Home win streak ends at 20
When 3-point prowess goes awry, Oklahoma City exploits the opening
There will be times the Rockets don’t make their 3-pointers. They can accept that, having learned it won’t happen often.
But the Rockets do expect to get their shots.
The Rockets got some 3s. They even hit their share overall. But they spent much of the game getting the shots the Oklahoma City Thunder allowed, rather than the looks that had made them the league’s top offense.
Against defense bent on surrounding James Harden and staying tight in the corners, the Rockets faded badly down the stretch until the Thunder took a 108-102 win Saturday night to end the Rockets’ Toyota Center win streak at 20 games.
Though the Rockets made a healthy enough 14 of 37 3-pointers, until P.J. Tucker put in a pair after the OKC lead reached 10 points in the closing minutes, they were 1-of-7 in the fourth quarter and 3-of-16 in the second half.
“We just didn’t make shots,” said Harden, who had 26 points, but five points on 1-of-7 shooting in the second half. “That was it. They did a good job. We just missed shots. Nothing changes for us.”
But things had to change because the Thunder defense did. In Oklahoma City, the Rockets torched Carmelo Anthony on switches, but the Thunder were determined not to let that happen again. When Tucker set screens for Harden, Anthony backed into the lane, Harden’s defender — usually Russell Westbrook — raced back to him and Tucker or anyone else setting that screen was left open.
Tucker knocked down his first three shots, scoring eight rapid points. But the Thunder stayed with the strategy, believing it would slow Harden enough to live with giving up a few 3s.
With the Rockets unable to get in the lane or many looks from the corners, the offense bogged down in the second half, managing 40 points
“They played hard,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We played good. Just they finished it up and we didn’t.”
The strategy was greatly aided by the Rockets playing without Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, their primary shooters from the area the Thunder left open.
“We’re missing Eric Gordon, which is big for us,” D’Antoni said. “There are some things that we can correct.”
But he had no issues with the shots the Rockets took. Other than Harden and Tucker, they made 7 of 23 3-pointers, but he was not about to question open 3s.
“They’re good, real good,” D’Antoni said of the looks the Rockets got. “We’re not going to question where we shoot them from.
“Eric Gordon is big for us. We’ll have that added. We weren’t real sharp, sharp. They played well. In the first half, I thought they played great and we were up one. In the fourth quarter, we just didn’t score like we should have.”
The Rockets had seemed to settle down after a poor start to the fourth quarter. Harden returned to the floor with nine minutes left. Chris Paul put in a jumper and Harden found Gerald Green, who put the Rockets back in front with seven minutes left. But the Rockets came up empty on their next eight possessions. They missed three tough 3-pointers in that stretch, but also had three turnovers
“We just didn’t make shots,” said Paul, who was 6-of-15 (3-of-9 in the second half ). “We turned the ball over too much, (gave up) too many offensive rebounds”
That is typical of the Thunder. No team gets more offensive rebounds than the 11.6 OKC averages. The Thunder had 15, though that was boosted by missing 55 shots when they made 39.6 percent. No team forces more turnovers, with the Rockets’ 18 two more than typical against OKC.
“I give them a lot of credit,” Paul said. “They came out, executed and did what they were supposed to do.”
But the Thunder also helped dictate what the Rockets did. The Rockets could make those shots and normally would have players that specialize in them on the floor. But the Rockets got a reminder of the sort of play that could await them at home next weekend.
“I thought we tasted the playoff atmosphere,” D’Antoni said.