First-round win changes narrative
Team has more than 3-pointers among its assets
The Rockets can play better, James Harden said with great conviction and even apparent pleasure. They will play better. They likely will have to play better to win another playoff series.
With the Rockets’ firstround battle with the Oklahoma City Thunder complete, Harden saw not just victory but potential.
“That’s what’s exciting,” he said. “We can play 10 times better.”
As the Rockets take a five-day break between playoff games, it remains to be seen if they are a better team than they were when the postseason began of if they merely found a way to win their first-round series. They will have to do some things, particularly shoot 3s, more like they did in the regular season.
But in dispatching the Thunder in five largely tough and tight games, the Rockets might have
improved in the ways that will be crucial when their postseason resumes Monday against the Spurs or Grizzlies.
“You know, it’s funny that we’re actually improving throughout the postseason,” guard Pat Beverley said. “We’re winning games off our defense all of a sudden, and you know we’re not worried about anything. The shots (are) going to fall.”
The Rockets did not just beat Oklahoma City in five games; they destroyed narratives. The latter was far more unexpected.
Myth busters
Live and die by the 3-pointer?
The Rockets made just 28.4 percent of their 3s, the worst 3-point shooting in the playoffs, and lived to tell about it in the second round. In the regular season, the Rockets went 1-8 when making fewer than 10 3-pointers and 3-10 when making fewer than their opponent. On Tuesday, they connected on just six of 37 3s and closed out the series anyway.
Harden won’t draw fouls in the playoffs?
Harden took 73 free throws in the series, making 66, to lead the NBA in shots made and attempted from line in the playoffs through five games. He averaged four more free throws and nearly four more attempts than during the regular season. He is on pace to take the sixth-most free throws in NBA playoff history
Can’t rebound and defend?
The Rockets’ defense through five postseason games ranked fifth in the league. They outrebounded the NBA’s top regular-season rebounding team. They outscored the Thunder by five secondchance points per game, scoring more off offensive rebounds than any other team in the playoffs.
Weak in closing out games?
The Rockets cumulatively outscored the Thunder by 50 points in the fourth quarter. As much as was understandably made about OKC’s failings when Russell Westbrook was not on the court, he played an average of nine minutes in the fourth quarter, making just 28.6 percent of his shots as the Thunder shot a league-worst 31.6 percent. The Rockets made 52 percent of their shots in the fourth quarter, when Harden led the NBA, through five games, in scoring per minute, hitting 57.1 percent of his shots.
More than anything, the Rockets won with determination, taking victories with their cutting-edge offense to open the series and with traditional defense to end it.
Defense essential
“That’s why we were saying to ourselves all year long (that) in the playoffs, the defense is going to make the difference,” center Clint Capela said. “We were happy to do it that way. We know in the next rounds, we’re going to have to do it on defense. We all know that. Offense is pretty, but we know in the playoffs, it’s not always pretty. It’s more about dedication on defense.”
The Rockets will likely have to find their shooting touch but are more certain they will do so than they could have been about their defense carrying them this far. They won with Ryan Anderson making three of 24 3-pointers and Trevor Ariza just three of 16, with Lou Williams and Eric Gordon providing punch off the bench, and with Nene making a league-best 84.8 percent of his shots.
“Defensively, we were active,” Harden said. “We got into guys defensively. Offensively, Lou had a big series. Eric had a big series. I didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. Ryan, Trevor didn’t get going. We’ve got so many guys who can step up and make big plays. That’s why I’m excited. Those guys are going to step up and make big shots in the next series.
“The excitement is there. The togetherness is there. We showed it in this first round. The second round is going to be even tougher. I’m ready to go to war with these guys.”
He might even be moving on with a better team than he had two weeks earlier. If nothing else, the Rockets must be described differently, perhaps even as a greater threat.
“We understand it won’t be easy,” Beverley said. “And we understand no matter what team we face, we have to get better. And we will.”