ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 5/27/2015 (Western Conference Finals, Game 5)

Yeah, I don't think it's right to compare the two series. The Thunder had lost Westbrook for the playoffs. The Rockets barely lost Game 3(Durant had the luckiest bounce on a shot I've ever seen). And Scotty Brooks pulled a McHale and undercut his own team by unnecessarily resorting to Hack-Asik in the 4th quarter of Game 5. Not that Kerr hasn't gone to that strategy this series(despite claiming he wouldn't), but he would never do it repeatedly unless his team was down huge.

 

I saw in twitter that Dudley was on espn all day giving his opinion. This guy has amazing bball iq and he's a huge fan of Harden and likes the Rockets' style so I wonder if he said some strategies or a prediction for tonight.

 

a lot of teams have forced a game 6 after being down 0-3. The Bucks did it this playoffs against the Bulls. If even the Bucks can why the Rockets can not?
Don't be so pessimistic.
Historically it's the game 7 that is hard to force (only 3 teams), not the game 6.
I believe. Tonight we will win.

 

Rockets will need to be focused to play 48 minutes of basketball. Leave all on the court tonight. Go Rockets extend the series bring it back to H-Town!!

 

Rockets in 7

 

ONE GAME!!
Let's win ONE GAME. . . this GAME TONITE

Rocket River

 

im surprised you didnt say in 6 or 8

 

Winning ONE on their home floor changes this. Big mo swings. Our confidence goes up. Their sphincters tighten. Would be glorious.

 

Mauer, Brothers, Malloy. The 3 worst refs in the game today. And now an all-star crew. SMH

 

Part of me thinks you were just trolling, part of me thought you'd believed that......

 

We won game 5 already? Cool.

 

Stephen Curry practice update:

Spoiler

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stephen Curry added a sleeve for shootaround this morning. <a href="http://t.co/t0z4fScAmf">pic.twitter.com/t0z4fScAmf</a></p>&mdash; Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rusty_SFChron/status/603614818046648320">May 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Rocket River

 

One at a time

Rocket River

 

I think the Ws take care of business tonight. Early blowout.

 

I thought that he hurt his shoulder on the fall but there's something wrong with his shooting elbow? Looks like he landed on his right elbow.

 

PRE-GAME SPEECH:

"THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD THINKS WE ARE GOING TO LOSE TONIGHT!"

*drops mic*

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Steph Curry, with a shooting sleeve with elbow pad on right arm, says he's sore from the fall but &quot;good to go,&quot; will &quot;play normal minutes.&quot;</p>&mdash; Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/KBergCBS/status/603619418929635328">May 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stephen Curry said he has a bruise on the entire right side of his body, but it's nothing that would keep him out of tonight's game.</p>&mdash; Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rusty_SFChron/status/603619431856480256">May 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Keys to the game, IMHO..

1. Stop turning the ball over! The Warriors are keyd-in on the backdoor passes which worked well in the first qtr, but never really worked again the rest of the way. Seemed like every time Smith tried that pass, it was a turnover. TAKE CARE OF THE BALL. No more fancy behind the back passes, no more of Harden's 'pocket passes' into a crowd of knees. Just make sound, solid passes.

2. Dwight & Smith: Go up HARD and DUNK THE BALL!! The Warriors are hacking SMith and Howard every time they are close to the basket and attempting a shot. This is roughly equivalent to a turnover, because we get no points out of those possessions - the ONLY way to stop that hacking is to stop trying to softly lay the ball in and channel their inner Shaq, and DUNK THE DANG BALL. That way, if they foul, we still get the points.

3. Get into the offense sooner! Harden is a wizard with the ball, this is undeniable, but he has a habit of taking too long, so that IF he finally decides to pass it, he passes it with like 3 seconds left, which leaves Brewer or Ariza or Terry having to heave up some kind of desperation shot, and again, it may as well be another turnover. Get into the offense sooner! There is no negative to going ahead and making a move with ten seconds left instead of three.

4. MAKE YOUR SHOTS, especially close to the rim! I'm looking at YOU, Jones and Brewer! Stop blowing layups! We had an incredibly good shooting game from distance in Game 4, but we can't count on that, and we have to have guys finish off plays when they get close! And as for Howard.. we all know Howard's post-up game off the glass is abysmal - when he can get close to the rim and put the ball directly in the hoop (instead of trying to play it off the glass) he is better, but he HAS to make his close-in shots! Better yet, DUNK THE BALL!

5. CRASH THE BOARDS FOR OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS. There are really three things a teammate can do when one of your guys is taking a shot: You can crash the boards for an offensive rebound, you can race back to play defense, or you can stand there and watch the ball, to see if it goes in, neither crashing the boards NOR getting back on defense. Guess which one the Rockets have been habitually doing?? They have to STOP just standing around watching the shot. The Warriors release AS SOON AS A ROCKET SHOOTS A SHOT, and it so often results in an easy 2-on-1 layup. A missed shot for us turns into easy points for them. THIS HAS TO STOP. We can either release immediately whenever a teammate takes a shot, in order to get guys back on defense (thus cutting down the easy buckets for the W's), or they can ALL crash the boards for the offensive rebounds - which would be easier, since at least two Warriors release for a fast break on every one of our shots, meaning we SHOULD have the rebounding advantage almost every time. The one thing we CANNOT keep doing is the third option: no offensive boards AND easy fast break buckets for the bad guys. Personally, I believe that, if we are going to go down, we should at least go down swinging. I think we should crash the offensive boards on every shot, until the Warriors adjust, and stop sprinting out on each of our shots. The easy buckets on every missed shot have been KILLING us.

6. FREE THROWS. Seriously guys, if there is any time these players need to earn their paychecks, it's now. Focus, and make your damn free throws. Josh and Dwight!! Take it seriously for once! Make your free throws and they will stop fouling you!!

7. DEFENSE .. Play defense every time down like you did in Game Six vs the Clippers. Yes, you have to play THAT HARD. There is no tomorrow, there is only today, leave it ALL on the floor! Play like you mean it!

I know there are plenty more points, but geez, if they would just take care of the ball, make their shots, and get some rebounds, they can actually win this thing!

 

Apparently so!