ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Spurs 5/1/2017 (Playoffs Round 2, Game 1)

There won't be any Kawhi left at the end of the game for them. I'm all for it!

 

he is holding his cards 3rd year in a row now

 

As long as the rockets play defense like last night they won't have a problem with the Spurs.

Now the Warriors they gotta play like last night every game to win the series. Warriors are just that good.

Man I want to see that series though.

Back to the Spurs. There just to slow even on Spurs makes the rockets got the ball past halfcourt atleast by 20 seconds left on the clock atleast 70% of the time.

If you give Harden that match time in the halfcourt he's going to get himself or the team and easy look 9x out of 10.

Lets take some trends from the regular season and apply them to the series. Yes it's true the Spurs closed games out down the stretch that were in a sense toss up games. What can't be overlooked is that the rockets were actually the team that consistently had double digit leads against them.

The rockets are really good and if they play defense with that kind of energy and focus this will be a short series becaus we will have multiple 10-15 point runs throughout a game.

It's what golden state does so good also. Defense leads to easy points in a hurry and only houston and to an extent Cleveland have that capability.

 

Well put. Key is defensive focus. Battle as a team. Last night was the perfect blue print for the Rockets' success this series, regardless of what SA does. I have to believe (based on what Harden has said) that the team is focused and will continue to be on that end of the floor in game 2.

 

FINALLY, FINALLY the Rockets hit their 3's. Finally starters Anderson & Ariza come to the party. They were due.

The Spurs are the #1 D in the league and I was AMAZED at how easily the Rockets were able to get to their spots. The 3's and the rolls with Capela. Everything was a BURDEN in that OKC series. So much more FREEDOM in game 1. Shocking.

The Thunder series just slogged. Capela probably loves not having to battle Adams/Gibson anymore.

Great intensity in this game. Got a bunch of 50/50 rebounds with that effort.

I can't believe how poorly LMA played. Just dumbfounded at what I saw.

The 3's might not fall as bountiful as they did in this game, but the Rockets can keep up their intensity, pace and defense and that can put them in a great position to win this series.

 

Spurs fans are nothing but a cult of idiots. Won't beat the Mavs as the most hated though.

 

Rockets defense has actually overall been quite good dating back to the First Round. The defense absolutely needs to be the focus in game 2 to take it.

 

Loved seeing harden stick up for his squad, then Lou Williams running in to have his back. I love that lou is working out for us. A guy who needs the rock is working side by side effectively with harden. Remember when @basketballholic said harden was holding back Marcus Thornton and didn't like him taking away the spotlight from him. Lmao what a ****ing joke

 

What happened? I recollect Thornton was a pretty effective player off the pine.

 

Rockets' Owner, Leslie Alexander, paid for fans to attend Game 1

http://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/Rockets-fans-liven-up-a-quiet-Spurs-arena-11113564.php

 

And all of that was still less expensive than his fine for walking over to the official in Game 5.

 

Interesting stat: no D'Antoni team has even reached 10 3FG made in a playoff game vs Pops, until now. Gentry did though when Nash/Amare swept Pops in 2010 4-0, after ending the Shaq experiment. Yes, they swept the Spurs, even with the Spurs Big Three each averaging 20ppg.

You just know MDA has been thinking for probably the past 10 years what he'd do differently vs Pops if he just got another chance. And maybe gave Gentry and Nash a few free tips.

 

Imagine instead of Lou playing it wouldve been brewer! hehehhe

 

What a great freaking game Houston played last night. It felt like an alternate reality to what weve seen recently. I think overall our D has been fairly good in these 6 games, but our focus and intensity last night was so brutal and infectious.

3s falling?
Loose balls and rebounds?

For any Rogue One fans, remember as the Death Star blasts out halfway thru the film and Krennic looks on at the destruction from up above and says "its...beautiful"...?

Ha, THATS how I felt watching last night's slaughter. If we play anything like tjat for the remainder of the series then I actually do believe we can win. Before I was skeptical, and even still we domt know about the consistency.

We just had a glimpse of potential. Against OKC we saw small pockets of it, but even G1 wasnt THIS good, and for the rest of the series we struggled in shooting percentage and well, effort. If this momentum can carry over and belief sets in, what a series were in for.

Spurs will come back and adapt, its to be expected. G2 will probably be incredibly intense, chippy, and difficult. If we go home 1-1 its still a victory and homecourt, but my god steal that 2nd game too dammit!

Very, VERY excited. GO ROCKETS!!!

 

Brew lit the Mavs up in game 1 in 2015 bruh!

 

Has anyone alerted @tinman about this?

 

Great to be proven wrong!! Awesome beatdown, finally we played our game. Series far from over though, even 2-0 will mean little. Still, enjoy the win

 

Teams up 2-0 advance 95% of the time and 2-0 on the road... it would mean a lot.