ClutchFans Game Thread: Warriors @ Rockets 5/4/2019 (Playoffs Round 2, Game 3)

is it possible for him to be suspended the next game because it was not called?

 

video?

 

I would still make KD do all the scoring for game 4 and not leave klay or Steph open

 

Hopefully harden has a good shooting game 4.

 

This is also what we did last year, but I think Ariza did a better job to defend Durant than anyone in this roster. It looks like Durant is shooting drills in this series and he can still single-handedly beat us.

 

Shooting drills where he drops his regular season eFG from .571 to .500?

 

I know KD is unstoppable, but can we at least try to put a game-plan together to limit him a bit? He shoots over anyone we switch on him with because MDA insists on going small. Can we try putting Capela on him? Can we try something different at least?

We should be 0-3 right now; not sure why coach seems content doing the same ole’ thing.

 

Alright people, glad I didn't watch it live because I would've gone berserk but here's my post game analysis:

Before the game I said Harden needed to show up and no excuses and boy did he show up. Sure he had some bad passes and iso plays that ended up in nothing, but he made up for those. That clutch 3: cold blooded and great to go to the floater as well. The one knock on him: when he had a wide open mid range shot after shaking loose Klay and decided to go the step back three and had to take two big steps back. That is inexcusable and shows how it's not in his system anymore. Morey really got in his head. The best thing though: Harden didn't get bothered at all by the non-calls and just played through it. That's what he and our team needs to do.

CP3 did the same thing on that offensive foul, just walked away and kept playing. He also took charge in the first quarter, but unfortunately did not get in much of a rhythm. He did hit some nice mid-range shots. That's part on him, part on coaching, part on Harden, but also the simple fact that Gordon was in attack mode from the jump. Finally a guy who doesn't fear anyone and just attacked quickly. And we need to capitalise a lot more on the defense not being set. That's what 7 seconds or less was all about and we need to mix in some of that to compensate for our high risk / high reward iso offense.

Capela, my man. He definitely made sure he was going to attack the glass and it paid off. He was hustling, got a fingertip on some rebounds and that block was a good a statement as any. Some great dunks too finally and he tried hard to get them defensive rebounds. The last part of our starting line-up who's hustle got us through this game: PJ mother****ing Tucker!!! What can you say about the guy, other then he needs to start making some threes from the corner and work on his post / mid-range game as he's going to get more opportunities in this series to hit a small hook or pass it out. He willed himself on some of those offensive boards and damnit if he didn't persist.

Refs missed calls in particular on those scrambles where the Warriors just slapped away at our hands / arms, kicked the ball and what not. Is it is not a kicked ball anymore when on defense the ball hits your foot? Overall the refs were alright, but it was obvious the Rockets were the aggressive team and usually they get some more favourable calls but not us tonight. Make no mistake though, Curry got hit on some of his shots and didn't get a call. Rockets mentality change was the difference, we didn't let it bother us. If we had caught up in that at all, we would've lost. Gotta continue that.

Then lastly, MDA and the use of the bench. Maybe it wasn't bold to use Shumpert since House was out, but I still think it showed he had faith in him and it paid off. Also really happy Green didn't see the court that often, my god he cost us 4 quick points with his overzealous defense / double teaming. He needs to calm down and stop forcing threes, take shots within the offense and that short leech needs to continue if he messes up on defense. Cannot afford to play him this way. Especially if Shumpert continues to hit shots. Faried I'd still like to see get some burn, but in this game it was not necessary. Nene did well, but the small line-up worked.

Some quick pointers:
- won the rebounding battle which was key.
- have to lessen the turnovers.
- have to capitalise on their turnovers by getting easy buckets, still saw way too many times where we could've ran out and tried to get a lay-up and instead we wanted to take a 3 or just held on to the ball and wait. Cannot allow that too many times against these Warriors.
- Curry and Klay are not just playing poorly to the point where we should fear a breakout game all of a sudden. KD is hot and they are not. It's part defense, part KD getting his shots and both of them not getting in much of a rhythm.
- have to stop the quick threes unless Gordon or Harden is feeling it, but it gives us no rebounding opportunity and unnecessary.
- MDA still needs to learn how to call time-outs and take charge, since CP3 and Harden sometimes need to give it to the other or even Gordon in this game. That's part of coaching. Call some plays.
- we need to at least make Green pay for some of the stuff he's trying to pull. I want to see more physicality.

All in all, great game, shouldn't have been close and we had a bit of luck, but I loved our effort and the crowd was live. They went nuts on that block by Capela, was crazy!!

 

You know it! I predicted 126-120.

Loving this win. The Curry misses at the end were my cherry on top.

 

Disagreed. We tried loading his side in game two and it helped lead to Iggy and all of their hustle players getting open looks or coming in for uncontested putbacks because someone blew their defensive assignment or forgot to box out.

I can live with the wild, contested 18-20 footers he loves so much. Stay in front of him, try to bait him into taking those. If he drives it’s going to be a foul every time, but I’m content with him having to make low percentage jumpers in order to beat us. Yeah, he’s made them....but he’s human. Due for an off-game.

Kobe was the same way. Loved baseline fade-aways, elbow jumpers and 20-footers. Shane would play him perfectly and yet he’d still make them. Was frustrating to watch then and it’s still frustrating to watch now with KD. It doesn’t mean our defense is the problem, though.

 

i know Iggy has been hot in this series, but wouldn't you rather sell out to stop KD and force Iggy to make open 3's then let KD continue to run wild? KD is carrying the team right now; i think we have to do what we can to take that weapon away from them. And that means making some adjustments. We can't keep going small all the time against the warriors; we've got to get some defenders with length. Why not experiment more with Clint and Manimal? Would also help close the rebounding gap.

 

Getting annoyed reading NBA Twitter and seeing nothing on Harden. Sure, some chatter about an offensive foul on Harden at the end of OT, but nothing about him grabbing this game by the balls. If Warriors win, media on KD for 48 hours.

I’m general, I like our defense - neutralize Curry & Klay, force KD to go supernova, and make Iggy & Draymond be the difference makers. All 3 games, Iggy & Draymond have played great - have to hope that trend doesn’t continue.

Once House is healthy, more House & Shump, less Capela & Green.

 

Because when you double team someone is open. In their case, 3 other All-Stars. It's better to live and die with Durant getting his shots off (has to miss eventually) and screw up chemistry as a team. What you don't want is for Steph and Klay to start going off along with Durant.

 

The four calls or non calls that really triggered me during the game:

1.) Donkey’s blatant shot to Harden’s eye and non call foul and technical.

2.) Steph’s travel that wasn’t called. If this was Harden, it would be all over the media.

3.) Durant’s kick out on the 3. If this was Harden, we would be sick of hearing about it until Monday tip-off.

4.) Chris Paul’s box out on the rebound that was called a foul, which lead to 3 points.

There were many others, but these 4 were impactful either from previous games or media narrative.

 

That won’t work with Capela, he sags off Durant because he isn’t quick on the drives. Our most effective defenders are Tucker and Harden.

Single coverage Durant unless he makes few shots in a row, then double him leaving anyone but Steph and Klay. Also, double Durant in key situations during end of games and quarters and possessions. Mix it up with him so he has something to think about when getting the ball. On that note, ball denial will frustrate him by making him work before the shot. Durant is a mental midget and the only way to stop him is playing the mental game.

 

I find it funny how NBA fans give Harden crap for “traveling” when Kevin Durant has never dribbled the ball in a legal manner in his career( is there a legit argument out there that can prove he doesn’t carry the basketball).

 

Where's the podcast?

 

What did Jimmy mumble when CP told him to chillax in post conference?

 

I hope kid leaves in the summer.. can’t wait for the warriors to suffer

 

• Man, Tucker was a beast last night. I absolutely love how he hustles and fights every second he is on that court!! If I was a King I would Knight him. If I had the power I would give him a Medal of Valor.

PJ and Clint each had 5 offensive rebounds and GSW had 7! We dominated the boards last night. Now, if we can just eliminate careless turnovers next game we can ensure we tie this series up. We can't afford to give them 25 PTS off turnovers again. Somehow I doubt Curry and Thompson will be so off again shooting, so we need every edge.

As great as EGO was, he just needs to be less careless with the ball. If he does that we will be even better game 4.
CP3 and James actually had the least turnovers I've ever seen from them. That's what we needed from our leaders. I'd just like to see Chris shoot more. He passed on a couple wide open 3's which makes no sense. We need him confident in making and taking more shots in those situations. Man, our guys need to concentrate shooting those free throws. For Gordon, Clint, Nene and Shumpert to only hit 4 of 12 is unacceptable. Clean it up guys. Every point counts.

My fav part of the game was watching Curry miss that layup and dunk at the end! That and the first part of the 2nd quarter when Paul ran the show and we went from 1 pt down to a 9 pt lead. That was fun to watch. I loved the fast pace and ball movement compared to dribble dribble slow ISO. It was great seeing everybody shooting and contributing. Total team effort.

Great game!!!i