[Feigen] MDA on Boring Wins, and his Serious Talk with Harden on TOs

further proof Rockets read the board

"He knows," D'Antoni said. "He doesn't want to turn it over. I think some of his turnovers in the regular season is you sometimes get bored with the game; you're going to try something crazy. ​

You can't make this stuff up. Lulz

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Rockets plan to reduce number of turnovers to slow down Thunder in transition
By Jonathan Feigen
Updated 5:38 pm, Saturday, April 15, 2017

As much as Russell Westbrook's nine defensive rebounds per game helped propel him to his triple-double average, they might have done something more valuable. They gave the Thunder fast break a running start.​

There would seem little way to stop that unless, as Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said, "You hold him." But he said there is one other way typical of the Rockets' way of thinking.​

"I know how we do it," D'Antoni said. "We just make shots. That keeps him off the boards. That's going to be a key for us. If we don't turn the ball over and make shots and run good offense, they'll have a hard time getting in transition. If they don't get in transition, that bodes well for us."
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D'Antoni said he won't instruct James Harden, who averaged a league-high 5.7 turnovers, to be more cautious. But he said some of Harden's turnovers come from experimenting in games that he would not do in the playoffs.

"He knows," D'Antoni said. "He doesn't want to turn it over. I think some of his turnovers in the regular season is you sometimes get bored with the game; you're going to try something crazy. He's not going to do that. He'll take care of the ball naturally, but he's going to play great. I would never put a limitation on him."
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He does. That's where MDA got the idea that maybe Harden "tries something crazy" when he gets bored, by MDA watching how when you get bored you also conjure up something crazy like Yule C, SnTs hinging on DMo getting paid with the threat to unravel the dirty business of Restricted Free Agency if Morey fails to comply.