ClutchFans Game Thread: Thunder @ Rockets 4/19/2017 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 2)

pretty much this.

 

their argument was that donovan's gameplan and offense are at fault because he doesn't have plays to run for other guys. specifically gibson and oladipo. one of them said gibson should be a 20/10 guy lol!

 

OKC showed their hand tonight. DanToni adjusted and that's all she wrote/

 

True, it was right after the game so I guess they were dismayed by Westbrook's resorting to 4th quarter chucking after playing such a controlled 3 quarters. Obviously, this version of playoff WB played right into our hands. He has to know better and that's why it's so perplexing, even for fanboys like Kenny and Shaq.

Charles is simply calling out WB because he's had enough of the Westbrook circle-jerk.

But you're right.

 

Stop with the WB has not help nonsense.

Oladipo was 3/5 in the 6 minutes he played w/o WB and 1/9 in all those other minutes with WB

Fact is OKC is catered to WB and WB only. Rest oft the players are just out there doing dirty work and get freezed out of the offense if they don't get the ball. They never expect the ball their way when WB is ont he court and as a result are ice cold and do not know what to do when suddenly they receive a pass.

James starts off games trying to get others going because he knows he can take over whenever he wants. If others don't get going, James will then start scoring more and taking over but his first quarter inevitably is looking to set others up, get them going and giving them a feel good factor

 

I spent an hour arguing with my cousin last night (who is knowledgeable, but mostly because he binges ESPN) about why Harden is more valuable and how last night proved it. He threw out the triple double and 50+ points and I smacked him with some reality.

The truth is 35pts with a "win" is more valuable than a 50+pt triple double and a "loss". Westbrook had a great first 3 quarters but lost them the game when he went into Chuck mode (thanks Brodie). He has the same amazing game with 9 rebounds/assists. One extra doesn't make it a better performance. Got him to admit that.

The most important stat. If you go look at any box score of any time, the most important stat is the win. He finally admitted to that also. Once he realized his faults he shut up and I officially won the battle.

Take that for data.

 

Last night followed the predictable story that one impressive player does not beat a great team. There was an impressive stretch of the game from the 3-minute mark of the third quarter to the 2-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Rockets outscored OKC 35-18 in this stretch. More inside the numbers below:

In the decisive 35-18 stretch:

Turnovers were not a factor. OKC didn't turn the ball over once in this stretch. In previous years, would rely on steals and gambling to make a run.
The Rockets did play pretty cleanly with only 2 turnovers during this time. In the rest of the second half, we had 8 turnovers.
The Rockets only went to the line 4 times in this almost quarter of play. This was the same as OKC. So we didn't rely on living at the line.
The Rockets had zero offensive rebounds in this stretch, but OKC had 4.
OKC was 6-29 from the field (Westbrook 2-15 with 0-4 from 3).
The Rockets had 4 of their 8 blocks for the game. This was one reason the OKC shooting percentage fell. OKC had 2 of their 12 blocks here.
The Rockets made 13-23 shots from the field (6-10 from the 3 point line).
The Rockets had 6 assists over this stretch but zero assists from Harden. This was teammates setting up teammates.
Harden took on the burden of scoring with 15 points in this stretch (3-4 on threes).​

All in all, persevering and pulling out a win like this shows our versatility. The real growth of our team will be if we build on this victory and start to close the door in game 3.

 

With Harden driving a dishing, then EG driving and dishing, Bev had a great look since Bev's man was camping out for his rebound. Grant had to leave his Ariza to pick up on Bev, and If Grant got there half a second quicker, he had Ariza wide open too.

Amazing ball movement! Even better defense by Westbrook! Great job guarding the rim!

 

Westbrook is an amazing player, but a bad pg. he should learn from harden, but honestly he has that franchise by the balls and he enjoys playing this way and they will do whatever it takes to keep Westbrook happy because if they lose him too after having 3 of the best players....

 

I think Donovan is afraid to confront Westbrook about his style of play. And management sure as hell won't tell Donovan to get him under control since he's their only remaining star.

 

Nene's rebounding in the last minutes was CRITICAL!

 

A mission to shoot his team out of the game?

Taking into consideration his free throws being possessions, he shot the ball nearly 55 times.

 

Yeah.... that's what happened.

 

Why hasn't WB took a 3 at the end when they were down 6? Instead he drives for 2 I think...

 

Easy layup to get to 50. If he misses the 3 he might not get the ball back.

 

Kevin Harlan's commentary was awesome again

 

love how westbrook just continued jacking shots. horrible shot after horrible shot. Perfect illustration of how his bball IQ just isn't up to par with what it should be

 

rounded numbers are significantly better according to BSPN and his fans

so 10 rebounds is so much better than 9 rebounds no coparison at all

and 50 points is a major achievement not 48 and 51 just isn't pleasant to look at

 

Doug will play more minutes and will go off from 3.