in the game that we lost 102-100 at home, the Rockets were up 96-83 with 4:39 left in the 4th and immediately gave up an 11-0 run the Rockets managed to go up by 6 with 1:58 left, but then Ariza fouled Kawhi on a jumper, then Ariza got called for a charge, and then we gave up a wide open three to Danny Green...Harden then turned the ball over, Kawhi missed a shot with 35 seconds left and Ariza got the rebound but then turned it over again, and then we gave up a wide open three to Patty Mills to lose the game by 2 so in this game alone, we fouled a jump shooter, gave up 2 wide open threes, and had 3 turnovers all in the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter...the Spurs took advantage of every mistake in the last game we played against them that we ended up losing 110-112, the Rockets were up 104-98 with 3:50 left in the 4th and then fouled Kawhi on a 3 pointer and fouled him again on their next offensive possession gifting them 5 straight points....Kawhi hits another jumper to put the Spurs up by 1 and Nene commits a loose ball foul on Aldridge sending him to the line to put the Spurs up by 3 we managed to take a 108-107 lead with 39 seconds left and Kawhi hits a huge 3, Harden gets blocked at the rim and Nene gets the rebound, but instead of passing it back out, he tries to go up for the layup with all these defenders in the paint and gets blocked we foul Kawhi and the Spurs go up 112-108, but Nene gets a dunk to bring us within 2 with 10 seconds left...the Rockets don't even manage to intentionally foul in the last 10 seconds and the game ends so as u can see, the Spurs took advantage of damn near every mistake that we were making, and this is why it will be very hard for us to beat them in a 7 game series...we can hang with them, but when the pressure rises, they step up while we fold
Excellent post. Makes sense the way you illustrated it. I consider Harden mild-mannered, but he does have the alpha-ego predisposition that would preclude him from being conducive in the Spurs system. That said, I'm sure the Spurs and Pop could definitely make room for Harden if they could
Great explanations. This is embodies the extreme frustration I feel about the Rockets during games like these lol. The games where the Rockets literally gave away. This is why talent doesn't necessarily automatically trump against a particular team as the Spurs. There is no other team out there that plays and wins like a machine like the Spurs do....not even the Warriors. Warriors are just all world talent and they overwhelm everyone with it. It really is disgusting to lose against a team you beat 96% of the game almost every time. Rockets are their own worst enemy in this series.
It's worth noting that the foul by Ariza on Kawhi's 3-pointer in that last game in San Antonio was a phantom call. He didn't touch him. If the refs make a game-deciding mistake like that in this series, they'll never hear the end of it.
By the way, you can see a pattern of self-destruction coupled with a disciplined team methodically winning like they do most times. Yes we can all make ourselves feel better that "We had them beat...but stupid mistakes down the stretch" etc; but if you think about it, the Spurs have been doing this to teams for as long as I can remember...it's their IDENTITY. So perhaps outside of the Rocket fan base of self-consolation, The Spurs just have the identity to really turn it up the latter half of the 4th against any team and get the stops necessary to come out with a close win. I think this is their mentality, and not just an "escape" for them. They do it far too often for it to be "luck".
To me it's more of the culture the Spurs organization creates. It's the same consistency every year. They do things a certain way and expect their guys to carry themselves in a certain way no matter who they are. It's not like they don't sign guys who are known as knuckleheads like SJax or a david west. But as a Spur if you don't live up to par on what they're trying to do they have no problem not playing you or letting you exit. Guys like danny green and mills were barely hanging on in the league. They have just adapted well in SA and allowed themselves to be good fits from both sides
Spurs are execution machines. They will not beat themselves and so we have to make the game free flowing and helter skelter instead to be able to beat them.
I say Rockets in 6. OKC was only a warmup. We have to focus, the Spurs are the RealDeal. We can do it!! Go RedNation.
WTF, you are onto something. They just squared off 3 times in 30 years in the postseason. They dominated the regular season series though in the last 20 years.
...but that opens us up for silly TOs that the Spurs WILL take advantage of. If anything Houston has to try not to beat themselves because (again) the Spurs WILL take advantage.
The Rockets ABSOLUTELY have to execute better down the stretch, and not panic when they press us. Closing out a playoff game is one of the hardest things to do, so guys like Gordon, Beverley, Ariza, and of course Harden need to keep their wits about them and not force passes that aren't there. You can always call timeouts. Also, I said this the previous series, and I'm saying it again. I very rarely try to predict how a series is going to play out because there are so many variables, but I just don't see San Antonio keeping up with us in a series. We will wear them out, and figure out ways to score. The biggest X-factor is keeping them under 35% 3 point shooting while we shoot over 35%. If we can do that, I don't see this going past 6 games. TL;DR - ROCKETS IN 6
