Having shooters to spare
With eager options on perimeter for Harden and Paul, offense rife with scoring potential
Rockets guard James Harden made his move, taking a Trevor Ariza screen to blow past the Timberwolves’ Derrick Rose and beat Jamal Crawford off the dribble to drive hard to the rim.
Karl-Anthony Towns rushed over to help, starting the chain reaction of passes that as much as any moment of the game demonstrated the Rockets’ belief they will find an answer to any defense.
Harden fired his pass to P.J. Tucker in the far corner. Tucker dished to Chris Paul, who immediately sent the ball back to the top of the key to Ariza. With one dribble and one more pass, Ariza found Eric Gordon alone on the wing for one of the Rockets’ 18 3-pointers Wednesday night against the Timberwolves.
In some ways, the play was far from typical. The Rockets made the fewest passes and were credited with the fewest secondary assists in the NBA this season, a trend largely unchanged in the playoffs. But more than how or how much they score, the Rockets pride themselves most in unlocking any defensive strategy and taking it down, usually with a wave of 3s left open by the efforts to slow Harden or control Paul.
“That’s their brilliance,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I can tell them afterwards. At the moment, they have to read it. They’re so good at it. It’s just their ability to figure out what kind of defense they’re throwing at them at the moment.”
With their closeoutgame romp past the Timberwolves, the Rockets and particularly Harden jabbed for a while before finding the opening for a knockout punch.
The Timberwolves had tweaked their defense, as they often had through the series, this time sending double-team help when screens set for Harden gave him mismatches, especially against Towns.
The Rockets moved the ball more often from side to side. They mixed up Clint Capela and Harden on pick-and-rolls and dribble handoffs. Mostly, as he has throughout the season, Harden had to find the balance between looking for his own shot — he led the NBA in 3-pointers in the regular season and leads in the postseason — and moving the ball to open teammates to fire away.
Two-edged sword
When he did, he powered through a 15-point third quarter while triggering the offense that often ended with 3-pointers from Tucker (five), Ariza (four) and Gordon (three.)
“He has to read the situation, because sometimes, we tell him also, ‘Go ahead and attack the big coming up to double. Attack him and get in (the lane) and then make the play,’ ” D’Antoni said. “He has to feel it. They’re doubling him, but they’re kind of leaving a Hall of Fame point guard on the other side. If Chris can get it, then we have a four on three.”
Eventually, that only works if the Rockets make their shots. On a night Paul and Harden combined for just seven firsthalf points, the Rockets had enough scoring to head to the second half within four, close enough to again take off and take control in the third quarter.
Rather than lament that they did not have everything clicking, the Rockets viewed that as part of their strength.
“That, to me, was the whole thing,” D’Antoni said. “In the first half, James had five and Chris had two. Trevor, P.J., Eric Gordon, Clint kind of kept us in it. We had 55 points anyway with those two guys getting seven points. Obviously it was big. It was huge. P.J. hit a couple daggers in the corner. That is his shot. I knew we would eventually get there.”
As with the series opener, when Paul and Gordon were a combined 2-of-13 from deep and Game 2, when Harden made two of 18 shots, Paul never found his shooting touch Wednesday, missing all eight of his attempts from deep. But the Rockets had shooters to spare and an ability to get them the needed open looks.
“We have so many shooters on the offensive end and two unbelievable playmakers,” Ariza said. “The ball, energy, or whatever, it always finds the right person. As long as they send double teams, we’re going to find the right person. There’s always going to be a right person, because everyone on our team can shoot.”
An enviable talent
Still, as with most possessions, that began with Harden and an ability to dissect a defense like a lab experiment.
“Sooner or later, he is going to figure it out,” D’Antoni said. “He might figure it out immediately. It might take him a quarter, two quarters. It might take him to the next game. Again, one of the best offensive guys ever, if not the best.”