This game is far from over. Pacers really underperformed in the first half, so expect them to come out better prepared in the second. Rockets will need to come out focused as well or they might quickly fall behind in a Pacers run.
Bench came to play tonight - hope they keep it up. Lin looks much quicker tonight and Bev is flipping tough.
This. We aren't playing a scrub team and as good as it seemed we were playing they outshot us from the field overall and from 3. We had a couple less turnovers and 5 more free throws and there's your lead. Not a bad half considering our history, just gotta come out strong to start the third and don't let the lead slip anymore.
In a game like this, Rockets need someone other than Dwight and Harden to create the offense. Parsons was doing that when the game started but stopped doing it. Lin is struggling right now. So that really puts a lot of pressure on Dwight and Harden and they both have very good defenders guarding them. Harden needs to use plenty of picks to free himself from Paul in the second half.
TJones is struggling to stop West. We need to contain George. I would switch Parsons on George so Harden can take on Stephenson. Keep the ball movin', James. Don't hold the ball too long vs. George.
George started closing down on Harden from mid-court now, which has taken away the PnR that was working so well at the start of the game. You can't set a pick that far from the hoop, Hibbert will just stay in the paint.