Sloppy performance opens possibility of first-round letdown
This should already be over.
It is not.
Which means that James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Mike
D’Antoni are one loss away from watching the
Rockets’ season suddenly end. And that Chris Paul is one big victory away from potentially knocking his old team out of 2020.
It was 104-100 Oklahoma City in Game 6 on Monday night.
CP3, super cool and completely locked in, again finished what Harden did not.
“When it gets to clutch time, fourth quarter, some people are built for it. Some people shy away from it,” Paul said on TNT.
With an unexpected Game 7 now
waiting, that said it all.
The 2019-20 Rockets are facing potential elimination, while the Western Conference’s No. 1-seeded Los Angeles Lakers keep waiting for a second-round opponent.
The Rockets underperformed again in Game 6.
They didn’t have it when it mattered.
The Rockets captured themselves, thus far, in this series: frustrating, challenged and oddly unpredictable.
“We just weren’t sharp,” D’Antoni said.
He cited 22 turnovers and undisciplined fouling as the Rockets’ biggest problems in Game 6.
He also stated that the Rockets played “about as bad as we could have played.”
That’s honest but not exactly true.
They finished worse in Game 3 and have unleashed much larger letdowns in bigger moments during recent years.
I don’t know how the Rockets beat the Lakers in the second round — if they make it that far — when they’re finishing like this.
It’s already undebatable that Paul spent the final decisive minutes of Games 3 and 6 dribbling circles around his old crew.
“They’re the best team when it comes down to the last five minutes. They’re the best team in the league at it,” D’Antoni said. “(Paul) does not miss foul shots, and he hits big shots. So we’ve got to do a better job before we get in the last five minutes. Even with that, we still had our chances to win (Monday). We just didn’t do it — we didn’t finish it off.”
D’Antoni’s team entered Monday evening needing one more victory to step forward in the
NBA’s Florida bubble, setting up a second-round matchup against a storied franchise that D’Antoni coached from 2012-14.
The Rockets had clearly been the better team against Paul’s squad, even with Games 3 and 4 given away in the final minutes. The Rockets’ initial three victories had been by a combined 62 points, including a 34-point trouncing in Game 5, which marked Westbrook’s playoff debut against his old team.
The Rockets being the Rockets, they trailed OKC 19-16 late in the
first quarter during Game 6 and opened by connecting on just six of 19 shots. Three-pointers weren’t falling, personal fouls quickly piled up, and unforced turnovers were in vogue.
Thankfully, the Rockets were still playing an offensively challenged Thunder team, not LeBron James and Anthony Davis. OKC started just 2-of-11 on 3s, settling for long-range looks that clearly weren’t going in.
Westbrook continued to shake off bubble rust, attacking the lane and starting 4-of-6 from the floor with eight points in nine minutes. The Rockets followed the early energy of No. 0, outscoring the Thunder 18-10 in the paint and almost holding even on the boards despite being significantly undersized.
Forward Robert Covington’s 6-7 frame stood out as Game 6’s minutes ticked by. Six-foot-11 OKC center Steven Adams also did, in a backward way.
Harden warmed up as the second half approached. But the scoreboard remained tight, with neither team finding an advantage that lasted.
Eric Gordon captured an uneven first half. He struggled for more than 23 minutes. Then he sank a 24-foot right-corner 3 that gave the Rockets a 51-48 lead just in time for halftime.
The Rockets led by nine. OKC toughened up and dug in, carrying a 77-75 lead into the final quarter. Then the Thunder led by seven, with Paul attacking the Rockets like only Paul can and Westbrook still shaking off rust. It was OKC 88-80.
Then Rockets 94-91 after a Covington-fueled 10-0 run.
P.J. Tucker combined his veteran body and brain at the perfect time.
Paul, as always, refused to go away, sinking two huge late 3s.
It was Rockets 100-98. Then tied at 100, followed by a Westbrook mid-range airball and Paul walking to the free-throw line for two shots with 13.1 seconds to go.
CP3 finished off another one. Harden was almost invisible in the final minute while Westbrook fell short.
“Too many turnovers, especially in a playoff game, a closeout game,” Harden said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot by turning the basketball over.”
The Rockets have spent this entire season proclaiming their championship worth. They have also been unpredictable and uneven since last October.
Now they’ll be fortunate just to survive Paul, OKC and seven games in the first round inside the bubble.