ClutchFans Game Thread: Thunder @ Rockets 4/7/2018

Trip dub!!!

 

This. Fake and bandwagon fans are the only ones whining and b****ing.

 

THIS

 

Some observations....

Strange game. Last home game of the season on national prime time TV. The Rockets clearly wanted it and played hard as a test for the playoffs. The reffing was atrocious which was really annoying. That 4th quarter was bizarre. You could tell at that point, the Thunder got desperate and they just wanted it more.

Really surprised at all the Turnovers. Just sloppy ball handling and loss of focus. Rockets have to do a much better job of controlling the ball when teams "ratchet up" the defense and get physical. Particularly LATE in a game when Harden is tired and more susceptible to getting flustered on contact way out on the floor. Also, ease up on the behind the back passes on the perimeter when Paul George and his 15 foot arms are out there.

Intensity was high and PJ Tucker really delivered. Was nice to see. We saw "Playoff Tucker" there and I am here for this!

Of all the teams in the playoffs, perhaps the Thunder (and Spurs) is the one team the Rockets could use Nene the most. Where his physicality can be an asset and his lack of foot speed not an issue. And he didn't have it which was super disappointing. Capela was a ghost too. Gonna need WAAAY WAAAAAY more from them if the Rockets face the Thunder in the playoffs.

Adams is one player Capela really struggles with. Adams can match Capela's bouncy athleticism and at the same time muscle him out. Capela HAS to raise his game to meet that, if this team is going to go far. He can and we have seen it, but not consistently.

Again, with the higher intensity and athleticism, it really exposes Joe Johnson. He can do things against 2nd unit bench guys, but in the playoffs against tighter rotations, not sure what he can bring. Honestly, his BEST asset might be as a "late in the game get all of the FT shooters on the floor in case of a foul" kind of thing. Taking "pressure FT shots" might be his best utility at this point.

Solving the Thunder really comes down to R E B O U N D I N G. They are active and physical. They miss a lot of shots. But you can't give them 2nd shots. This is where Capela and Nene have to clean things up and they got rolled. PJ Tucker's 10 rebounds were excellent. You can't allow Westbrook's speed along with Grant's and Adams' athleticism to overpower you. Clean this up and you win every time.

Rockets missed Eric Gordon as someone that can "create their own shot in space." Another ball handler and 3pt shooter. Was really evident in the 2nd half. I don't think Ryan Anderson would have helped much in this game really. I mean, the Rockets probably needed Anderson's rebounding more than his shooting. (Aside: On the Morey shopping list this offseason, a competent 3rd PG is a must. The Rockets entire offense is based off a PG engine and this team will always have to deal with injuries. CP/JH/EG are an excellent trio. But a 4th ball handler has to be added to the mix. It could be someone like a Jose Caulderon or Isaiah Tayler type player. But just someone0.

The loss annoys me, but I get the bigger picture. No one got injured, the game meant nothing to the Rockets and everything for the Thunder.

 

I think we need a big beefy center backup for Clint even more. Someone who is more muscular and taller, to be used when match-ups benefit, when Clint is resting, and especially if Clint gets hurt. Last but not least, a center who is good at free throws, which would be great during hacking of Clint. Our backups are OK, but either limited in minutes, too young, inexperienced and skinny, or simply not very good. I would love two dominating centers.

 

This is actually a good loss.

 

One small thing I wanted to point out.

When Harden runs the PNR with Tucker, teams are doubling Harden and he is passing to Tucker on the roll. We are going to see this in the playoffs. Teams are going to force Tucker to be a "play maker." Tucker is a poor lane finisher and that is a big problem. BUT, he is getting better at throwing the lob to Capela which is important. Tucker can also find the 3pt shooters, but if they get closely guarded, the onus will be on Tucker to find a way to get that pass to Capela.

If this Thunder game is "Playoff Tucker", then I am here for this. He was huge.

 

The Rockets had shown flashes. For a while, they even put up numbers, scoring 62 first-half points. But they never seemed entirely comfortable.

It took a phenomenal second quarter from James Harden to rally to that halftime lead. But most of the time, the Thunder was able to take away at least a few of the sort of shots the Rockets like most. Oklahoma City was willing to leave Carmelo Anthony's man open at the 3-point line to keep Anthony from being isolated on Harden. P.J. Tucker benefited, making 6 of 8 shots to score 16 points. But the Thunder was willing to live with that to keep Harden from lighting them up.

The Rockets can make more of the shots the Thunder allowed than they did. And the Thunder defense was willing to leave Rockets shooters open on top in part because Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, who were both out, were not there to take them in their usual spots.

Yet, when the Rockets had eight consecutive empty possessions in an 11-0 run, the Rockets struggled before the shots went up. They had made just 3 of 13 3s in the second half before Tucker hit a pair after the Oklahoma City lead reached 10 in the closing minutes, but nothing had come easily all along, even when the Rockets were scoring. In the end, the struggles of a 40-point second half were about more than missed shots.

1. The Rockets might benefit from Saturday's loss. They could have gained in other ways from playing well enough to win, but with the loss, they would not face the Thunder in the first round if Oklahoma City wins in Miami (we can assume a win in Memphis.) That would likely lead to a match up with the far shakier defense of either the Timberwolves or Nuggets. But beyond matchups, the Rockets might have gained some valuable "fear," as Mike D'Antoni put it, to go with the confidence earned in their 64 wins. The Rockets might be well-served to have a reminder that playoff teams can beat them. Confidence is important and the Rockets have that covered, but a bit of an edge can come from believing they have to be their best and play their hardest to win playoff games. That's what the playoffs are about. Enough study of an opponent could provide that level of respect. No team is getting into the Western Conference playoffs without qualities that will challenge any opponent. Still, the Rockets on Saturday received a reminder or how tough the postseason should be expected to be, even after the sort of regular season they had, when one of the teams in that pack beat them for the second time in three meetings this season. The strong play it would have taken to beat the Thunder would have been valuable, especially with the Rockets likely to sit regulars regularly in the final two games. In their past five games, the Rockets have gone 3-2 with a blowout loss and two wins taken in the final second after struggling badly against players either far removed from the playoffs (on the last-place Suns) or unlikely to play in the playoffs (on the end of the Blazers' bench). The Rockets showed flashes of what they can do, but have not sustained them lately. That could return when the post-season stakes bring the usual playoff intensity. But the loss might have its benefits, too, if only as a reminder of the challenge ahead.

2. The Rockets lamented all of their turnovers and all of the Thunder's second shots. But that happens against the Thunder. Of course playoff teams have strengths. The Rockets might have a record that is worlds apart, but they are not better at everything. The Thunder are better than anyone at forcing turnovers and hitting the offensive boards. The Rockets can expect to do much better in those areas, even against Oklahoma City, than to allow 15 offensive rebounds and commit 18 turnovers. But they are supposed to beat the Thunder with one of their great strengths, their play off the bench. It was not close. The Rockets bench was badly outplayed, even with the Oklahoma City reserves scoring just 20 points. The Rockets are third in the NBA in net rating off the bench, behind only the Raptors and Warriors, outscoring opponents by 6.9 points per 100 possessions. The Thunder ranks 15th. The Rockets' reserves, however, were outscored by double-digits when they were on the floor. With Eric Gordon out, the Rockets missed his shooting from on top, the area the Oklahoma City defense left open. But they also missed his defense. He sat for a second consecutive game with a sore left ankle only because the Rockets are so determined to be cautious with injuries. But they might have a tougher decision to make with Ryan Anderson. Anderson has missed the past two games with a sprained ankle and it is unclear if he will return in time for the two-game road trip to close the regular season. If he is ready for the start of the postseason, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni would have to decide whether to return him to the rotation next weekend, a tough choice if he had not played for 10 days. In his past four games, he had made 2 of 10 shots. His role could depend on matchups and how teams defend the Rockets. The Rockets did not get much from Nene or Joe Johnson on Saturday, and might not know what Anderson will be ready to give them. The Rockets do know they need more from their bench than they got on Saturday. Gordon can bring much of that. Without him, they did not have nearly enough.

3. If the Rockets were given the right to pick a first-round opponent, there would be several things to consider, but they would not choose the Thunder. There will be no easy matchups, even for a team with 64, 65 or 66 wins. The Rockets will be favored against any team that is in Toyota Center next weekend. But there are two ways to look at the question of who they would want to face if it were up to them. They would most want to avoid teams that have the best chance at an upset. And they would want to avoid teams that would make the first round a physical, low-scoring, win-ugly sort of series. The Thunder would have nearly as good a chance at the upset as anyone else in the Western Conference pack. They would absolutely fit the second group, making it tough on a team that gets past them. Though Clint Capela has played well against Oklahoma City, the Rockets would not want him banging into Steven Adams for four to seven games. (If the Thunder lose in Miami, there is a very good chance they finish eighth.) In those measures, the Jazz and Thunder would probably be the teams to avoid with playoff rhythm and momentum in mind. The Spurs and Pelicans are probably the toughest teams – after the Warriors and Blazers who are second and third in the standings – to beat. That leaves the Timberwolves and Nuggets. Both have great offensive talents, led by the two of the best young centers in the league, Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic. But both teams are in the bottom third of the NBA defensively. It might be tempting to think that the Rockets' NBA-best offense would score on anybody, that they would be better off against a relatively offensively-challenged team. But the Rockets have gotten to be pretty strong defensively, too, ranking in a tie for sixth in defensive rating this season, and third since P.J. Tucker moved into the starting lineup. In a high-scoring game, it would be difficult to most teams to keep pace with the Rockets. Let them drive and kick against the Timberwolves or go one-on-one against the Nuggets and they should put up large numbers. Nothing will be easy. As much attention as is placed on how tight the Western Conference race has been that should also point out how many good teams there are. The Rockets don't get to pick their opponent. They probably would say they don't care and might even mean it. But if they did, they might want to pull for Oklahoma City in Miami on Monday, let the Jazz get one more win, and take on the young teams that will be happy to be there.

 

No big deal. Didn't even have EG. Not afraid of OKC. Want them to stay in #7 badly.

 

[...]

The Thunder have now won their season series against the Rockets, and are one of only two Western Conference playoff teams to have beaten the Rockets twice this season (the other is the Spurs). In their two wins, they’ve held James Harden to just 41 percent shooting from the floor, and 32 percent shooting from the arc; in Houston’s one win in the series, Harden still turned the ball over 10 times. For all of their strengths, the Rockets are still enormously dependent upon the isolation and pick-and-roll brilliance of two world-class playmakers; beating them in a series will mean facing down a lot of grueling isolations and limiting the damage from deep. That’s a lot to ask of any team, but if any team can feel pretty good about its chances, it’s the Thunder.

These two teams aren’t expected to meet in the opening round of the playoffs: the Rockets have secured the top seed, and the Thunder are currently 7th, with games left against the Miami Heat and the Memphis Grizzlies. But one way or another, it feels like this series, pitting last season’s MVP against this season’s presumptive MVP, just has to happen. No, it would not settle any stupid-ass basketblogging culture wars; what it would deliver would be a lot of b****in’ basketball, and you can never have too much of that.​

 

dont rememeber spurs beating us twice this year ?

 

The key reason for lose of this game is the offensive reb. 6-15.

 

We will not learn much from this game, we are how we are. Don’t kid yourselves and think we will see Harden in particular get rid of sloppy passes, late shot clock 3pt heaves and not getting back on defense. Also don’t think you’ll ever see Harden work hard to get open -without shoving that is.

 

If we needed a bucket of cold water in the team's collective face in order to prevent overconfidence going into the playoffs, then we should congratulate the Thunder. They certainly provided it. Having said that, I'm not any more worried about facing them in a 7 game series than any other team we could possibly face in the 1st round, not if we're healthy. It was one game at the shag end of the season, no more. So finish up the little bit left of this record breaking year for the Rockets without worrying about wins. These two remaining games may mean something for the Lakers and the Kings, but they mean nothing for us except as tune ups for the playoffs, with a focus on staying healthy, in my opinion.

 

Just quoting because HP's foreshadowing of shaky officiating.

 

Lol blame the 10 offesive rebound deficit to harden

And also blame harden for clinching absolute hca too early

 

OKC won’t go far in the playoffs, but they sure as hell will throw their punches against whoever does beat them. Better to let another team have to be on the receiving end of their bruising.

 

They didn't.

 

Great review. I would put a little more emphasis on the absolute parade of low-IQ decision making in the 4th quarter; (terrible ISO plays, lazy perimeter passes, dumb perimeter fouls, air balls, lazy inbounds turnovers). Gerald Green was a big minus in this one, on the box score, and had that back-breaking inbounds pass late.

But everything you said is spot on, and the reffing was very bizarre. It certainly seemed like the NBA has a stake in the Thunder making the playoffs.

 

Surely you can see that the two things you've said in this post are fallacies? They don't factually disprove that Harden made some bad decisions in the 4th quarter. Your boy doesn't need you to defend him. This game was a practice exam that Harden did not pass. That doesn't mean he can't still get an A in the class, if you catch my drift.