ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 4/26/2015 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 4)

Josh Smith is a great playoff 3PT shooter. His career average is .427 and hes .500 with the Rockets.

 

our starters put up 2-18 from 3, i'm not sure any team can win with that, lol

 

The mavs seemed mentally engaged and their team started the game 1-10 behind the charity stripe.

 

That's about the only thing the Mavs did wrong last night.

 

I'm disgusted with how many points the Rockets are giving up per game.

Is there no defense in the playoffs or something? I don't recall that. I thought it was supposed to be hard to score in playoff games with tight defenses.

These games are nothing more than scoring fests with whomever shoots the higher FG % wins.

I miss the playoffs where defense ruled the day.

 

They played defense in the 2 home games. The Mavs only scored 108 points in Game 1 because Dwight was limited to 17 minutes. And in Game 2, they didn't crack 100 and were completely shut down in the 4th quarter.

 

Mchale better get on these guys asap. The defensive effort by Harden, Smith, & Jones has been pathetic the last two games. It feels like Mchale can't keep these guys focused. They won two games at home and it seems like they now believe winning the series is a formality. It’s pathetic.

 

Thank God we won Game 3.

But we saw this cockiness from the team after Game 3, and we shouldn't expect anything less from the Mavs.

RESPECT YOUR OPPONENT!

Really hoping the guys play with an urgency. All the momentum is with the Mavs now, and it's our game to lose.

 

Aminu and Barea are actually a big plus for them over Rondo & Parsons / Jefferson as starters so we better adjust because lose game 5 and you can bet your ass it goes to 7.

 

The way we played last night made me really appreciate that we came out from Game 3 with a win. If we play the D that we normally play in the next game, we should advance to the next round.

 

Rockets will destroy the Mavs in game 5

Tempted to get tickets and starting a "Dallas sucks" chant

 

Before the fourth quarter the Rockets couldn't hit a 3 point shot to save their lives. That was a huge factor in the loss. The other thing that hurt us was our lack of defense.

Put those together and its a recipe for disaster for these Rockets. If we are going to try and win an all offense shootout with the Mavericks then we need to hit some of those wide open 3s.

 

That was a strange game IMO. The Rockets started out fine but as Dallas became more and more desperate, the Rockets did not step up their intensity level to overcome Dallas'. Had they done so, they'd have put this game and the series away. They also failed to exploit their obvious physical advantages over the Mavs which have been prominent throughout this series. This is where not having a true PG and running McHale's rather loosey-goosey offense hurts the Rockets because their offense appeared to lack cohesion the entire game. Their offense devolved to ISOs and alley-oop plays. Defensively, they allowed the Mavs to hide Dirk from the Rox pick-and-roll last night (which the Rockets had literally feasted on for three games) and the Rockets & McHale had no counter strategy. A bad loss? For sure but I still can't see Dallas winning three straight games in this series.

 

Not gonna happen but the problems you listed (PGs and defense) I expect to be a huge issue in the next round against the Clips or Spurs.

 

The Rockets also won't be as abysmal from the 3 point line for the remainder of the series.

The Mavs decided to pack the paint and the Rockets couldn't hit a single wide open 3 till Josh Smith started going nuts in the 4th.

You can call the offense "loosy-goosy", but they were getting their shots... if just the normal percentage of those shots go in, the Mavs likely have to shift their defense... which opens up the inside game again.

 

Our shots weren't falling. That's a big part of the reason we lost. I also I would like to see Harden to be a bit more assertive on the offensive end. I would rather see him take the shots missing than Ariza. He passes the rock too early in many possessions. He needs to create and cannot expect others to create. Obviously, still learning.

 

I counted at least 5 perfect passes to the WIDE OPEN 3 point shooter that were all missed.

Do you really want Harden not passing those out and forcing a shot? Because that's exactly what the Mavs defense is selling out to do right now. They're embarrassed at the dunks/alley-oops/layups (and even with packing it in, the Rockets got their fair share of those last night).

Will still come down to hitting open shots... which will help limit their transition game, and thus improve the overall defense.

 

watching were I left off at halftime. Im just shaking my head.

 

So much whining by the Mavs this game. It was hard to watch. How were there not more technical fouls??

 

****. This team went to Harden sets teammates up for 3 pt shots. Totally not what we were doing the first 2 games. Brewer slashing, josh and dwight combo...
When is Lull coming over? Next game?