ClutchFans Game Thread: Thunder @ Rockets 1/5/2017

Dude loves you Hakeem94, never forget that.

 

last nite marv "butt-muncher" albert twice mentioned that the front office is looking to "re-evaluate" capela in another 3-4 weeks. any truth to this or just another one of his many mistakes on the nite? capela's already been out 3 weeks now and the initial timeframe was 4-6 weeks as i recall..

 

Not enough credit goes to MDA. That last play where Nene got fouled was a EXCELLENTLY drawn up play. Last year that would've been a one on one highly contested airball drawn up by JB/McHale. This year we have a coach that's gets it. Thank you basketball gods for MDA

 

You need to edit Dmo out, he's not worthy

 

For all the name calling Brewer cops I thought he was really good last night because the energy he provided was really good. He came in had a good off the ball read from trez for a nice baseline dunk and defended really well

 

Colour me spoiled, this team is the real deal. Great game last night and awesome win by the good guys. They have officially learnt how to win these close hard fought games.

 

im no tsaying he should go into kobe mode in clutch time. i mean harden rarely shot the ball in those last 5 minutes. i preferhalf of those plays for him to shoot the ball, UNLESS his team his making their wide open shots which they weren't. he passed way too much. when he ws wide openfor three he took so long to shoot tha the got blocked.

 

Seemed like they got away from doing what they do best is moving the ball fast and getting good open shots. Didnt like how the offense was stagnant and in the great Milk-Hair's words, "sticky". Glad they were able to close it out tho and amazing find by Harden with Nene slipping out.

 

Anyone else think NeNe should have intentionally missed that second freethrow? I was a little perplexed that he didn't.

 

Is the offense stagnant or are they playing possessions? I think its more about controlling the time left in the game in your favor. With 2 minutes left in a tight game, do you want to limit the possessions the other team has or give them more chances to score?

I like these guys but how can you not give the edge to Harden in this game? His team won after he made the deciding pass to Nene.

 

This is Russel Westbrook, who was literally on fire for the previous 3 periods - going into Kobe Mode in the last 5 minutes:

Russell Westbrook misses 18-foot two point jumper 104 - 107
5:26 Enes Kanter offensive rebound 104 - 107
5:26 Enes Kanter misses two point shot 104 - 107
5:26 Rockets defensive team rebound 104 - 107
5:26 Rockets Full timeout 104 - 107
5:26 Montrezl Harrell enters the game for Sam Dekker 104 - 107
5:01 Trevor Ariza makes 26-foot three point jumper (James Harden assists) 104 - 110
4:58 Patrick Beverley personal foul (Russell Westbrook draws the foul) 104 - 110
4:58 Russell Westbrook makes free throw 1 of 2 105 - 110 This was due to an off-ball foul by Beverley on WB that they didn't replay
4:58 Russell Westbrook makes free throw 2 of 2 106 - 110
4:41 Victor Oladipo enters the game for Alex Abrines 106 - 110
4:33 James Harden makes 22-foot two point shot 106 - 112
4:11 Montrezl Harrell shooting foul (Enes Kanter draws the foul) 106 - 112
4:11 Enes Kanter makes free throw 1 of 2 107 - 112
4:11 Enes Kanter makes free throw 2 of 2 108 - 112
3:59 Trevor Ariza misses 26-foot three point jumper 108 - 112
3:58 Andre Roberson defensive rebound 108 - 112
3:48 Russell Westbrook misses 19-foot two point jumper 108 - 112
3:47 Andre Roberson makes tip shot 110 - 112
3:47 Andre Roberson offensive rebound 108 - 112
3:24 Jerami Grant blocks Trevor Ariza 's 3-foot jumper 110 - 112
3:21 Trevor Ariza misses layup 110 - 112
3:21 Trevor Ariza offensive rebound 110 - 112
3:20 Enes Kanter defensive rebound 110 - 112
3:12 Russell Westbrook misses 15-foot 110 - 112
3:11 James Harden defensive rebound 110 - 112
3:00 Ryan Anderson misses 27-foot three point jumper 110 - 112
2:59 Patrick Beverley offensive rebound 110 - 112
2:58 Montrezl Harrell makes two point shot (Patrick Beverley assists) 110 - 114
2:56 Thunder Full timeout 110 - 114
2:56 Eric Gordon enters the game for Patrick Beverley 110 - 114
2:38 Russell Westbrook makes 25-foot three pointer 113 - 114 This is the one field goal he made in the 5+ minute span,
2:33 Andre Roberson personal foul (James Harden draws the foul) 113 - 114
2:11 Eric Gordon misses 27-foot three point jumper 113 - 114
2:11 Enes Kanter defensive rebound 113 - 114
1:54 Victor Oladipo makes 24-foot three point jumper (Jerami Grant assists) 116 - 114 This play was a "hockey assist" by Russ, drive, kick & pass to corner
1:47 Andre Roberson shooting foul (James Harden draws the foul) 116 - 114
1:47 James Harden makes free throw 1 of 2 116 - 115
1:47 Patrick Beverley enters the game for Ryan Anderson 116 - 115
1:47 James Harden makes free throw 2 of 2 116 - 116
1:31 Russell Westbrook misses 16-foot two point jumper 116 - 116
1:30 Patrick Beverley defensive rebound 116 - 116
1:23 Trevor Ariza misses 25-foot three point jumper 116 - 116
1:22 Patrick Beverley offensive rebound 116 - 116
1:05 Eric Gordon misses driving layup 116 - 116
1:04 Russell Westbrook defensive rebound 116 - 116
0:51 Russell Westbrook misses 9-foot 116 - 116
0:50 Patrick Beverley defensive rebound 116 - 116
0:43 Eric Gordon misses 25-foot three point jumper 116 - 116
0:42 Montrezl Harrell offensive rebound 116 - 116
0:27 Andre Roberson blocks James Harden 's 25-foot three point jumper 116 - 116
0:26 Jerami Grant defensive rebound 116 - 116
0:24 Thunder Full timeout 116 - 116
0:24 Alex Abrines enters the game for Andre Roberson 116 - 116
0:05 Russell Westbrook misses 25-foot three point pullup jump shot 116 - 116
0:04 Patrick Beverley defensive rebound 116 - 116
0:03 Rockets Full timeout 116 - 116
0:03 Rockets 20 Sec. timeout 116 - 116
0:03 Nene enters the game for Patrick Beverley 116 - 116
0:03 Ryan Anderson enters the game for Montrezl Harrell 116 - 116
0:03 Steven Adams enters the game for Alex Abrines 116 - 116
0:03 Andre Roberson enters the game for Enes Kanter 116 - 116
0:03 Rockets 20 Sec. timeout 116 - 116
0:00 Jerami Grant shooting foul (Nene draws the foul) 116 - 116
0:00 Nene makes free throw 1 of 2 116 - 117
0:00 Patrick Beverley enters the game for Ryan Anderson 116 - 117
0:00 Nene makes free throw 2 of 2 116 - 118
0:00 Thunder 20 Sec. timeout 116 - 118
0:00 Enes Kanter enters the game for Andre Roberson 116 - 118
0:00 Alex Abrines enters the game for Jerami Grant 116 - 118
0:00 Thunder 20 Sec. timeout 116 - 118
0:00 Enes Kanter misses 116 - 118
0:00 Nene defensive rebound 116 - 118
0:00 End of the 4th Quarter 116 - 118
0:00 End of Game 116 - 118



So, here is the result of Russ entering "Kobe Mode" in the last five minutes

1-7, 3 points, +2FT from an off-ball foul from Beverley. Team scored 12 points....mostly when Russ deferred.

Here's Harden, entering "non Kobe mode" in the last 5 minutes.

1-2, 2 points + 2FT, one assist, and the Gamewinner FT-assist to Nene. Team scored 11 points.

 

For the love of god, contest Westbrick's shots properly. Bev and Gordon didn't even bother to rise up to contest Westbrook's threes in this game. How can teams still not get the memo? WESTBROOK IS NOT RUBIO! He's more than capable of knocking down wide open shots. This point really irritates me, because unlike Harden who had to deal with smothering defense by Roberson, we let the other's teams superstar go off like that by playing lazy defense. WTF.

 

IMO, stagnant. It's one thing to kill the clock and go into your play with 7-8 seconds remaining on the shot clock with ball and body movement - that, i think is fine. What it seemed like to me was they're killing the clock, and running an ISO play deep into the shot clock and getting a bad shot with the OKC's defense set. IMO, a simple pick n roll play doesn't work as easily in late game situations.

Agree with you tho, in late game situations, you play possessions, but the ball movement stopped when there was still about 5 minutes left in the game.

Hopefully this isn't coming off as me b****ing after a win lol.

 

I thought both of the MVP candidates tightened up in the clutch. Westbrook started bricking shots and Harden just looked tentative (made one big shot and that assist, though). I think Harden's worst sequence in the game, though, was in the 3rd when they were up 18. If they'd played smart and put their boots on OKC's necks, they could have blown it open and likely cruised to an easier win. Instead Harden bricked a heat-check 3 and then decided to get cute with his passing, leading to unforced turnovers. The whole team just sort of started acting like it was the end of the 4th, not the 3rd. Next thing you know, the lead is down to 9 and OKC is fired up and making a real game of it. The Rockets still have some maturing to do.

 

OKC would be a lot better if it wasn't a one man show. I mean...most of the time it's just Westbrook doing whatever while ignoring his teammates. He's just ball hogging and doing it all himself. What Harden is doing is much more impressive imo because he's got all facets working and the whole team is involved. Westbrook's good and all but that one man show bs isn't going to get them anywhere in the playoffs. By all accounts, OKC should have won the game with Westbrook going off like that. But, the weakness came through in that he can't do it all alone. We've been through that when Harden tried to do it all. I wonder how Westbrook's teammates feel just watching him try to do it all? Probably feel like they are not involved enough. It's a team sport and OKC just feels too much like a one-man show.

That may not be representative of how Westbrook plays other teams but, in this game, it felt like he tried to do too much by himself. And, while he was hot most of the game, it caught up to him.

 

Is he ok being a bench cheerer and going on only against specialized front courts? This is why I'd rather have KK, KK has no issues sitting in the bench he's been doing that his entire career. We really only need a bogut-type of player against Memphis,Utah and maybe SaS since these 3 team feature a traditional front court. In other cases Capela, Harrell and Nene are good enough.

 

again, i said he should've shot more and not go into kobe mode. he rarely passed, and not many shots went in. he should've stepped up and took some of those shots. he got blocked on a wide open three cuz he took so long to shoot. he needs to fin da balance there. if they were making their shtos its a nother thing, but they werent. in clutch time u dont wait till the 10th or 15th miss, u pick up on that fast and step u

 

anyone got the 2 min report? what did it say about nene getting fouled? was it the right call? i felt like that may have been a clean block.

also, gary payton should be a regular on area 21. that was classic.