGrady isn't hitting shots? I know they continued to win (a lot) after Yao went down. But it seems possible that adrenaline pushed them through to 22 straight. Since the streak ended, they're a mediocre if respectable 9-7. But that record looks a lot less respectable when you look at their 9 victims - 2 wins over the Clippers, 2 over Seattle, 1 over Minnesota, 1 over Sacramento. They actually played 4 of their final 7 games against the Clippers and the Sonics. Are you kidding? Their record against teams with winning records since the streak ended? That would be 2 and 6, with 5 losses coming by 17 or more points. It looks like another first round exit for TMac.