Rockets Uncomfortable By All The Sweep-Talking

Ahead 3-0 in the NBA Finals is not a situation to which anyone on the Houston Rockets is accustomed.

In last year’s finals, New York went ahead 3-2 before the Rockets stretched the series to seven games. This season, Houston needed five games to oust Utah and seven to eliminate Phoenix. In the Western Conference finals against San Antonio, the teams were 2-2 until the Rockets won the last two games.

On the verge of sweeping the Orlando Magic is a bit disconcerting to Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich.

“I’m not used to this and I do not know how to act,” he said Monday. “We just have to go out and be professional and try to close it out. I’d rather be here than in the hole.”

At this point, overconfidence is his biggest worry.

“You look at all those things in the paper, and I saw one article where they are talking about what we are going to do next year,” Tomjanovich said. “We haven’t finished this thing off. That kind of thinking is very dangerous.”

Clyde Drexler, who carries the memory of two unsuccessful trips to the Finals with Portland, isn’t falling into any mental traps.

“We have to approach Game 4 like it is Game 7,” he said. “They (the Magic) are a good young team, and they’re not just going to give it to us.”

Bare hands

Before the finals started, Magic forward Horace Grant joked he would wear the three championship rings he won with the Chicago Bulls to give his teammates extra incentive to win rings for themselves.

With the Magic facing the sweep, Grant was asked if he would bring them out before Game 4. Now isn’t the time to be putting them on display, he said.

“The rings are in mothballs,” Grant said, “and that’s where they’re staying. The only motivation we need is to look at the last three games, come out, play hard and aggressive.”

Cancel that moving van

Rockets forward Robert Horry once thought Orlando might be a nice place to buy a house, so he checked out the area.

Now, he’s not so sure a Florida home is in his future.

“If we win this thing, I don’t think I want to go down there,” said Horry, whose 3-pointer with 14.1 seconds left Sunday helped win Game 3. “They might not want me down there now.”

Sorry, Hakeem

With all apologies to Hakeem Olajuwon, who has scored 31, 34 and 31 points in the first three games of the finals, teammate Mario Elie doesn’t necessarily think Houston’s center should get a second consecutive Finals MVP award.

“Right now, I think Robert (Horry) is my MVP of the series,” Elie said. “He’s making every big play. He’s just stepping up.”

Out of the loop

One member of the Magic has gotten left behind on Orlando’s joyride through the NBA playoffs.

Donald Royal started 68 games at small forward this season and started the Magic’s first six playoff games. Since then, Dennis Scott has taken his place in the lineup.

In the finals, Royal’s minutes have totaled exactly 1, in Game 2.

Magic coach Brian Hill said that for Game 4 he may try a smaller lineup that could include Royal.

“He’s got his rotation, and that’s the way it’s going to be,” Royal said. “I’m not involved in that particular rotation, and I don’t see myself getting in.”

Royal, who averaged 9.1 points during the regular season and 2.1 in the playoffs, doesn’t feel his play could have necessarily sparked the Magic in the first three games.

“We’re struggling as a team,” he said. “I don’t know the answer …”