By CHRIS DUNCAN
AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON(AP) -- The strategy seems simple enough: Pass the ball to
Yao Ming.

Once again, the Portland Trail Blazers shut off that option for
the Houston Rockets and stayed alive in the first round of the
Western Conference playoffs.

Yao scored 15 points - but only two in the fourth quarter - in
the Blazers' 88-77 win on Tuesday night to force Game 6 on
Thursday night in Houston. The 7-foot-6 Yao, a seven-time
All-Star and Houston's leading scorer at 19.7 points per game
during the regular season, took only four shots in the last
quarter and the Rockets were outscored 24-15.

The Blazers have mostly defended Yao by putting either Joel
Przybilla or Greg Oden in front of him and then double-teaming
whenever he touches the ball. Yao found a way to score 24 points
in Game 1 and 21 in Game 4, leaving the game plan for Game 6
fairly obvious - at least to him.

"Get the ball inside. Get the ball inside. Get the ball inside,"
he said. "That's it."

With Yao constantly surrounded, Luis Scola is the Rockets'
leading scorer in the series, averaging 17.6 points per game.
Portland's defense on Yao has opened up mid-range jumpers for
Houston's power forward and Scola is shooting 58.5 percent from
the field.

Scola scored 21 in Game 5, but had only one basket in the fourth
quarter. The Rockets went 7-for-20 from the field in the final
quarter and the Blazers maintained a comfortable lead in the
closing minutes by going 10-for-12 from the free-throw line.

The Rockets led 68-64 with under nine minutes to go before
Portland launched a 15-0 run.

"We got them where we wanted, we got up by four, but they just
played better from then on," Scola said. "They're a pretty good
team. We keep saying that. We knew before the game it was not
going to be easy and we know that now."

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points for Portland in Game 5,
complementing Brandon Roy's 25. Aldridge scored 27 in the
Blazers' other win in the series and has averaged only 13 points
in his team's three losses.

Aldridge said after the Blazers' 107-103 win in Game 2 that he
stopped overanalyzing how the Rockets were trying to guard him
and "just played basketball." He did the same thing in Game 5
with similar results.

"We can't talk about it anymore, we just got to go out and play
and that was my whole mental state," he said. "Just to go out
and leave it all out on the line, try and make all those plays,
do those things I didn't do last game. If I did those things,
then we should win."

Aldridge didn't seem bothered by a sore right elbow that kept
him out of Monday's practice. Roy also seemed OK after taking
intravenous fluids before Game 5 to combat flu-like symptoms.

Both teams were practicing late in the afternoon in Houston on
Wednesday.

The Blazers have lost 12 of their last 13 games at the Toyota
Center and 10 of their last 11 road playoff games overall.
They're trying to become just the ninth team in NBA history -
out of 185 - to rally from a 3-1 deficit and win a seven-game
playoff series.

The Rockets, meanwhile, have won eight straight home games, but
are still trying to advance out of the first round for the first
time since 1997. They've lost Game 6s in each of the last two
seasons, both to Utah.

So who should feel more nerves? Depends on who you ask.

"Hopefully we put the pressure back on them," said Roy,
averaging 27.6 points in the series. "We have another chance to
play with our backs against the wall. We're going to go out
there and play loose and hopefully we can play like we did (on
Tuesday)."

After topping 100 points in the first two games, Houston has
averaged only 84 points in the last three. The Rockets shot 39.8
percent from the field in Game 4, but still managed to win.

"I'm not concerned. We'll play better at home," Rockets' forward
Shane Battier said after Game 5. "We're excited. It's not a
pressure situation."