ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 3/8/2013

But if Curry was over here, the Rockets probably won't score a league best 107 points per game. Plus, we whooped them 3 times.

 

I don't know if people have noticed this, but when Lin and Harden both start attacking the basketball and either making them or gettting to the free throw line, you can see that it slowly demoralizes the opponent.

 

Analysis of the game:

Players

Curry is awesome. Best finesse moves and quickness I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, in bball finesse loses to contact like paper to scissors. The key to stopping Curry is just to play him physical and he loses a lot of his advantages. Lin and Bev both did that; props to them.

Harden was extremely off today and he knew it. You need a certain amount of focus, strength and body control to be able to do Harden-like moves, and Harden today was lacking in all three and it showed big time. Some examples of this are his drives which he can't seem to put a shot up, his lack of ability to beat his man 1v1, and his game winning TO at the end. He could only score open 3s and get a lot of FTs because he is Harden and can make contact and draw fouls.

JLin was also lacking in focus and control. He was gassed and unable to control himself in those drives, especially at the end of the 3rd and 4th quarters. I suspect it is the matchup - Curry does extremely well keeping up with him and pestering him by keeping close. He abused it at the end of the game by making Curry foul him to get two clutch FTs to seal the game.

Parsons is such a stud. He plays extremely well with the system and gets into all the right situations that he capitalizes on - open 3s, mismatches, putbacks and transition buckets. He almost abuses our offensive system to the point that he squeezes out all the efficiency he can from it. He does beat people off the dribble but it is quite rare; most of the time he is the recipient of the ball from an opening that the offensive system has created and makes use of it. However, in the 3rd and 4th quarters, Parsons disappeared - almost no production. I think he was gassed, but it also might be that the D stuck to him more. That kind of play style (being at the right place at the right time) is extremely hard to execute if they clamp up on their off-the-ball D.

By Quarter

The first quarter I missed, but I think it can be summed up as weakened Harden trying to create and being unable to. 0/6 for Harden in the first quarter, and I think it really caused the Rockets to adjust their offense.

Second quarter really came alive with the offensive system that the Rockets run, and it showed. Parsons lit it up.

The third and fourth quarter... what an interesting set. 3rd quarter was Lin production. He created a lot through his drives and dishes. 4th quarter was all 3 ball and people standing around.

A big reason for why the 3rd quarter turned out the way it did is because of the matchups. Curry on Lin is in Lin's favor offensively because Lin has a bigger body, but it was also hard on Lin because Lin couldn't always get a good first step against Curry's quickness. However, Harden in his weakened (injured?) state couldn't create any situational advantages. Also, the paint was always clogged for some reason. I don't know GSW well enough; I assume they have great shot blockers.

The 4th quarter, everyone was standing around and it was Harden and Lin alternating driving it in by themselves. I like this more than just Harden driving it in because they can't just close in on Harden and call it a quarter. Also, Harden and Lin were setting picks for each other and trying to create slight advantages for each other in order to get a good drive. However, it still looked pretty ugly from an ISO perspective. The rockets did play good defense though, and it was equally hard for GSW to drive on the Rockets. GSW ended up taking a lot of contested 2s, which they missed.

The ending was Lin getting a foul from Curry who was covering him too close to make it a 4 point game, GSW not fouling and allowing the clock to run, and Harden losing the ball on a pull up jumpshot, only for GSW to throw it to Delfino to seal the game.

Some other notes:

Rockets offense is a system. You can't just plug people into the system and expect it to run smoothly. Yes, the rookies show great 1v1 play and also potential, but the rockets offense has always been generated through teamwork, and it will take a while before the rookies can do that. Consider: what would Asik's FG% be if he didn't get open looks? I shudder to think. In the same vein, I think DMo is trying to create shots for himself instead of work with the system, and once he settles in, he will really start to shine. I'm looking forward to his agility being able to capitalize on mismatches and other situations and not just his post game. He has potential to be a nightmare matchup as a stretch 4. I still wish we had PPat though - I dream about the offensive potential he opens up with his auto 20ft jumpshot.

The best lineup - Asik, Delfino, Lin, Harden, Parsons - works because they are all very comfortable with each other. They know what they are doing and what to expect of everyone else, and because of that they can play at their best. Throwing in TRob in and you get a good athlete at the cost of team play. The newcomers all need a summer together with the team to figure each other out.

 

You're right.
Curry's offense is awesome. We probably would've scored more than 107 points.

 

We probably would score more given Curry's shooting.

 

Lin and Harden both had off nights, but they made the plays at the end to win the game. Great win for the rockets tonight. It's funny to see people asking for Beverly to play, especially since it lead to the loss the previous game against the Mavericks.

 

Right, Harden's 26 ppg plus Curry's less than 26 ppg equals more than 107. Not sure about that math, but okay.

 

Just like how he scored 54 points against the Knicks and lost? They scored 105 on that game.

 

PGs can learn a lot from Warriors' coach who was an awesome PG himself. (And very positive with his players, btw.)

 

That was one of the most amazing performances this year. They lost because David Lee wasn't playing that game. How are you going to knock Curry for that?

 

Curry will always be a numbers guy, volume scorer with one major flaw...his defense is below high school level.

Maybe if he put on 5-10 lbs and worked on his D, he could be an all-star player.

 

Judging from tonights game, I would have to agree.

 

Oh please man, Curry deserved to be in the all star game this year. You guys don't have to knock Curry just because someone brought up a trade proposition that would never even happen. Curry is a beast.

 

Rockets win without scoring 100? (head explodes)

 

@Jonathan_Feigen: Rockets' 36.5 percent shooting was their worst in a win this season. Other than Parsons' 9 of 13, they made 18 of 61 shots.

 

Curry is a smaller version of Carmello Anthony...minus the coach killer attitude (at least now).

 

Get applause for getting out of bed on right side?

 

Bro, I like Curry but he has a major flaw. And no, he's not an all-star this year. He's still young, the sky's the limit for this kid. The game of basketball is not just about scoring. Once he focuses on the other half, he's going to be a yearly all-star.

 

Meaning if their shots fell just a tad more it would have been another messy blowout. Key to beating GS is to lock down Curry and Lee and let the other players beat you....meh...same with the Rockets (Harden and Lin). Glad Parsons came up big tonight.

 

Hold Warriors to 12 pts in 4th quarter without those "defensive sparks", good job you Mcfail even smiles at the end.