Early series finish lets Dekker knock off rust from his injury
By eliminating the Thunder in five games, the Rockets had time for two days off and three practices.
Both could be valuable heading into the second round against the Spurs, who did not complete their first-round series until Thursday, with the Rockets believing they are prepared for Monday’s start of the second round.
“There’s always a little slippage when you (are off),” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “But they’re locked in. They’re ready to go. It’s more valuable for rest and to get the timing back. Our guys are locked in. When we go over stuff, we don’t have to go over it too many times. They know exactly how they want to guard them — the same principles. So, they’re ready.”
The three days of practices allowed time for forward Sam Dekker to play his way back into form in ways he would not had the Rockets jumped right into the next series. D’Antoni described him as looking “OK.” Dekker fractured his left hand April 2 in Phoenix, returning to practice Friday for the first time since his surgery.
“He looks rusty,” D’Antoni said. “He looks like he hadn’t played for about a month.”
Plan for Spurs? Push the pace
As the Rockets seek ways to get their customary open looks, they cited the need to play at their pace.
That is typically different from the Spurs’ pace.
The Spurs emerged from the slowest-paced series of the first round, averaging just 88.16 possessions against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Spurs ranked 27th in pace in the regular season.
Playing against an Oklahoma City team equally eager to run, the Rockets had 101.33 possessions per game in the first round. In four meetings with the Spurs, they averaged 98.4 possessions, fifth most in the NBA against the Spurs.
“We have to play faster,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said. “I think we have to play fast to get great shooting opportunities, to get open looks.
“That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to really push the pace up. OKC, they’re an athletic team as well. Against the Spurs, I think we have to really push the pace to see if we can get many open shots.”
Playoffs revive Spurs’ Parker
Spurs guard Tony Parker might have experienced some drop-off this season, his 15th in the NBA.
But he seems rejuvenated with another trip to the postseason.
Parker, 34, averaged 10.1 points and 4.5 asSAN sists this season, both his lowest since his rookie year in 2001-02. But in the first-round series against the Grizzlies, he averaged 16.3 points, his most in the playoffs since the 2013-14 championship season, on 55.3 percent shooting.
He had 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting in Game 6 against the Grizzlies to close out the series in Memphis.
“He gets better with time, right?” Rockets guard Pat Beverley said. “He just continues to get better — his mid-range, his floaters, his spin moves. At his age, how fast he is is unbelievable. He’ll go down as a Hall of Famer, for sure. It’s always good to play a type of player like that.”