Nene steps up for Rockets
In the first two games of this Western Conference playoff series, Houston’s Nene had scored just 26 combined points as James Harden and Lou Williams primarily fueled the Rockets’ offense.
But Sunday in Game 4, with Harden suffering from an ankle injury that limited his drives to the basket, the veteran from Brazil provided Houston with an inside scoring punch off the bench.
He was 12 for 12 from the floor, tying an NBA record for most field goals without a miss in a postseason game to help Houston beat Oklahoma City 113-109 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
His final field goal was a three-point play where he finished off the basket after getting fouled by the Thunder’s Jerami Grant. The play put the Rockets up by four points with 11.6 seconds left.
“It was kind of a man’s game, and he’s a man,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He was unbelievable in all facets. That’s Nene.”
Afterward, Nene spoke about his performance and the physicality of the game.
A: (Smiles and laughs) “Yeah. This series is a lot of physicality. It’s a healthy physicality. There’s no dirty players out there. We stick with it. This game here, we communicate, we play more physically and we made shot. And we took advantage of exploiting their weakness. That’s why we won.” so fast. Of course, we had a lead on them. That’s the way you spend your energy positively with your teammates. That’s what happened.”
“I just try to make the best decision and help out my teammates. You have to be ready because when you play with talented players like this young fella right here (James Harden), you have to be in position to receive the ball and to execute when he passes it. When coach asks you to do something, thank God I was there. My mentality is to do my best and make my teammates better and make the best decisions possible.”
With coach Steve Kerr ailing, the Golden State Warriors are in capable hands with assistant Mike Brown.
Kerr, the reigning NBA Coach of the Year, stayed behind at the team hotel Saturday night while the Warriors overcame a slow start to beat the Trail Blazers 119-113 and take a 3-0 series lead.
Kerr announced Sunday that he would not be on the sideline when Golden State tries to close out the series Monday night at the Moda Center. It’s one of three games on tap for the day: Toronto hosts Milwaukee with that series even at 2-all, and Washington has a 2-1 advantage in its series with Game 4 at Atlanta.
Golden State’s players praised Brown for stepping into a lead role with short notice. A first-year assistant for the Warriors, Brown has plenty of experience as former head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Well we know he’s comfortable in that position, and he’s got a ton of playoff experience. He’s been a head coach in this league a long time, a very successful one,” Klay Thompson said. “Obviously we miss Steve, but Mike did a tremendous job and he’s been there before, you could tell. We appreciated his composure. He was tremendous.”
Kerr, 51, still experiences lingering symptoms from complications following two back surgeries after the franchise’s run to the 2015 championship. He missed the first 43 games last season dealing with symptoms such as headaches, nausea and an aching neck.
Here’s what else to know on Monday:
Warriors at Trail Blazers
3-0 9:30 p.m., TNT (Cox 31)
The Warriors can sweep the series on Monday and get a bit of rest before they face the winner of the first-round series between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz . ... Golden State’s
has twice come off the bench and had a big impact. He had 15 points in Game 2 before 14 in Game 3 — well above his regular season average of 6.1 points . ... Warriors forward is listed as questionable with a strained left calf
Wizards at Hawks
2-1
Golden State leads
Washington leads 7 p.m., TNT (Cox 31)
The nastiness between the teams ramped up even more when Washington’s called Atlanta star
a “crybaby” after the Hawks’ blowout victory in Game 3 . ... Washington’s left the last game with a strained neck, but he was feeling much better Sunday and took part in practice. It looks like he’ll be good to go for Game 4.
Bucks at Raptors
Tied 2-2 6 p.m., NBATV (Cox 256) Toronto’s was an active presence in Game 4 with 33 points and teamhighs of nine rebounds and five assists . ... Watch how Milwaukee’s
responds after being held to 14 points on 6-of-19 shooting and committing seven turnovers.