Rockets not panicking after Game 1
HOUSTON – Clint Capela isn’t about to change his tune now.
Even with Golden State stealing home-court advantage from Houston in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference finals and with Game 2 on Wednesday now qualifying as a must win for this team that built its roster with this challenge in mind, the Rockets’ big man who made headlines in January by declaring his team was better than the defending champion Warriors is sticking by his stance. Why?
Because all the mistakes that led to the Rockets’ 119106 loss, as Capela sees it, are fixable.
“Oh yeah, yeah,” Capela told USA TODAY when asked if he still saw the Rockets as the better team after Game 1. “We knew this series was going to be hard. We knew there’d be some games ... (where they’d) just have to go out here and fight. We know what we did wrong.”
Let us count the ways with Capela, the Rockets’ resident scout who still sees hope.
The Rockets won’t be winning anything if they can’t muster more than three fast-break points, but turning that tide will be tough against this Warriors defense that has been the best in the playoffs (99.6 points allowed per 100 possessions, down from 104.2 during the regular season). The Warriors, meanwhile, had 18.
“I thought the difference between the regular season and the game tonight is that I think the regular season we were more aware about switching the ball (on defense) and being aggressive on the fast-break defense,” said Capela, whose Rockets won two of the three regular-season matchups. “I just really think that was really the difference. Whenever they score, we’re not getting our pace and what we’re looking for. That’s harder.”
While James Harden’s 41 points were needed, the Warriors are well aware that the hero ball approach won’t work against them. So when the players not named Harden are going a combined 8-for-28 from three-point range, that’s a clear sign the Warriors had little trouble staying locked in on every other threat.
And because of their unmatched star power, with the likes of Kevin Durant (37 points), Klay Thompson (28 points) and Stephen Curry (18 points) always capable of outgunning you on the offensive end, there is no fear of Harden winning a game all by himself.
There were far too many shots coming late in the clock, and three shot-clock violations for the Rockets in all.
Capela’s suggestion? It’s time to get more movement into the offense, which finished just behind the league-leading Warriors in offensive rating during the regular season (112.2 to 112.3).
“We’re just out here waiting on (Harden and Chris Paul) to make the decisions,” Capela said. “This is what they do. This is what they’ve been doing all season long, so it’s something that is harder to do right now. Maybe we’re going to have to be more aware on the weak side, maybe (use) flares to get guys open, to get more movement, so all the focus won’t be on the guys on the weak side.”
Home-court advantage is a fickle friend, and Game 2 becomes a must win of sorts because of how the schedule plays out from here. Lose again, and this Rockets team that had the league’s best record during the regular season (65-17) is faced with the prospect of having to beat this super team four out of five times to advance.
Oh, by the way, the Warriors are now 25-3 in the playoffs since the start of the 2017 postseason.
Lose in Game 2, in other words, and even Capela might have to finally change his stance.