I think this is exactly what we need. We are the underdogs against the Lakers with no real outside expectation of us winning. I believe the pressure of being the favorite vs OKC along with the other subplots really made us play tight. Prepare yourselves to see a much looser team that will give LA hell.
no idea where people are getting this from. the stage only gets bigger. Pressure doesn't shrink. it only gets bigger At some point the standard suddenly shifted to just getting out of the 1st round? Nah far from it It's a huge relief the rockets escaped that series in 7 but it doesn't get any better. Next is another animal and there own different things to deal with. Rockets playoffs pressure never gets any easier. never has
What's with people and 6 games? The only 6 game series was Clips versus Dallas and Porzingis went out. Every other matchups did either have fewer games or a Game 7 in the West.
There's still pressure but its a lil different. Basically everyone on this board (every rockets fan including the entire team) knew the unholy sht storm that was coming if the Rox got bounced by OKC and Chris Paul in round 1. But now its just normal playoff pressure and I'll take that any day.
well yeah of course. that's just a given. but different pressure doesn't mean less. It's only less if your standards are low and believe you shouldn't even be at this point If the Rockets come up short in this round, I still expect MDA to be elsewhere next year. It's going to take a deep run to save his job with the rockets for another year
Yes, the stage should get bigger as you advance. However, a couple of points: - Rockets were a lot closer to OKC, in the standings. Since you're the higher seed, there's more pressure to beat the lower seeded team. There's no such 'pressure' in this regard, when it comes to the Lakers. - Harden wanted to beat CP3. Westbrook wanted to beat the Thunder. Maybe for personal reasons more than professional reasons. That adds another level of pressure. You can argue that there's now pressure to beat LeBron (OKC-Miami 2012), but it's not the same pressure. - Everyone expected Houston to win against OKC, especially after going up 2-0. Pressure. No one will expect Houston to win against LA, even if we go up 2-0. - I'd argue there's more pressure on LeBron (because he's LeBron) and AD. Because if AD couldn't carry a Pelicans team to glory, and can't do so even with LeBron on your team, then you shouldn't be consistently heralded as one of the best players in the game. Honestly, like OP said, I think we'll see a looser Houston team. And with looseness, hopefully a better 3P% lol.
Yeah I agree with your points. You could clearly see that the Thunder were playing loose and free. They had no pressure on them. You could see that Harden and Westbrook were pressing. Houston had ALL the pressure. This next series vs the Lakers will be roles reversed. I just hope Houston minimizes the mistakes and play to their potential. Should be a fun series.
I wholeheartedly believe we will beat the Lakers. Now that may scare some as I haven’t been spot on with my predictions, but I’ve always believed Harden would best Lebron in a series and I do believe this league is all based on match ups and this one is in our favour. Agree that the pressure is off. I also believe last game was great for Harden, we really needed a game where his teammates bailed him out. It will help him moving forward.
much of this is true specifically for that series. but with another series comes another set of things to deal with along with the bigger stage. small ball is still going be under a microscope, a 2nd round exit still leaves mda pretty much out as coach, 2nd round exit for harden/wb is going to be slandered.
I feel exactly the same. The stage is bigger, but the opponent is different without necessarily being a lot better, because I think we might match-up better with LAL than many other teams. Not many people, fans and media alike, will pick the Rockets to win, and the weight of expectation is off the Rockets shoulders. Harden had a game where he wasnt the scoring machine he usually is, vut made good plays, great defense, and made the play of the game to secure the win, completely flipping the narrative for a moment on the player people singular-mindedly think he is. All the irony of the last series, all that tight pressure is off, and I think our team released from that will be better than the team that went through. Do I think we'll win? I don't know. Can we? Absolutely.
As they say, styles make fights. I think the Lakers are a good matchup for us. Anthony Davis and Lebron play more like wings then they do traditional bigs. Our defenders will be able to stay with them and make them work. Dame and Cj are not only Russ and Harden's level. The Lakers guards don't play with the speed that the OKC guard line up does. I think we take game 1, its going to take time for the Lakers to adjust. Our style of play is much different than the Blazers.
This past OKC series made us hardened, battle-tested and it woke up guys like Eric, Covington, Russ, and our team D. We're coming in hot! Lakers are coming in soggy from the hot tub. Lakers are 0-2 against our new micro-ball approach. We got beaucoup momentum coming into this 2nd series. Let's get it!!!!!!
Speaking as a veteran fan of the our championships the pressure on me got to the point that I almost wanted them to lose rather than have to go on to another series. lol
