In their defense, inconsistency clear culprit Improving the execution of switching style, avoiding breakdowns emphasis for Game 5

The Rockets studied the video and planned the corrections and adjustments, seeking to learn the lessons from the final minutes of their losses when the Thunder are their best.

There will be a point, if those game-winning possessions prove anything, that something more basic could determine which team emerges with a series lead after Wednesday’s Game 5.

One-on-one, scorer with the ball, defender in his path. Who wins?

Asked about the defense in the closing minutes, Rockets center P.J. Tucker said, “No defense.”

Tucker, however, emphasized repeatedly the issues were not exclusive to the closing minutes.

“We have not played defense in a lot of spurts in the game. We just haven’t,” he said. “We have not done the things that won us the first two games consistently enough. You look at the last possessions like that is the reason you lose, but it’s not. It’s the continuous breakdowns of little things we

always do and are the principles of our defense that we haven’t done consecutively enough to win.”

The Rockets’ greatly improved defense, the source of their optimism through the restart and when the playoffs began, had played well in the opening games of the series and through much of Game 3. But in Tuesday’s video session, they pointed to the breakdowns along the way that fueled the Thunder.

They might not have been limited to the closing minutes, but that was when they were most obvious — and decisive.

“It’s always concerning,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said of the Thunder’s edge in those one-on-one

showdowns. “I think we have to do a better job and trust our principles a little more. We’ll make some adjustments that I think will help us in those situations.

“In the three games, the defense was really good. They have good players and that happens. We’ll get back to some things that we can shore up and do a better job. I think our defense is in a good spot. It can get even better.”

The NBA’s top team in clutch situations throughout the season, only the Celtics with their sweep of the 76ers have been better than the Thunder when playoff games so far have had a margin of five or fewer points in the final five minutes.

Oklahoma City has spread the floor and gone one-on-one, typically so much of a strength of the Rockets’ defense (ranked fourth in those situations in the regular season) that they seek to lure teams into that.

Rockets opponents typically go one-on-one more often because the Rockets’ switching defense, and the Thunder have had more iso possessions than any team in the playoffs at 19.8 per game. That’s more even than the Rockets, who have had next most (18.5) and more than twice as many as Oklahoma City averaged during the season.

The Thunder have been so prone to going one-oneone they have taken to pulling their centers late in the past two games to open the lane for Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to work.

Though it is unusual for the Thunder to finish games without Steven Adams in the middle, it is typical that they put the ball and the game in the hands of “slippery” guards, getting 30-point games from Schroder and Gilgeous-Alexander in two of the past three games. Paul has scored 26 points in each of the past two games when the Thunder guards have combined to average 90 points per game.

Tucker, however, said the corrections needed were just in shoring up the basics of the defense the Rockets have played throughout the season with positioning to clog driving lanes or help and the rotations that can make it easier for the defender on the ball.

“Usually, (the switching defense) takes people out of their offenses when it’s aggressive, it forces people to play one-on-one, which we want so we can load up our defense,” Tucker said. “It’s usually our strong suit. They have a lot of strong, slippery guards that can get to the rim. We have to stop the drives and take them off the glass, too. Having that many guards that can attack is tough.”

It has been most difficult to stop when the Rockets needed stops most. But that has made it clear what needed to be done, and perhaps where the series could be won or lost.

“We just giving too many drives, too many of their shots, just being more mindful of our sense of urgency,” Rockets forward Robert Covington said. “They’re going to get drives. It’s about our rotations and being more alert.

“We went over some stuff. We’re going to make some adjustments. Game 5 is going to be a different approach. We watched how it happened. To close out games, you can’t have those types of moments. Teams are going to make runs, but how do you stop it? That’s what we addressed.”

“We have not played defense in a lot of spurts in the game. We just haven’t.We have not done the things that won us the first two games consistently enough.”

Rockets center P.J. Tucker