I saw some people in the Jazz fans and warriors fan.. they are puzzled as to how Houston is shooting horrendously, while opponents clearly are shooting better then them... We are shooting 44% from the field and 33% from threes (our so called calling card) and our opponents are shooting playoff league best 49% and 40% from threes, yet we have the same 7-2 playoff record while having the highest margin of victory.. I think warriors fans are worried, as they finally seem to understand our offense our offense is more then what meets the eye.. T-wolves shot 46% from the field and 42% from threes for the series and they lost convincingly in 5 games with three blow outs. we are shooting less then 44% from the field yet our offense is still at 109.2 ppg and defensively holding teams to 99.9.
slight correction: NBA.com shows our opponents 45% (10th) and 38% (13th). But overall, yeah, GSW is league playoff best at both Opp FG% 42.7% and Opp 3FG% at 31.2%. Yet Rockets still have the 2nd best DRtg, next to GSW. A lot of this is that we are blowing out the league on Playoff Turnovers, and have given up the fewest points off of turnover by a significant margin vs 2nd team. We've given up 6 less pts off Turnovers than GSW. Also, we are not allowing 2nd chance points, with best DReb% as for offense: We are also neck in neck with GSW on eFG% (at 6th and 7th)
We have less athleticism, speed and explosiveness. Most of our main players are 30 and above. Defense is our magic weapon along with our 2 guard attack. We are at our best, however when EG, James and Chris have big games together. Clint, Tucker, Luc and Trevor can then concentrate on defense and shooting.
It's not free throws. Rockets are 11th in FT Rate and 11th in the volume stat of FTA/gm. GSW is 10th in both. by comparison: Utah is 5th in FT Rate and 4th in FTA/gm. Minnesota was 6th in FT Rate and 9th in FTA/gm
I wonder if some of this is that our stats are skewed a little low by some truly bad games shooting the ball. But also doing great at limiting turnovers and second chance points. Some of it to me though seems like a mirage. Hope I'm wrong.
We're: 1st in Turnover % 1st in Assist/Turnover Ratio 1st in Defensive Rebounding % 1st in 3 pointers made per game 5th in FT% 5th in Steals per game 2nd in Blocks per game 3rd in Fouls per game So yea it's not free throws. Our defense has been elite in the postseason.
They are starting to get a better understanding is that our defense can suffocate you and that at any given night, anybody in our regular rotation can blow up for 20+ pts. They might have more all stars than us but once that ball is in play, those accomplishments does not add points to the scoreboard.
If those stats hold up Houston will win. Probably the two most important stats in basketball as they correlate amount of possessions.
Volume and low turnover totals. We've proven all year that we can win in anytime of game, so it shouldn't be surprising.
It isn't really an enigma. Last year the Rockets lived and died by the 3. Now the Rockets don't need to shoot well from 3's to win and the difference is why we could have won 68-69 games. The overall field goal percentage of the Rockets is deceptive because it figures in so many three point shots. On two point shots the Rockets are elite, well over 50%. On 3's the Rockets shooting percentage is low (likely will go up) but even on 33% that is an adjusted rate of nearly 50%. The Rockets defend well (when they give effort) and the Rockets tend to get huge leads and try to run out the clock, letting teams peck down a 25 point lead to 10-12 late in the 4th. That gives misleading statistical data. Further, the Rockets have low turnovers and force turnovers. That gives the Rockets extra possessions and limits the opposition. Last, the Rockets go to the free throw line often and usually hit their free throws. You add all that together and the odds are usually tilted so that the Rockets have a large margin for error. Indeed, almost all of the Rockets loses can be tracked to poor defensive effort AND an off shooting night, or injuries. Last, you have to look at sample size as well in the playoffs.
Chris is a step up from ego with the ball handling and the drives to the lane. We swapped a bishop and two pawns on the chessboard with another queen. Iso ball ftw.. So the pressure for playoff Gordon to be like reg season borderline all star Gordon isn't there. Last year it was like it was all on Eric to make the rockets offense multidimensional. We'll need Ego to win against GS, but we don't NEED Ego to win.
Good points. The thing that bothers me most is when we take the pedal off on defense. It has already resulted in losing game 2 against the Jazz. We just can't afford it all.
Yeah, for all the "but they have FOUR all-stars!!!" talk, only one guy can score a single time on each play. Obviously teams want to maximize their talent, but if the Rockets can get good production from their bench, they can hang with four all-stars.