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Three important but lesser talked about plusses from tonight...

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by TheresTheDagger, Apr 24, 2015.

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  1. TheresTheDagger

    TheresTheDagger Member

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    There were 3 things that happened tonight (besides the win) that will REALLY help this team for the rest of the playoffs.

    First....they won a close road game in the playoffs. The importance of this can't be stated enough. Yes, they've won a lot of close games this season, but THIS one was in the playoffs. They'll remember this in future close playoff games.

    Second....our bigs shot their FT's well. Maybe now they can relax and just shoot em with confidence when we need em and get less of this hack-a-whomever strategy against us.

    Third...and maybe most importantly...James Harden had a big playoff performance where they won. Again, I think he needed this to shake off the stigma of not having a big game player. There's just no telling if or how much this affected his play in the past. Now, don't have to worry about it.
     
    #1 TheresTheDagger, Apr 24, 2015
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  2. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    I hope not... I really, really WANT people to keep hack-a-Smithing or hack-a-Howarding or hack-a-Capellaing.

    It's an objectively stupid idea for the opposition, and it always helps us, so I hope they keep doing it.
     
    #2 SuperMarioBro, Apr 24, 2015
  3. apollo33

    apollo33 Member

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    Thank God James Harden finally decided to show up after three years

    I admit I gave up on him after last game.

    hopefully this Harden stays and makes me forget about the Portland Harden from last year.
     
    #3 apollo33, Apr 24, 2015
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  4. RoxBeliever

    RoxBeliever Member

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    Pick your poison. This team has become a well-rounded team.

    Mavs did a better job of staying with Howard in the lane and staying with our 3pt shooters but it opened up space for Harden to operate.
     
    #4 RoxBeliever, Apr 24, 2015
  5. rocketsballin

    rocketsballin Member

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    won a close game on the road in a huge game for the other team, esp dirk
     
    #5 rocketsballin, Apr 24, 2015
  6. RoxBeliever

    RoxBeliever Member

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    I thought though that in the closing minutes of the 4th, Mavs caught up with us because we were playing the clock like with 3-4 min left.

    I wanted Harden to play faster so that we could get int our offensive flow. Oh well, I know it's part of our game strategy to control the number of Mav possessions but it could also backfire on us.
     
    #6 RoxBeliever, Apr 24, 2015
  7. pwnyxpress

    pwnyxpress Member

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    Harden still had a few good games during the POR series. Just a few really bad ones too (particularly at first).

    But so far, even after tonight, Playoff Dwight > Playoff Harden still. Good thing we have both :p
     
    #7 pwnyxpress, Apr 24, 2015
  8. J Sizzle

    J Sizzle Member

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    Harden's been far better against Dallas than he was against Portland. His defense and playmaking alone solidify that.
     
    #8 J Sizzle, Apr 24, 2015
  9. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    God people are so myopic when it comes to sports performance. Harden may not have lit it up from the field, but he played GREAT basketball the first two games of this series.

    24 ppg, 8.5 apg, 3.5 topg on 58% TS%, AND a 2-0 record with two double-digit victories.

    Why do you want him taking 20 shots when his teammates are dominating?
     
    #9 SuperMarioBro, Apr 24, 2015
  10. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    Harden was better in both game 1 and game 3, sooo...
     
    #10 SuperMarioBro, Apr 24, 2015
  11. BigM

    BigM Member

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    Harden has had an excellent series. It's nice that he came out and dominated but it's equally important that he knows to defer when others are playing well like game 2. He's matured so much.
     
    #11 BigM, Apr 24, 2015
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  12. House of Pain

    House of Pain Member

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    I think it's a great sign that the Mavs two best players got 68 and the Rockets still won.
     
    #12 House of Pain, Apr 24, 2015
  13. fallenphoenix

    fallenphoenix Member

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    You gotta realize the whole gameplan for the Mavs the first 2 games was to stop Harden and make the rest of the team play ball...

    When they realized that wasn't going to work they switched it up and let Harden go nuts.
     
    #13 fallenphoenix, Apr 24, 2015
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  14. DFWRocket

    DFWRocket Member

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    Harden didn't "decide to show up tonight" - he's been here for all three games. The difference is that the Mavs defense paid so much attention to him in the first 2 games (you know, because we're so 1-dimensional and all) that our "role players" got open easily and burned them. This game the Mavs finally took our "role players" seriously and it gave Harden the flexibility and space to make some shots.
     
    #14 DFWRocket, Apr 24, 2015
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  15. DFWRocket

    DFWRocket Member

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    Haha, you beat me by mere seconds. REPPED
     
    #15 DFWRocket, Apr 24, 2015
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  16. JackLordsHair

    JackLordsHair Member

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    Some fans seem to feel he has to go for 40+ and a triple double otherwise he isn't playing well. He was awesome tonight, but his game 1 performance was almost as good with how much he involved all his team mates. HIs shot was off in game 2 but Smoove and Howard stepped up and filled the void, but it's a good thing Cuban knows "that's not a very good team over there" otherwise we'd probably be down 0-3 :grin:
     
    #16 JackLordsHair, Apr 24, 2015
  17. Sydeffect

    Sydeffect Member

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    Hopefully this game will set the tone for Harden's career. He's finally had that breakout game in a win as the main guy in the playoffs
     
    #17 Sydeffect, Apr 24, 2015
  18. apollo33

    apollo33 Member

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    come on, don't try to change what happened. Harden was getting single coverage by Jefferson and Felton in the third quarter game 2. He was taking bad shots in those single coverage and missed 4-5 in a row plus turnovers. The offense stagnated pretty badly until the 4th quarter when the Smith and Howard thing got going.

    To his credit Harden still played decent defense despite his offense, which was night and day from the Portland series.
     
    #18 apollo33, Apr 24, 2015
  19. SuperMarioBro

    SuperMarioBro Member

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    So Harden has one bad quarter and you give up on him?
     
    #19 SuperMarioBro, Apr 25, 2015
  20. apollo33

    apollo33 Member

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    that has nothing to do with what I wrote

    I'm just saying it's not true that the reason Harden played badly in game 2 was because "the mavericks focused all their defense on him". That never happened when Harden missed 5 shots in a row.
     
    #20 apollo33, Apr 25, 2015
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