Russell Westbrook will be named the Final's MVP. I disagree. He is the catalyst that will allow for the trophy of O'Brien first name Larry to be paraded around Houston's central business district.
imo, the best strategy against the fakers is playing 5 out. they are packing the paint nonstop (b/c they know silver's zebras will never call def 3sec on their bigs anyways). to this end, capela is largely useless against them. he's been useless against dwight/davis his entire career anyways. against the mavs, playing physical w/ doncic and porzy will make them shrink in their 1st playoffs against the thuggets we already have the recipe, attack the bbq chicken (jock itch) against clips -- that series will be a war
The key to beating the Lakers IMO is to keep them from destroying you on the boards and win the free throw battle. Their offensive system is poor and the personnel simply do not fit. Everyone raves about their defense, but AD is not a good defender and like you said, when they face multiple possessions with 4-5 out, they struggle. One thing I can say, is that the Lakers can really make it hell for teams if no one can offer resistance against Davis and James in the post. The Mavericks are a little short on talent. They are an incredibly well coached team and they are coachable and play hard. They will not stop grinding. If the referees will let a team get physical with the Mavericks, that is a way to beat them. They also can be exploited defensively. Doncic is a poor defender. The Nuggets are a great perimeter defensive team, they can get out and run and have a half dozen guys that can score. They are vulnerable against quick players in the post because Jokic is so slow. A team like the Lakers would beat the Nuggets if they feed Davis enough. The Nuggets are vulnerable on the boards and inside which makes them a prime team to lose an early playoff match up against the right team. The Clippers are a weird team. I agree it would be an absolute war. Is Leonard coasting or is his knee really as bad as it seems? Do we get a long defensive wing at the deadline to defend George? It is just my gut feeling, but I think they may run into injury issues as well. They are a team that needs to be healthy to do a lot of damage. The Rockets are a high upside team with some serious weaknesses. The easiest way to beat them is to slow down Harden, but that is extremely hard. The key to beating the Rockets is to force turnovers and maximize fast break points. The Rockets transition defense is a major weakness. Also, do not let the Rockets crush you on the boards because they can, and it is a recipe for disaster.
Heres a realistic take, rockets are the best in NBA and it took all this refs intervention to make them not seed no 1
The only way I will believe we are not contenders is when the refs start calling our games fair. TRANSLATION had Silver had any doubt in his mind whatsoever that Rockets are a contender, the officiating wouldn't be rigged vs rockets
Refs aren’t the reason the Rockets can’t competently hold onto 20 point leads like every other team in the NBA.
Rockets are currently 22-11. Of those 11 losses, *6* are to teams UNDER .500. Remember that at the end of the season when seeding position matters.
I've been trying to figure out why our team looks fantastic in spurts defensively then almost never fails to have lapses and give up leads. I don't have the stats to back up my theory but is it the lack of minutes given to our bench? Our stating 5 must have the heaviest workload (minutes wise) in the league. Without rest, legs no matter how good the cardio get tired and closeouts and switching to shooters take just a split second longer with each possession. That's when runs happen imo
Tired legs do not explain poor defense in first half. Rockets seem to lock down most often in 2nd half.
This thread will serve as the final sauce on next week's episode of Hot Ones. Scoville rating of 2,000,000+
Hot take: they’re going to go on a massive run then we’ll see where all you chicken littles are at then.
I prefer poutine myself or In-n-Out's animal fries. Mayo is just wrong, but thousand island I can get behind.
The Mavericks beat the best team in the NBA on the road without their best player. A contender finds a way to win even with injuries.
We knew this before the season. We knew Russ can't shoot and is inefficient. We knew the Rockets won't play even average defense.