Puncher’s chance against heavyweight goes awry when 3-pointers fail to fall
Built to shoot it out with even the firepower of the Golden State Warriors, the Rockets had no other way. They could not stop the Warriors. They could only occasionally slow the NBA’s most irresistible force and not for long. They had to match them.
A puncher’s chance, however, only works if you hit something.
The Rockets fired away from deep because it was their only chance, plus they always do anyway. Whatever issues they had along the way, and against the Golden State juggernaut there were plenty, they could still shoot 3-pointers. They just could not make them.
With the Rockets misfiring, the Warriors rolled to a 125-108 blowout Friday night in Toyota Center. It was the Rockets’ fourth loss in six games since their nine-game winning streak.
“We just missed a lot of shots from everywhere,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We had a chance. We’re down five at halftime and not playing very well. There’s a lot of hope there. There’s a lot of good things I saw. There’s
a lot of things we can do; we can get better.”
In the past six games, the Rockets have made 31 percent of their 3-pointers, missing an average of 28 per game. Eric Gordon began that stretch with a sprained toe and has been off since, save Wednesday’s win over Milwaukee. He made 2 of 14 shots against the Warriors. Ryan Anderson missed two games with a stomach virus and played just nine minutes on Friday, missing his only shot, before he was ruled out for the remainder of the game and Saturday’s game at Memphis.
With James Harden 0-for-5 on 3s and Sam Dekker going 1-for-7 from deep, the Rockets could not match the Warriors’ firepower with 3-pointers. Gordon, Anderson, Harden and Dekker combined to make 1-for-20 on 3s. The team hit no 3-pointers in a third quarter in which it was outscored 37-22.
Too many games
With the Warriors switching on screens, the Rockets scored 64 points in the paint, 18 more than they average. But against the Warriors, that could not be nearly enough while they hit just 7 of 35 3-pointers.
D’Antoni had a theory to explain the recent shooting slump.
“I’m sure every coach is saying this so I don’t want to,” D’Antoni said. “But our schedule has been ridiculous. … We play tomorrow night in Memphis. That’s eight (games) in 12 nights. That’s ridiculous.
“We flew New York to Miami, Orlando to Toronto. I don’t know why we couldn’t play two in Florida and two up north. We’re flying all over the place. After a while, it gets into them. We have a little sickness here and there, and we’re banged up a little bit. These guys are resilient.”
When the Rockets play the Grizzlies on Saturday, a team that has beaten them twice, they will complete their last stretch of four games in five nights. Against the Warriors, however, the Rockets needed the 3-point shooting that tired legs would not allow to make up for other shortcomings.
The Warriors made 52.8 percent of their shots and in the past three seasons are 66-1 when scoring 120 points (the lone loss coming in double OT against the Rockets in December). But Stephen Curry made 8 of 18 shots for his 24 points, and Klay Thompson made 7 of 19 shots.
‘A grind period’
Kevin Durant had an easy 32 points, but the Rockets had to score far more than they were able Friday because they so often let the Warriors’ other scorers get loose inside for uncontested layups.
The Warriors’ stateof-the-art execution does that to teams. The Rockets believe they have ways to keep up, but not when they were not up to shooting at the Warriors’ or their own level.
“This period right here is a grind period for us,” Harden said. “We’ve had … seven (games) in 11 (days), and we’re about to go on a five-game road trip. So we’ve got to grind it out. This is the NBA, no excuses. We’ve got to figure it out.”
Against the Warriors, there seemed to be only one way, but when the Rockets called on their 3-point shooting, it could not answer.
“We’re better than that,” D’Antoni said. “And we will be better.”
jonathan.feigen@chron.com twitter.com/jonathan_feigen