We played better losing this Game 2 than winning the last Game 2

agree, very much this.

 

I agree.... we just need to keep them at our pace. We have to play with speed.

 

I agree. Pretty much the same thing I was telling my friends last night. My biggest concern now is them playing for Tony. We need to come out with the same intensity defensively. No mercy. I don't see us shooting that bad every game and until the fourth quarter we were right there only down 5.

 

I think we played "ok" & could've definitely played faster. We had next to no pace and our shots weren't falling (as expected) like they were in G1.

 

Overall, just a really terrible no good very bad 4th quarter, and Harden was off. Not hugely concerning, but they'll need to bounce back.

 

The rockets like all jump shooting teams depend on pace and good shooting. And when it is not there, they can lay eggs. That is sort of why people complain that the playoffs aren't exciting anymore because it is all about which team is hottest from 3. Very rarely are there games when both teams are hot at the same time.

Anyway, I can't knock the style because just about every team in the playoffs are doing it. Also, just a little provocative thought: that is why Cleveland is such a difficult team to beat. Because they are a team that is built around the modern nba (3 point shooting) with one of the greatest of all time half court, when you need a bucket players: LeBron.

The question is, when your shooting isn't there, can you still beat somebody?

 

It's fine if the shots doesn't fall, I think what killed us is the endless offensive rebounding tips. It's really demoralizing to get 2 stops only for the other team to get another chance and score. watching anderson in there playing the 5 and trying to rebound is just sad.

I don't like the lineup we went with start of fourth, it's too small and too abusable on defense, it's a do or die line up

 

We played 3 great quarters then decided to shart ourselves

 

I agree, we really came out focused , which is a sentiment of how dantoni has changed the mindset of this team.
On the other hand, iam a little worried of how much abuse we took on the boards. That cant happen again.

Also we didnt seem to take advantage of every possession like we did the first game. there was some lack of focus here.
If kawahi is guarding you lou, just pass to harden cuz hell have green. You just cant attack him1v1 and expect good results. This happened a couple of times and is just a waste of possession because you are not playing percentages.

The other thing i didnt like was not giving gordon enough of the ball. I dont even remember if he played in the 2nd half. He was lighting it up in the FIrst.

Give gordon the ball in the 2nd unit , call plays from practice where he comes off picks and shoots 3s. but bev should def not be the primary ball handler in the 2nd unit. Option1: Lou option 2 Gordon....dependent on the defender and which big you want to expose in the P&R.

 

The spurs had a decent advantage on the officiating as well. That LMA elbow would have been a flagrant 2 if from Dwight. The rockets came out focused, and if some luck went in their way we might be looking into purchasing some brooms. As is, I was happy with the effort in spite of the fact we didn't get the calls and didn't make some key shots down the stretch.

 

Aw yes - the usual whining about the refs. Whatever. I noticed that you had no problem when the refs didn't whistle the Rox players for hanging onto the Spurs arms and jerseys throughout the game. Also, Dwight who?

 

Also because the Thunder WITH Westbrook in sucked even worse in 4th quarters.

 

I heard Tony Brothers had to get his stomach scoped after the game to pull out all the whistles he swallowed.

Memo must have come down from on high because Gasol was shoving and yanking all our guys around on the offensive glass from the get go.

Seriously though, look around. Golden state: massacre. Cleveland: massacre. Celtics Wiz: 2-0. The NBA is gonna lose some major dollars if the Rockets Spurs series doesn't go long. I also expect that Wiz Celtics game 3 to be ridiculously skewed towards the home team. Hell they might even get a Brothers sighting of their own!

 

Have you ever watched a playoff series before? Complaining about the refs about how they are giving the other team preferential treatment, from both fan bases, is part of NBA playoff basketball.

 

Well said, I totally agree. That is the difference between the Spurs and the Thunder. My hope now is that the guys don't get discouraged and mired down like the Raptors seem to be against Cleveland.

One thing about the Spurs is that they are more likely to play well on a consistent basis within their style than a team like the Thunder would. The Spurs system is designed so that even their not so great games aren't that far off from their really great ones.

I'd love to see the Rockets just shore up a few things like boxing out and not allowing as many offensive rebounds and of course better shooting and better offense from Harden.

It's definitely doable and I hope our home court fires up the team.

 

Here's a new twist . . . the NBA is allowing all these other teams to dominate and sweep their opponents while actively working behind the green curtains to make sure the Rockets have to play all seven games. Yeah, that's it alright, that's exactly what's happening. #AdamSilverConspiracy

 

We did this for a grand total of 2 minutes, mostly aftrer SAS put us away,,,as desperation to get 5 shooters out there.

Sorry for repeating myself with two responses to you, but since you keep repeating something that suggests MDA went to a Ryno at 5 lineup yesterday, thought I'd repeat too. MDA used Ryno at 5 more against OKC, when they put Kanter at 5, sometimes. That makes since. But he didn't really do it last game at all.

It was
Capela
Ariza
Lou
Gordon
Bev

Same lineup since the trade, and that dominated Spurs last game and all OKC. Get used to. This isn't changing to start the 4th. Maybe once we go Harrell over Capela, but the rest will remain as starting 4th.

 

Harden needs to be better (or healthier, whatever's your cup) to avoid repeating that game. He allowed them to force the ball out of his hands early far too much, and Lou's off night made that even more costly to not have an elite creator being active.

But yes, I agree with the sentiment. I was not at all angry with the performance at any point, my reaction to the eventual blowout as I watched was more along the lines of "eh...whaddaya do?" Sometimes teams just hit a lot of well-defended shots and you don't.

 

That's where leading the league in points in the paint, free-throws, and defense comes into play.

People very often forget that those are Staples of Daryl Morey's strategy.