Why team defense will determine how far the Rockets go

14 of those wins came against non-playoff teams (e.g. teams that can't even put up 100 points on most nights), 2 came against the Grizzlies (e.g. not an offensive juggernaut), and 2 out of the 3 wins against the Spurs were a buck away from getting to the century mark.

So...are we really preventing teams from scoring to a 100 or are there built in variables (they suck, their team isn't built to score, etc.) that prevents a team from scoring that isn't due to our defense?

 

I think you can swap Rockets out of the thread title and add any of the other 15 teams' names that are in the playoffs and that statement would still be true.

 

where are the other 5 Ws?

 

100 points is just as arbitrary number. It doesn't have any special meaning. Of course we perform better when we give up 100 or less. It's 3 points better than our average defense. Our average offense is 107.7 points. In games we score 110 or more, we are 33-5.

So the key for the Rockets is to play better than average on offense or defense....

 

Yeah, limiting a team to Portland to less then 100 is a tough task, esp when you consider there will be so many more possessions due to style of play vs, say, another team. Arbitrary number that changes depending on the opponent

 

Portland is

27-4 when opp score < 100.
26-26 when opp score > 100.
43-14 when they score more than 100.

I think that means scoring more than them is key. :grin:

 

Our team defense is no doubt important. But taking care of the ball (avoiding turnovers), moving the ball and taking care of the glass is right up there also.