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

Already bored.

 

Another blow out.

 

I think the thunder show up to play this game. They lose only by 20pts this time around. All in all a good effort by okc.

 

The confidence is strong on this board. Look, the Thunder played us close on 3 of 4 games this season. The Rockets can't come in overconfident-that was just one game last night.

 

I think our shooters finally find their shots at the same time. Its been a while since Ego, Anderson, Ariza, Harden and Lou all had a groove around the same time at all lol. I bet three of them will kill it beyond the arc. We need a 3-confidence game, heh. Bev and our centers were great along with Harden last game, and we feasted on 2nd opportunities.

Id love to see someone take Adams to the ground, but Im sure itd be called against us.

Anyways, no cockiness tho, go in like you lost the last game. Dont live by the 3, but sink em when youre open. Do that against OKC and we could be up 20 at halftime.

 

GO ROCKETS GO!

 

Okc gonna come outta the gate poised. Just stay within striking distance and make a run after their adrenaline dwindles down

 

Cautiously excited. OKC is going to make adjustments, but I expect Rockets will counter with their own adjustments. Rockets to rain 3's

 

I expect this game to be one of cat and mouse.

Thunder decided to cover our shooters and left the paint unattended, which is why we went ham on boards and points in the paint.

Donovan makes an adjustment and tries to keep us guessing this time.

Maybe switch defensive plans after assignments and such..

Their game plan was too predictable last time and ROckets took advantage of it.

 

Teams like SAS and GSW will switch-up sending help sometimes, and from where....that is not easy....it is not as easy as just telling your team to stick to the shooters, and make Harden beat you on drives with a roller. But it beats us, if you can do it. So, you switch it up like SAS/GSW..., early help, late help, from strongside, from weakside, and no help ... but the latter requires a quality defender on Harden with a quality rim protector...if/when Harden reads the no-help correctly.

So, I don't think OKC is well-oiled enough as a team (inline with what you've been saying all day, because they haven't been about winning) to execute sophisticated help-defense coming from different angles. Harden will pick them apart as we did in Game 4 of this season, and the open shooters will be found.

 

Gotta make sure we don't rest on our laurels here. No excuse to not be heading to OKC up 2-0.

 

when do they announce the mvp?

 

I just hope Harden plays defense going forward in the next games. He played absolute zero defense in game 1. Going back and watching it he was just hanging around the paint and leaving Roberson wide open every time.

 

Time to deploy the heavy artillery. 30 of 50 on threes, another uninteresting win.

 

Keep calm and make shots.

 

It's a 10am game here in Sydney.

Thankfully there'll be no one else here to judge the fact I'll be having a Southern Comfort at 9:59am.

 

I'd join you if I didn't have to be at my bloody desk. It's not like I'm doing anything productive anyway, ffs.

 

I just moved to Sydney a month and a half ago! Living in central. Are there any Houston fans that watch the game together?

 

I know that pain all too well.

The past couple years of my job before I resigned - I actually saved up my holidays so I could take each day that a Playoff game was on - off.

Where did you move to Sydney from?

Not that I'm aware of - considering the majority of Rockets games aren't broadcast on ESPN over here throughout the span of a season - most fans are left to watch it at their own house with League Pass (I'm assuming)

But I would definitely be up for meeting any Rockets fans in Sydney at a bar in the near future when our games are more regularly shown in the later rounds (fingers crossed)

 

I think that was intentional though. The Rockets all but broadcast to the Thunder that they were gonna give up open 3's to Roberson and live with the outcome. It's actually not a bad strategy given his shooting percentage. The guy you wanna stick with is Oladipo. He can actually make 3-pointers on a semi-consistent basis.