There are some things that the Rockets cannot control (hitting 3's), but there are some things that can be stressed that will lead to the Rockets winning and they are: 1. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers: The Rockets get sloppy sometimes and give up free points through turnovers. With the Rockets style of play, they will never be great at limiting turnovers, but if they can cut 1 a half, it would make a real difference. 2. Hit free throws. The Rockets are going to go to the line more than the Mavs and probably by a large margin. Those are free points and need to be taken advantage of. The Rockets also open things up for their offense when they are hitting free throws. 3. Transition defense. The Rockets have the physical ability to be exceptional in transition defense, but too often, James Harden and Terrance Jones have not played angles well. 4. Have fun. The Rockets have played hard all year to get a high seed. Enjoy the moment DURING the game and remember, they are the better team.
Keys to beating Dallas 1. Contain Dirk and Monta. Will be tough. Putting Ariza on Ellis is out best bet. But guarding Dirk won't be easy. McHale will probably have a mix of different ideas that will involve Jones, Smoove, and Dwight. 2. Our bigs need to out rebound Tyson Chandler because lets face it, that's their only primary rebounder. 3. Our bench needs to force the issue on defense. I'd love to see a rotation of Prig, Nick, Brewer, Smoove, and Capela. 4. BALL MOVEMENT!!! I know Harden is an MVP candidate, but the ISO is not as effective in the playoffs. We must hit our open threes. 5. Most importantly, free throws. I'm sure Rick Carlisle will try a hack-a-whoever. We need to be able to hit at least 60% of our free throws. If all else fails, hack-a-Rondo..
hope rondo is really over the hump, and doesnt turn back the clock and go playoff mode. If him and ellis both a good series it can be alot tougher than we think.
Have morey send video of all the ridiculous flops by Barea, Chandler and Dirk to get Dwight in foul trouble.