Also it's crazy to me how efficient EGO was today...50 points on 22 shots??? I'm glad that Harden is getting some time off to recuperate from his injuries. Getting this win will certainly let his rest be more comfortable.
I wouldn't have brought it up if it didn't concern me, regardless who we played. It's just a fact that we seem to let in a lot of points in the final quarter.... and that we lose a lot of the 4th quarters we play. In our last 11 games, we've lost the final quarter to the Jazz, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Nuggets, OKC, Grizzlies and the Hawks. The other 4 were a tie quarter to the Lakers.... and the other 3 we barely just about won the 4th quarter. It's a great win, but I'm still going to bring up key points. It has to be addressed if we want to keep on winning.
I hope this game will be an inspiration to Harden and Westbrook that their team players can do more than play the two superstars style of play. Have more trust in their team mates.
Gobert always plays horrible against HOU relatively speaking. so looks like MDA was right in that one. I really like the dude. But he’s not good enough offensively to make up for the fact that he can indeed be neutralized defensively if you space him out - not totally neutralized... he still shut down multiple drives to the lane, but enough. at the same time seems like the Jazz were missing lots of open looks in the first half. They started hitting in the second half... but by then EG was rolling and the Rockets were feeling it. MDA still has to figure out how to get value out of Hartenstein and have a solid majority of all guys plying well together at the same time .... which I’m not sure has happened once yet.
Man did I love a game without dribble dribble iso one man do it all style play. Play as a team, win as a team is so much fun to watch. Everyone showed they can do more than stand around waiting to shoot a wide open 3 or do nothing kind of ball.
I'm all for the other guys having more of the ball, but I'm willing to bet they don't perform like this half the time. If Harden and Westbrook gets help, we can win the championship. But do we see that happening on a consistent basis?
Yeah it's crazy to me. Sure, he was driving more today, but he draws a ton of contact when he drives usually and he doesn't get the whistle in his favor. The refs shouldn't have to "balance out" calls because Harden is getting to the line--their job is to officiate fairly and call a foul when someone is fouled. Oh well...at least for one game, all is right with the world
EG was on a minutes restriction and MDA used up all the minutes playing him in third instead of saving him as the closer.