Rockets vs Warriors

[A-Tex Devil 2470]

Watch out for Zaza.  Empty the bench.

[Machinator 32099]

Zaza is in, time for D'Antoni to pull his starters too.

[PatSolitanojr 518]

2 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Zaza is in, time for D'Antoni to pull his starters too.

Broken ankle incoming

 

[Patrick Bateman 3945]

Respect to the Rockets..... They absolutely had to have this game and they got it.  Great performance especially from PJ, Gordon and Ariza.....

Warriors got the split they probably wanted but they have to feel let down by tonight's performance.... Looked soft.

[immortal13 4059]

Lulz

[immortal13 4059]

Just now, Patrick Bateman said:

Respect to the Rockets..... They absolutely had to have this game and they got it.  Great performance especially from PJ, Gordon and Ariza.....

Warriors got the split they probably wanted but they have to feel let down by tonight's performance.... Looked soft.

They did. Back to the wall and they showed up. A loss tonight would've been a death blow. 

[immortal13 4059]

Uncle Drew looks like it's going to be pretty fucking funny

[GottaB 597]

Draymond can get dysentery any time and I’d have no sympathy.

Guys like him who let their frustrations get the best of them on the court that led to every fight I ever saw on the court. Bullshit extra pushes meant to intimidate always ended up with someone leaving pissed off and bleeding.

[Teddy Tucker 18]

Zaza defending harden and running under that three just terrified the hell out of me. Get those guys out

Edited May 17, 2018 by Teddy Tucker

[Machinator 32099]

KD can't win with these cats.

[Chult86 335]

Jesus, Harden shoots 3-15 from deep, rest of the Rockets shoot 13-25. Can the supporting cast hits over 50% from deep again in G3?

[Michael Knight 13094]

Joe Johnson is still in the league

[Machinator 32099]

Rockets should use these last few minutes to get Mbah a Moute into a rhythm.

[Hank Kingsley 21168]

Really enjoyed all the "hot" takes on here after Game 1.  Laughing at my assertion that Houston can outgun and outscore Golden State.  "The regular season doesn't mean anything!" "Who do you have besides Harden?"  Clearly a lot of people didn't watch the Rockets play this year.  Tonight was definitely them at their best, but they did this shit throughout the regular season and won SIXTY FIVE games.

That said, the Warriors are still in the driver's seat. But Houston winning game 2 tonight means they just need to win 1 at Golden State to make it a best 2 out of 3 with home court advantage. It's a very tall order, but doable if they get hot. 

[immortal13 4059]

Mammabootay kinda sucks ass

[immortal13 4059]

Just now, Hank Kingsley said:

Really enjoyed all the "hot" takes on here after Game 1.  Laughing at my assertion that Houston can outgun and outscore Golden State.  "The regular season doesn't mean anything!" "Who do you have besides Harden?"  Clearly a lot of people didn't watch the Rockets play this year.  Tonight was definitely them at their best, but they did this shit throughout the regular season and won SIXTY FIVE games.

That said, the Warriors are still in the driver's seat. But Houston winning game 2 tonight means they just need to win 1 at Golden State to make it a best 2 out of 3 with home court advantage. It's a very tall order, but doable if they get hot. 

I think you meant "can't". Kinda fucked up your point a bit 

[Michael Knight 13094]

Uh that's not how home court works Marv

[immortal13 4059]

1 minute ago, Michael Knight said:

Uh that's not how home court works Marv

Marv needs to call it quits

[BigOrange1 6566]

4 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Really enjoyed all the "hot" takes on here after Game 1.  Laughing at my assertion that Houston can outgun and outscore Golden State.  "The regular season doesn't mean anything!" "Who do you have besides Harden?"  Clearly a lot of people didn't watch the Rockets play this year.  Tonight was definitely them at their best, but they did this shit throughout the regular season and won SIXTY FIVE games.

That said, the Warriors are still in the driver's seat. But Houston winning game 2 tonight means they just need to win 1 at Golden State to make it a best 2 out of 3 with home court advantage. It's a very tall order, but doable if they get hot. 

to be fair, a lot of that was vic and he's an idiot. 

[Machinator 32099]

Great game from Durant and Nick Young did well when he was on the court. The rest of the Warriors team needs to take a lap.

[aggie08 21608]

One thing that I completely whiffed on all year was thinking that Golden State was going to have a strong bench. It blows. They can really only play 8 guys in this series right now, and two of them are Nick Young and Kevon Looney. Playing Iggy high minutes could come back to burn them. I did see that Kerr finally broke the glass on his emergency strategy of keeping either Steph or KD on the court at all times.

If Harden/CP3 can keep at least staying within spitting range of the production of KD/Steph, and Tucker/Ariza outscore Green/Iggy (not exactly a tall order), Gordon staying hotter than Klay gives Houston more than enough firepower to take this 7.

[HtownHorn 14981]

20 minutes ago, Chult86 said:

Jesus, Harden shoots 3-15 from deep, rest of the Rockets shoot 13-25. Can the supporting cast hits over 50% from deep again in G3?

Yes they can. They are all capable shooters and know their zones to take them. Ariza and Tucker attacking the basket was what surprised me. They usually just stand in the corners, tonight they were active off the ball and Golden State wasn't ready for it. Now that they have the tape it's going to be interesting to see how the Warriors adjust. Durant has been nearly flawless in 2 games and the Rockets are +9 on the series. If Durant has an off game, the Warriors are going to be in trouble.

[Patrick Bateman 3945]

7 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

One thing that I completely whiffed on all year was thinking that Golden State was going to have a strong bench. It blows. They can really only play 8 guys in this series right now, and two of them are Nick Young and Kevon Looney. Playing Iggy high minutes could come back to burn them. I did see that Kerr finally broke the glass on his emergency strategy of keeping either Steph or KD on the court at all times.

If Harden/CP3 can keep at least staying within spitting range of the production of KD/Steph, and Tucker/Ariza outscore Green/Iggy (not exactly a tall order), Gordon staying hotter than Klay gives Houston more than enough firepower to take this 7.

Definitely.  I posted before the start of the season wondering where the production was going to come from the Warriors bench, especially if you start Iggy, who was terrible tonight.  Steph's injury cost them Cassipi, who probably could have stole a few minutes every game.  They may have to hope Jordan Bell can play a few minutes but they're really, really thin.... Looney looks like he's in concrete in this series.

[Hank Kingsley 21168]

Yeah, their bench blows outside of a random Nick Young explosion from behind the arc.  When you have 3 of the best shooters of all time, you don't really try to get bench guys going. 

Rockets did a great job of staying all over Klay tonight. 3-11 from the field.  In either Game 3 or Game 4, Klay and Steph will go off and it will be silly. I fully expect one GS blowout and hope for one close game that the Rockets can pull off. 

 

 

[Michael Knight 13094]

D'antoni will get out coached soon enough

[aggie08 21608]

Bell was supposed to be the guy that they were grooming for this series. Quick enough feet to keep up with Harden, athletic enough to be a real lob threat on offense. But he got hurt, Looney played really solidly, and took Bell's spot in the rotation. Now it's impossible to shove a rookie into this kind of intensity after bench riding for months. Maybe he gets a few minutes at home, but he'll be on a crazy short leash.

[ChickenSandwich 9861]

Houston did the same things as the first half of their season. They sped up everything. Got going way quicker. They didn’t have a shot ton of guys got their career highs in threes by slowing down. 

 

Fucking A PJ Tucker is so much fun to watch play. Good memories. 

[Orca of Peace 109]

Tucker/gordon/cap won the game tonight. Cap had numerous stops which won't show up as blocks but he intimidated so they missed the layups. That alone was 10-12 points. 

[Patrick Bateman 3945]

4 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Bell was supposed to be the guy that they were grooming for this series. Quick enough feet to keep up with Harden, athletic enough to be a real lob threat on offense. But he got hurt, Looney played really solidly, and took Bell's spot in the rotation. Now it's impossible to shove a rookie into this kind of intensity after bench riding for months. Maybe he gets a few minutes at home, but he'll be on a crazy short leash.

Definitely but they have to steal minutes.... The big 4 were all going to play over 40 if it weren't a blowout.... Like literally 2-3 minutes a half to let Draymond rest a little.  Quinn Cook needs to play better and bring it and play 10-12 minutes a game.  They have 4 days until the next game so they should have fresh legs but game 4 or 5 could have them feel heavy.

[aggie08 21608]

Houston was 7-15 in 23 possessions with Steph as the primary defender. That's actually not too terrible compared to how it looked. But Houston's goal is to make him too tired to bounce around on offense as much as it is to score on him on defense. I'd say it worked. And they targeted him quickly and drove quickly, opposed to the Game 1 dancing.

[Orca of Peace 109]

4 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Houston was 7-15 in 23 possessions with Steph as the primary defender. That's actually not too terrible compared to how it looked. But Houston's goal is to make him too tired to bounce around on offense as much as it is to score on him on defense. I'd say it worked. And they targeted him quickly and drove quickly, opposed to the Game 1 dancing.

looked that David West was also targeted

[texasstrong12 4668]

1 hour ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Really enjoyed all the "hot" takes on here after Game 1.  Laughing at my assertion that Houston can outgun and outscore Golden State.  "The regular season doesn't mean anything!" "Who do you have besides Harden?"  Clearly a lot of people didn't watch the Rockets play this year.  Tonight was definitely them at their best, but they did this shit throughout the regular season and won SIXTY FIVE games.

That said, the Warriors are still in the driver's seat. But Houston winning game 2 tonight means they just need to win 1 at Golden State to make it a best 2 out of 3 with home court advantage. It's a very tall order, but doable if they get hot. 

The Warriors are 15-0 at home with a margin of victory  of 15.5 points with Durant in the playoffs. 

I knew this would never be a sweep but the Rockets needed both games at home. I bet this is 3-1 in a few days and the series will pretty much be over. Scratch that the playoffs will be over. 

Edited May 17, 2018 by texasstrong12

[aggie08 21608]

Just now, Orca of Peace said:

looked that David West was also targeted

Totally. He's played 10 minutes in two games. He's usually Mr. Reliable for 14 minutes a game on Golden State's defensive minded 2nd unit with Klay and Dray. If he keeps being a liability, those lineups don't produce nearly enough offense to warrant playing them, and the Warriors are stretched even thinner.

[Hank Kingsley 21168]

2 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

The Warriors are 15-0 at home with a margin of victory 15.5 points with Durant in the playoffs. 

I knew this would never be a sweep but the Rockets needed both game games at home. I bet this is 3-1 in a few days and the series will pretty much be over. 

Like I said, it will be a tall order.  But Houston is a lot better than most of those opponents who've gotten beaten down at Oracle. I think (hope?) one game will be close. 

 

[Ricky Butler 2748]

45 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Yes they can. They are all capable shooters and know their zones to take them. Ariza and Tucker attacking the basket was what surprised me. They usually just stand in the corners, tonight they were active off the ball and Golden State wasn't ready for it. Now that they have the tape it's going to be interesting to see how the Warriors adjust. Durant has been nearly flawless in 2 games and the Rockets are +9 on the series. If Durant has an off game, the Warriors are going to be in trouble.

I don't think so, 50% is pretty good.

[texasstrong12 4668]

Ariza, Tucker, and Gordon are perfectly capable of hitting wide open 3s but no shot in hell they score a combined 68 points again. 

Combined they averaged 35.8 PPG this season. 

That's why the Rockets won big tonight because those three doubled their scoring output. Is that sustainable? No shot. 

 

Edited May 17, 2018 by texasstrong12

[aggie08 21608]

11 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

The Warriors are 15-0 at home with a margin of victory  of 15.5 points with Durant in the playoffs. 

I knew this would never be a sweep but the Rockets needed both games at home. I bet this is 3-1 in a few days and the series will pretty much be over. Scratch that the playoffs will be over. 

It could very easily be 3-1 (I've said from the beginning that I think the Warriors win games 1, 3, 4, and 6). I just don't think that, even if it is 3-1, it will be because one team totally outclasses the other. Several of these games are going to come down to a few plays, or a run.

Then again, I'm apparently one of few people that thought last year's Finals was extremely competitive, even though it ended in 5, so what do I know.

[texasstrong12 4668]

11 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

It could very easily be 3-1 (I've said from the beginning that I think the Warriors win games 1, 3, 4, and 6). I just don't think that, even if it is 3-1, it will be because one team totally outclasses the other. Several of these games are going to come down to a few plays, or a run.

Then again, I'm apparently one of few people that thought last year's Finals was extremely competitive, even though it ended in 5, so what do I know.

It's not really competitive when you know the likely outcome. Which is what it feels like with these Warriors. 

Until a team wins a game in Oracle it's more of the same. Maybe the Rockets can win one and then we will actually have a series. 

[aggie08 21608]

6 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Ariza, Tucker, and Gordon are perfectly capable of hitting wide open 3s but no shot in hell they score a combined 68 points again. 

Combined they averaged 35.8 PPG this season. 

That's why the Rockets won big tonight because those three doubled their scoring output. Is that sustainable? No shot. 

 

They'll be some regression to the mean, no doubt. Role players play worse on the road. Ariza and Tucker will probably never combine to go 15-18 again, even if they're playing at 24 Hour Fitness. But they don't have to. They just need to go 2-5 from 3 or 3-7. Just enough wide open corner 3's to be respectable and force Golden State to scramble, opening up passing and driving lanes for everyone, not just the starting backcourt.

Whatever drop off they have, Houston has to bank on Harden on Paul not combining to shoot 15-38.

[TexArcher 38449]

19 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Ariza, Tucker, and Gordon are perfectly capable of hitting wide open 3s but no shot in hell they score a combined 68 points again. 

Combined they averaged 35.8 PPG this season. 

That's why the Rockets won big tonight because those three doubled their scoring output. Is that sustainable? No shot. 

 

That's all true.

But the Rockets were up close to 30 when the bench brigade came in.  There's room for regression from Ariza, Tucker, and Gordon, especially when Harden and CP3 can score more than they did.

The key is the defense Houston played tonight.  If they can duplicate that on the road, they can get a split at Oracle without the role guys going apeshit.  

[texasstrong12 4668]

12 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

The key is the defense Houston played tonight.  If they can duplicate that on the road, they can get a split at Oracle without the role guys going apeshit.  

That's fair but the Warriors scored 119 and 105 on the road with Steph Curry being a complete bum. The Rockets certainly deserve credit for that too. 

If Steph Curry shoots 2/13 from 3 in Oracle then there's no doubt the Rockets deserve praise for their defense. I just don't see that continuing. That's not really a criticism of the Rockets either. From a shooting perspective this was probably one of the worst two game stretches for Curry in years. 

Even on 1 leg Steph Curry isn't going to shoot 15% from 3 as the series progresses. 

 

Edited May 17, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Dutchrudder 11162]

I find it interesting that Durant has 2 assists so far in this series. He was averaging 5.4 a game this season.

[Chapo 104]

10 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

I find it interesting that Durant has 2 assists so far in this series. He was averaging 5.4 a game this season.

Shhh, dont change the narrative. Only The Rockets play iso-ball

[Dutchrudder 11162]

This didn't look to good for steph. Maybe his ankle isn't 100%?

 

[Machinator 32099]

One of the biggest aspects of bringing Durant to Golden State was being able to use iso-ball at relatively high efficiency when the usual team ball movement based offense isn't working or the threes aren't falling for the splash bros.

The narrative isn't there like it is because we know the Warriors are capable of doing either in the playoffs. The Rockets hadn't shown it at the highest level until last night.

[Thatguy 9075]

7 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Houston was 7-15 in 23 possessions with Steph as the primary defender. That's actually not too terrible compared to how it looked. But Houston's goal is to make him too tired to bounce around on offense as much as it is to score on him on defense. I'd say it worked. And they targeted him quickly and drove quickly, opposed to the Game 1 dancing.

 

    This is the recipe. He is the defensive weakness on that team and the way to get them to have to start rotating to shooters. There is NO stopping KD, only hoping that he has an off game. However, you can affect Curry by making him work on the other end. Same thing with Klay, and as the series goes longer, those legs begin to tire out. It's what the Cavs did to him, and it showed down the stretch of those games. Turn him into an inefficient volume shooter. It doesn't matter if he scores, just as long as it's at a 40% clip.

[aggie08 21608]

He'll be better in Oracle. He has to be. Even if he's not shooting well, they'll need more energy, passing, and movement. He's what makes their offense historic. Houston will absolutely live with reducing their offense to a million KD isos, even if he scores 50. Through two games, he has 75 points and 1 assist. Not his fault...Golden State has been dumping it to him to bail them out.

I'm guessing they'll put the ball in Steph's hands more, run a few more pick and rolls, and try to get him in rhythm that way.

Edited May 17, 2018 by aggie08

[Orca of Peace 109]

Klay will go off as will their role players.  I think GS wins in a blowout G3 and G4 is for the NBA title. 

[HtownHorn 14981]

9 hours ago, texasstrong12 said:

Ariza, Tucker, and Gordon are perfectly capable of hitting wide open 3s but no shot in hell they score a combined 68 points again. 

Combined they averaged 35.8 PPG this season. 

That's why the Rockets won big tonight because those three doubled their scoring output. Is that sustainable? No shot. 

 

It doesn't have to be sustainable. They just can't be complete nothings like they were in game 1. 40(about 5 more than they averaged during the regular season) points between them is sustainable, and is more than enough to be competitive in these games with Harden and Paul.

[HtownHorn 14981]

2 hours ago, Machinator said:

One of the biggest aspects of bringing Durant to Golden State was being able to use iso-ball at relatively high efficiency when the usual team ball movement based offense isn't working or the threes aren't falling for the splash bros.

The narrative isn't there like it is because we know the Warriors are capable of doing either in the playoffs. The Rockets hadn't shown it at the highest level until last night.

Yes, the Warriors need to have an ISO ball compliment to their game, because on nights like last night, when their free flow offense is leaking turnovers left and right, which it did at times all season, you need to be able to do something else to stay in the game. Just like with the Rockets, they went less dribbling and more off ball movement and early shot clock attacking.