--G Ron Artest said he might like to go to the line on occasion. In five games, Artest has taken just 10 free throws.
"We don't argue a lot," Artest said. "Me and Yao (Ming) said if they don't call a foul, we just have to deal with it. That's why I don't talk to the refs when I get hit. I get hit a lot. I've only been to the line not even 10 times this whole series. "There's times I get mad because Yao is always getting hit," Artest said. "He's got scars on his body. Sometimes, they don't call a foul."
--Rockets coach Rick Adelman and Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan were each fined $25,000 for comments about the officiating in the series.
Adelman would not say much about the fine but seemed stunned to have been fined four days after comments he said were about adjustments he wanted Yao Ming to make rather than criticism of the officials.
"I was shocked," Adelman said. "I had no idea it was coming."
Adelman did say the Blazers were allowed to "manhandle" Yao but was talking about the Rockets offense at the time.
"They were very physical," Adelman said. "They put their hands on him. They wrestled with him from the top of the key all the way down. It's up to us to have more patience, to move the ball more. It's up to him to understand what they're doing and counter it. We looked at the film today. We talked about it. If the officials are going to allow them to manhandle him like they did, we've got to find an answer for that. It's on him to continue to counter what they're trying to do. It's on us to be a little more patient."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I don't really know what happened out there. It was weird that they built up so many leads and we kept coming back. Maybe if we just sustained it we could have won by 10. We just couldn't play a solid game for 48 minutes." -- Ron Artest
