Texas three-step: NBA’s elite duke it out in Lone Star State
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -When it comes to late regular season games in the NBA, the kind of star-studded action that sheds substantive light on the league’s elite squads and the question of how they all size up, it was quite the memorable week in Texas.
It started on Sunday in Houston, where the Rockets downed the Oklahoma City Thunder in a battle between MVP candidates James Harden and Russell Westbrook. On Monday in San Antonio, the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers were humbled by a Spurs team that, both figuratively and literally, brought LeBron James to his knees.
The Golden State Warriors outlasted the Rockets in a Western Conference showdown in Houston on Tuesday, then completed the kind of back-to-back feat that should leave the rest of the league concerned: a Wednesday win over the Spurs in San Antonio that came after they trailed by as much as 22 points in the first quarter. It marked their ninth consecutive win and brought them one huge step closer to securing the top seed in the Western Conference.
USA TODAY Sports was there for three of the four games, barreling back and forth on Interstate 10 between San Antonio and Houston from Monday through Wednesday and taking preplayoff notes all along the way. So, in between the tornado warnings, gas station stops and obligatory breaks for Tex-Mex, what did we learn about the three teams that are playing catch-up with the Warriors?
If nothing else, that the next two months should be a whole lot of fun. Otherwise, there were the most obvious premature conclusions to be drawn.
The Spurs are still a problem for the Warriors: The Spurs might not have gone the full eight seconds against the Warriors, but there’s still plenty of reason to believe they could win the whole dang rodeo by the time mid-June rolls around.
The first seven minutes proved that much.
They played next-level defense during that span, holding the high-powered Warriors offense to three points in the first 7:10 of play (one-of-10 shooting) and showing how they have earned the league’s best defensive rating (100.9 points allowed per 100 possessions, just ahead of the Warriors’ 101). The alwaysunderappreciated Danny Green set an aggressive tone on that end, ripping the jump ball out of Draymond Green’s hands at the start and burying three early three-pointers to spark the surge.
The obvious X-factor here, of course, is Kawhi Leonard.
He had just 19 points on seven-of-20 shooting with a minus-four mark in the latest matchup, this after scoring 35 points and posting a plus-14 mark against the Warriors in San Antonio’s seasonopening rout (129-100 at Oracle Arena on Oct. 25). If Leonard doesn’t play MVPcaliber basketball against these Warriors, the Spurs will fall. And let’s not forget this, too: the Spurs are still 4-1 this season against the Warriors and Cavs.
The Warriors have managed to avoid the Spurs in the past two postseasons, and the question now is whether these two teams will finally face off when it matters most. Because the Warriors have a comfortable lead over the Spurs in the West and are headed for the topseed billing, the likely bracket positioning means they won’t have to see San Antonio until the conference finals. Barring a setback, the Warriors would have Durant back by then (he’s expected to return near the end of the regular season after suffering a left knee injury on Feb. 28).
The Rockets are right there: The Rockets did just enough to maintain their standing as a darkhorse title contender, not only routing the Thunder in impressive fashion, but keeping pace with the Warriors from beginning to end. The Rockets dropped a tough road game vs. the Portland Trail Blazers Thursday night, but they got another crack at the Warriors at Oracle Arena on Friday night.
Should they face off in the conference finals, it’s fair to wonder if the Rockets’ most imposing weapon – that three-point shot they’ve taken at historic levels all season long – might be neutralized because, well, the Warriors are tremendous at guarding against it.
Not only do they hold opponents to an NBA-best 32.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc, but they have held the Rockets to a 23.6 percent mark in their three matchups this season (26-of-110 in all, with Harden a combined threeof-25). The Rockets, who have long since set a new standard in three-point attempts (3,007 this season, with their own mark from 2014-15 a distant second at 2,680) have hit 36 percent of their threes for the entire season.
On the MVP front, Harden is still considered by many to be the frontrunner (with Westbrook – fresh off his 57-point triple-double against Orlando – still making a sensational push). Yet aside from the Warriors game, Harden keeps putting up huge numbers of his own even after suffering a left wrist injury against the Denver Nuggets on March 18 (30.6 points, 11.4 assists and 7.6 rebounds per game in the five games since).
The Rockets should get a boost late in the regular season, too, as forward Ryan Anderson (out since Friday with an ankle injury) is expected to be back in time for the playoffs. The 28-year-old has been a great fit since signing with Houston, averaging 13.5 points and 2.8 made three-pointers per game.