Rockets are too hot for Thunder

Paul George and Steven Adams were in a funk. The Rockets’ offense wasn’t, so when the Thunder came out of halftime, it had a clear objective.

George passed to Adams at the free throw line and cut to the basket, Adams finding him for a neat give-and-go in close quarters. George then drove into the teeth of the Rockets defense, drew two defenders, and dropped a smooth bounce pass behind his back to Adams for a layup.

When there was full flow from the Thunder, you could see the potential. That’s been the case all season, potential but not nearly enough results to get the Thunder close enough to grasp at the totality of Golden State and Houston’s game.

The Rockets came into Oklahoma City with a 15-game winning streak and never looked in question of losing it in a 122-112 Thunder loss on Tuesday.

The Thunder’s offense was at its best when George and Adams were clicking. They’re the most efficient players on the Thunder at the two things that matter most in the NBA — layups and 3-pointers — two areas the Rockets are stellar at.

When the Thunder’s

offense was derailed in the third quarter, after the George and Adams show stopped after its flowing best, how was it expected to keep up with Houston’s machine?

“You’ve just got to keep playing,” said former Rocket Corey Brewer, who knows all too well about Houston’s firepower, having played their parts of three seasons.

“They’re gonna make shots. You can’t get down. You can’t let their shot making affect your game. I think a little bit tonight we got a little bit down when they made some tough shots, but that’s what they do.”

The last moment the Rockets looked remotely threatened — when the Thunder closed Houston’s lead to 66-63 with 6:53 left in the third quarter — Houston showed why it’s in the NBA’s upper echelon and the Thunder isn’t.

The Rockets ripped off a 13-1 run to get to 79-64. In the midst of the run, the Thunder’s offensive flow deteriorated, and its defense remained a sieve.

And to start the second half, the Thunder’s lack of shot creation compared to the Rockets was evident.

The Thunder made seven of its 12 3-pointers before halftime. The Rockets rolled on with 17 made threes. James Harden only hit one.

For all of the hardcharging offense of Russell Westbrook, it’s a problem of math for the Thunder that the fulcrum of its offense is a career 31 percent 3-point shooter. Paul and Harden each entered shooting 38 percent from deep. Westbrook is shooting 28.6 percent from 3-point range this season, despite showing better discretion from beyond the arc.

But when the Thunder trailed by 10 in the third quarter, discretion was thrown to the wayside. Westbrook dribbled down on the fast break and launched a 3-pointer early into the shot clock. Miss.

Westbrook had a teamhigh 32 points, but was sloppy, committing nine of the Thunder’s 20 turnovers. Houston’s defense opted to shut off the paint and his patented dumpoff passes to Adams. The giveaways turned into 33 points for the Rockets.

“We’ve just got to find it, make it easy, attack, and find open shots,” Westbrook said of how to break down Houston’s defense.

Start with Adams and George.

Adams had just one shot attempt in the first half. He and George were 1-of-8 at halftime for three points before perking up when it was too late. Some of that’s on George, who stepped into a couple of his eight 3-point attempts via isolation rather than the pinging ball movement found at the start of the second half.

The Thunder’s offense can’t keep up with Houston’s, but its best chance is when the ball is moving, when the inside-out game is at its efficient best.

Even after a poor start for Adams and George, their third-quarter interplay sparked the Thunder. In a flash it was gone. It won’t be able to reach the Rockets’ heights, or make the playoffs, without them.