The good thing is that the casual fans in Houston who will be sitting in the lower bowl will probably have a hatred for the Warriors as well. Houston is probably going to get their best home crowds for that series if they do end up getting past Utah.
When all is said and done, I think the Rockets have to hit their three pointers at a 35 - 40% clip because it is such a huge part of their offense. If we shoot 30% or less, then I think we are in for a rough series. You know KD is going to get his mid-range shots. We can't have absentee Harden in these games. He's going to need to do 30+ ppg. And, CP3 is going to have to continue doing his mid-range duties. Obviously, Capella will be huge. The X factor will be Tucker, Ariza, Gordon, Moute, Green, etc. ...if those guys don't bring much of anything, then this series won't be won. It would be nice if we got something out of Mr. Anderson but I'm not expecting it (assuming he gets the call from the end of the bench). This series is what these guys have been fixated on getting to and playing all season. We knew it was going to come to this. Time to put up or shut up.
Good post. I don't think ALL of those have to happen to win, but some combo of the majority.....the 3 that are mandatory to me are: No off-nights for Harden Control the boards CP3 needs to make sure the gameplan never gets derailed, maintain our tempo when GSW switches up the D I thought Harden looked very much like last year's bad Harden last night. I get it that everyone has an "off" night, but his passing wasn't great, he looked really lazy on the defensive side of the ball and I'm pretty sure MD was referring to James when he said we played "outside of the game plan" on 4-5 breakdowns in Q1. I saw him walk up the floor after he thought he got screwed on calls at least 4 times....that is INFURIATING. I don't think we can hope for Klay to not have clean looks. You gotta double somebody at some point, or at least sag and threaten the help. That means Klay will get open looks. Couldn't agree more about EGO. Only other items I would add are: Not letting Draymond/Cook/Igudala/McGee/Looney, get lost in the double, triple picks and slip into the lane for easy buckets Make them work as hard on the defensive side (switching/picks/etc) as they make us work. Harden can't just play the 40 foot pick over and over and over again. We have to cut and open up space. Not just the pocket pass into a crowded lane for Ne or Clint. Those are low percentage, high risk plays. We can't afford to give up 3-4 possessions that way.
The graphic is from October. It's counting the Rockets last victory at Oracle in early 2017 (133 points in 2OT, Sam Dekkers best game as a Rocket)
The possession game is important, so I agree about that, and the defense + match up. I just doubt Ryno fitting in any lineup where he can be useful. His mid-range game is below average, and he's not big enough to out-rebound the 4s/5s on GSW roster. Take away the spacing and his 3s, and he becomes challenged. The only thing he really has to do, if he wants to fit, because a lot of guys are still getting PT even without hitting 3s, is give 115% effort. Force TOs, nab boards, body up on the bigs, don't back down. In contrary to that, a lot of times, all I see MDA do w/ Ryno is make him set picks at the top, and then wait on the side for a 3 pt shot. If MDA forces him to play a role like that without exception, I don't know if he can find a spot in the rotation. So I think it also depends heavily on the coaching staff telling him to be an energy player.
I don't expect McGee to see much time against us for the reasons I mentioned in my above post. Capela and our guards will expose him.
Durant would eat him ALIVE and get him off the block where Curry and Klay can drive to the paint at will and also get him in foul trouble.
I don't think having Harden guarding Klay Thompson is a good idea (don't think Harden will do well chasing him after screens). Harden should guard somebody else more stationary like Donkey.
I actually like Harden on Durant personally. Harden played him well the few times he guarded him this year. Also, Trevor will follow Klay as he always does. Klay typically does not play well against Trevor. I think you have to put PJ on Green so PJ can freelance a bit on defense.
