In the blur of Rockets panic and Portland points, the Rockets' composure fell, Yao's aggravation rose, and the series returned to Houston with the Rockets leading 3-2 but reeling.

Yao had grown tired of being reduced to a witness.

"I don't know," he said sarcastically when asked what went wrong in the 88-77 loss in Game 5. "I just went up and down on the court. I don't know anything. I just ran baseline to baseline for seven or eight times. That's it.

"I mean, I ran up and down. We didn't organize well. We did not execute. We did not know what is the play. We don't know what is called."

He then gathered himself with a long, deep breath and tried to look ahead to tonight's chance to finally extend a Rockets season past the first round.

"Right now, we need to look at the positive and leave frustration (behind)," Yao said. "We still have a home game to play."

The Trail Blazers have had as much trouble at Toyota Center as the Rockets have had on the road in the playoffs. The Rockets have won 12 of the last 13 meetings with the Trail Blazers in Houston, including the last six. They are 7-0 all-time at home in the playoffs against Portland.

"We got home-court advantage," Aaron Brooks said. "That's what we played for in the first two games when we got the split. We put ourselves in a good position to go home and close out the series."

Can't afford a crash

The Rockets know, however, that more than a change of venue is needed. In their two losses in the series, they went through fourth-quarter crashes that invited the Blazers to take over.

With Game 2 on the line and the Blazers leading by one with four minutes left, the Rockets' offense stumbled just long enough for Portland to rush through a 7-0 run. With the Rockets leading by four with nine minutes left in Game 5, the offense stumbled again, starting the Trail Blazers on their way to a 15-0 run.

After burning a Blazers defense bent on stopping Yao for three games, the Rockets made just 39.8 percent of their shots in Game 4 and broke down in the fourth quarter of Game 5, making 35 percent. However, they seemingly had retooled the offense to pry Yao loose from the double-teams that had surrounded him through much of the series. With Luis Scola's continued success - he had 15 first-quarter points on Tuesday - the Blazers went from the big-man sandwich on Yao to a more conventional double team.

Yao allowed the Portland centers to front him on the strong side and seemed to then seal them off as he moved across the lane. He began getting consistent touches late in the first half of Game 5. The rest of the way, however, the Rockets rarely were able to get him the ball inside.

Summing up the problem

"Offensively, we have to have more patience," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We can't just come down and play at a frenzied pace.

"We only had five assists in the second half. We played impatient trying to score, and we didn't have to. And we turned it over too many times. That's the impatience. If we play the way we're capable of playing, we'll be OK."

The Rockets struggled with their perimeter shooting throughout Game 5, hitting just three of 15 3-pointers. Brooks and Ron Artest finished a combined 9-of-29, with Brooks often forced to rush to beat the shot clock.

"The first thing you want is to get Yao the ball," Brooks said. "You swing it around and try to find him. (If you can't) you find yourself in an awkward position. Somebody has to take the shots. I don't mind taking them. Normally I make them. This game, I didn't.

"You play five-, six-, seven-game series, the teams start to know what each other does. It's the team that plays the more aggressive (that wins). I think they did that (in Game 5). I think we have to raise our intensity."

The Rockets also much increase their composure down the stretch. Playing at home should help; they don't want to try it again in Portland.

"This is our best chance right now," Yao said. "I have (had) enough Game 7s."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

GAME 6

Today at Toyota Center

8:30 p.m.

TV/radio: KTXH, TNT; 610 AM, 850 AM Span.)

Rockets lead series 3-2

TODAY'S GAMES

Game 6

Celtics at Bulls, 6 p.m., TNT Boston leads 3-2

Magic at 76ers, 6:30 p.m., NBA TV Orlando leads 3-2

SCOREBOARD

Game 5

Hawks 106, Heat 91 Atlanta leads 3-2

Nuggets 107, Hornets 86 Denver wins 4-1

INSIDE

The Magic will be without center Dwight Howard for Game 6 tonight after he was suspended for throwing an elbow.

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