Clutchfans Game Thread: Rockets @ Thunder 8/24/2020 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 4)

dude is like 5'8 he must have one of the greatest on-the-court minds ever to be this dominating. I was watching a game with my soccer friend who didn't watch one nba game in his life (but played relatively high level soccer) and in the middle of the game he goes like "This small dude with number 3 is genius, he sees everything 2 steps ahead"

 

it comes with the minimum-level 3 point specialists. High paid specialist like Korver/JJ/Middleton don't go on streaks like that(atleast not that often) but we have no money for them

 

When I first watched NBA, I said same thing on Steve Nash.

 

Well, I'm not even surprised if this all goes to a 7. The world has changed and you put the all of NBA in a bubble, but Rockets style of basketball is Rockets style of basketball.

I just wanna see Westbrook play at this point, tbh.

 

If that's the case, I'm worried about the overall morale of the Rockets organisation.

Sounds to me like your source is trying to justify why they shouldn't be fired or that the Rockets shouldn't blow it up if we can't beat OKC.

After all this talk about championships it would be disheartening to say the least if someone within the organisation believed a first round exit would be acceptable because the playoffs in the bubble are unpredictable.

 

Thunder are getting way more free throws than we are 27 attemps per game to 17. we are second to last in the league.
In the regular season, we were second in the league at 26 per game, the Thunder average 24.8
seems like a bit of favouring

 

Rockets midget line up means the Rocket defenders are going to guard with their hands more trying to strip balls.

 

It’s not so shocking. These two teams are who their records say they are. It’s the 4 seed vs the 5 seed. Two teams with identical records. The real shame is that they let game 3 slip away. Now it’s anyone’s series.

 

It's just so disheartening that a guy who's an MVP player(supposedly) doesnt automatically mean we blow them out the next two games when he comes back. These games are close and you are supposed to be our second best player....so why is it that our organization(supposedly) feels its going to 7 still.

 

yep. lol that source sounded nonimaginative, antienthusiastic and closeminded like a lot...

 

lol its more disheartening that the eternal MVP guy did played and it wasn't an automatic sweep...harden is the best player in the league and its not even close(!) yet he playing too cool or insisting to win in a certain way may cause us to lose the series we should of swept

 

Well that is what it is....His second best player is Eric Gordon who is playing the worst basketball possibly of his career, and our second best player is on the bench. And our coach can't call timeout's to get the ball to half court to inbounds a play.

 

But the worst news in that scoop is the coherence. It sounds exactly like a guy defending his data model.
I have been a Morey stan from day 1, but at this point, I can't keep supporting stubbornness.

At this point there is a lot more going on that can't be explained in simulations, if these guys can't get the head out of their spreadsheets and into the court, we are doomed as a project.

I can't remember of a stretch of 2 games that changed so much the perception I had on one of our teams.

 

The better question is, are we a 4-5 seed or are we a contender. A 4 seed usually is not considered a contender unless they are there because of injuries and now healthy. If the pandemic didn't happen, where would we be in the seeding?

The thing is, there was a lot of enthusiasm going into the playoffs. Many people are saying that we are one of the top 3 favorites. Was that just blind homerism, posturing, or reality?

 

I think we are a 4/5 seed caliber team on balance, with tremendous upside. On a good day, we can beat anyone. Whether we achieve that upside in these playoffs remains to be seen.

The high variance of the three point shot is very concerning though. It seems our leads built on three point shooting can evaporate in minutes. I hope Russell comes back healthy soon, because the one thing he brings is an alternate plan of attack that can keep the Rockets in games when the threes stop falling.

 

Jesus Covington and tucker are bricklayers at the moment.tucker has a excuse with the busted shoulder but Covington flatout stinks

 

Neither were bricklayers yesterday. Tucker and Covington were 7/16 (44%) from the three-point line. Covington was 5-11 from the floor and 4-8 from from the three-point line. Tucker was 4-10 from the floor and 3-8 from the three-point line.

For the playoffs, Tucker is 11/25 from the three-point line (44%) and 15/33 (45%) overall. Before yesterday’s game, I’d agree with you that Covington hasn’t been shooting the ball well. He was 6-15 from the field (40%) and 4-12 (33%) from the three-point line. However, both he and Tucker had good games in game 4.

 

They missed some crucial shots in the crunch. Most of their these came in the 8 out of 8 run in the third quarter. In the latter stages of the game they missed crucial shots

 

My biggest problem with the Rockets is the lack of defensive intensity in a playoff game, especially after the way they blew game 3. Everyone on the team should have been angry that they choked away an opportunity to knock the Thunder out for the count with missed free throws and stupid decisions in the final minute of the previous game. Championship teams would have come out in game 4 with their hair on fire and a point to prove. Instead, the Rockets gave no effort on defense in the first half and wasted a really good shooting performance by going into halftime tied.

 

Yesterday's loss was not because of our 3pt shooting. We shot 39% from 3, which is pretty good, and would usually mean a W.

We lost because we did not get to the FT line enough, and because we didn't play good defense... and those boneheaded plays.