The Rockets were in position to win all 3 games they lost. Win the next one at home. Steal one on the road. Game 7 would be a toss-up, but I think the more experienced team takes it, if it gets that far.
If the Rockets somehow force a Game 7, I think the experience factor goes out the window. Staving off elimination twice in a row including once on the road would be more than enough of a learning experience for this young core to give them at least a 50/50 shot at completing the 3-1 comeback.
I'm still heartbroken after last night. But..if the Rockets had a 3-1 comeback against the Warriors it would certainly put a period in the Warriors dynasty.
Kind of strange to see how unrealistic a lot of us are about this year. I didn't expect that we'd win a series and when we drew the Warriors I knew it was over. We're similar to last year's OKC team: young and exceeded expectations. But, the playoffs are a different animal and there's no our team full of guys who have never been here before were going to unseat one of the most experienced lineups in the game. Losing game 3 when Butler was out was the real crucible. That said, seeing Jalen Green score less than 10 points in three games is clarifying. I'm all-in on going after Giannis.
Belief is fine when you see the product actually adjusting. This team is lost right now, in their heads and unable to do anything without making game deciding mistakes. There is absolutely no way anyone can honestly see this team on the court and say they will win 3 straight games.
I want to be wrong but i’m just being realistic. If we didn’t also have the NBA and refs against us then we could possibly overcome.
Most of the games have been really close - will Rockets hit FTs? Will we trade 28 FGA for Alpi for 43 3pt attempts for GS will Ime go to spacing lineup and attempt to get JG going or will he stick with double big defensive lineup (sadly he doesn’t understand he can stagger both) JG mindset - will he play tight as if he’s scared to be benched, or will he play like F Ime this is my team FVV - will he play with pace and get us early shot clock looks? Will Tari and Bari our only bench players outside of Adams get more than 5 FGAs
We're not making free throws Alpi will not take 28 attempts next game You won't see Jalen with the double bigs much JG mindset - who knows at this point? FVV - play with pace, hopefully, but I'm worried he'll take quick 3s now The 8 man rotation will continue unless we're blowing them out. Basically, not much will change. It'll come down to execution down the stretch.
I can’t remember the exact record, but at one point in the regular season we were the #1 team in these close games, but many of those games should have been easy wins in which we let big leads slip away. This was due to not having a closer or an offense that can generate points in the half court. The writing was on the wall then and I knew it wasn’t sustainable in the playoffs. Our best chance is any game this series would have been to get a big lead and do enough to hang on in the end. They have had chances to open these games up and put their foot on GSW necks but never do it. This was the real formula for our success this year.
It's really, really hard to come back down 3-1 I haven't given up hope completely, but it's very unlikely at this point. We needed to win last night's game. But if we lose the next game and Jalen again doesn't show up and Ime again makes questionable coaching decisions, I might start jumping on some of these hate trains y'all got rolling
If Jalen no shows tomorrow night, he's gone this summer. I hope he understands his entire future with this organization is riding on Game 5.
I agree, if he has 4 out of 5 games where he's not even playing at a starter level, you can't just run it back with him. There are too many shooting guards out there who you can at least rely on to give you 15 in the playoffs and space the floor. There are a lot of things I like about Jalen, including his reliability in terms of being able to play, but his lack of reliability in terms of his production is beginning to look like a fatal flaw.
It's over. Green is inconsistent Sengun is scared of Draymond Dillon and Tari will always commit soul crushing fouls FVV is likely not going to have another good game like yesterday Rockets will not make free throws I have no doubt that next game will be close, the Rockets have played spectacular defense, but the offense is absolutely putrid. Even if Udoka had a much better system in place, it's hard to overcome the inconsistency of FVV and Jalen behind the 3 point line, hard to overcome Sengun and company missing bunnies at the rim, and hard to overcome missing free throws.
It's not just the lack of scoring. His careless turnovers are killing the team. He seemed completely out of it last night and that cannot happen in the playoffs. This is the kind of crap Harden did for years and we cannot have another shooting guard with the same tendencies. What championship contenders need are guys with a killer instinct. Who even when their shot isn't falling don't check out mentally. And who want to rip the heart out of their competition. I don't see that in Jalen.
