Rockets vow they’ll rebound from loss
Series hasn’t had game with both teams at their best, but D’Antoni certain of rebound
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors raised the bar, as it seemed certain they would, and with that, made it clear the Rockets would have to measure up to that line to get on this ride.
There has not been a game in the series with both teams at their best, but the Rockets saw the full might of the Warriors on Sunday and crumbled to a 41point loss and a 2-1 deficit in the series.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said the pressure remains on the Warriors to protect their home court, now defined as Stephen Curry’s expletive house. But the Rockets must win to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole from which few teams have escaped. No matter how the series is viewed, no matter the spin used to treat the hangover the morning after, it seems clear the Rockets will have to deliver every bit of their best.
“To beat these guys, and they’re good, we have to have our ‘A’ game,” D’Antoni said. “We had our ‘C’ game. And (that’s) not going to do it, especially on
their court. I try to look on the bright side. The bright side is we can play much better and we have to. So, let’s do it.”
As sublime as the Warriors were, particularly when Curry soared through a shouting and shimmying shooting exhibition in the third quarter, the Rockets did not have to study the videotape to find their failings.
D’Antoni used the word “soft” Sunday and no one could argue, but that was a catch-all for shortcomings that gave the Warriors help they did not need. From the carelessness with the ball and woeful finishing at the rim to the passive defense that reduced the Rockets in the second half to traffic cones, the Rockets had a list of ways they believed they will have to improve.
“They get it. They know,” D’Antoni said. “We were talking about it last night. They’re disappointed they didn’t come out with their ‘A’ game for whatever reason. There are things we need to correct that are very correctable. But these are professionals. They’ve been in every situation; down, up, kicked around, been on top. They know. They’re ready to go. We’ll see if we can get it done.”
The Rockets made 14 of 31 shots from within 5 feet of the rim. All those missed layups or dunks gave a head start to Warriors breaks. The Rockets committed 20 turnovers, their most in the postseason. The Warriors had more points off turnovers (28) and on fast breaks (23) than the Rockets have allowed in the playoffs. Though some of that comes with a 41-point loss, the Rockets can view missing layups and tossing the ball around the gym as areas they can correct by increasing, forward P.J. Tucker said, “focus, urgency, grit and toughness.”
“It’s pretty irritating,” Tucker said. “I got pretty frustrated just because for us to come out with the grit and toughness that we did in Game 2 — to come back Game 3 like that is disappointing. If we're going to have a chance to win this series, we’re going to have to play harder.”
After dropping Game 1, a 13point loss that seemed like a blowout before Sunday’s steamroller, the Rockets came back to dominate much as the Warriors did after their loss. (The Rockets led by 28 when the benches were cleared in Game 2 and the Warriors were up 29 when the regulars sat Sunday.)
The Rockets made a point to say they made no significant adjustments to schemes or style after Game 1, other than by doing what they failed to do Sunday. They might tweak things for Game 4. D’Antoni said the Rockets have to seek mismatches more in the flow of the offense, rather than as the entire strategy of the offense. But the most important change going into Game 4 will be the improvement made in Game 2.
“Played our (butts) off, yeah, that's all we did,” Harden said. “That’s what you have to do, especially at this stage and this point of the season.
“Game 2 we were at our best right there. We held them to (105) points and we did our thing. That’s what it takes, and we’re more than capable of it, and we will show it in Game 4.”
D’Antoni said the Rockets “let go of the rope” when the Warriors made their run. A bad loss turned into a record-book defeat, but it fit in the pattern of the playoffs, in which the first six games of the two conference finals were all double-digit wins. For the Rockets, a team that has not lost consecutive games with Chris Paul and James Harden playing since December, confidence is not lost with one defeat.
But they do know what it will take to turn things around.
“That’s the one thing about our team,” Tucker said. “We lose and we come back the next game like it didn’t even happen. Everybody’s still in good spirits.”