Rockets rebound with defense
HOUSTON — The heart was there.
So was the grit.
And the toughness and intensity, selflessness and relentlessness.
So, of course, the best regular-season team in the NBA won a much-needed Game 2 against the league’s reigning champs.
James Harden scored 27 points and the Mike D’Antoni Show poured in 127, tying the Western Conference finals — which some foolishly insisted would be a Golden State sweep — at 1-1 inside a pounding Toyota Center drenched in red.
But the Rockets’ four-quarter, full-court revival on Wednesday night wasn’t about offensive baskets and constant points.
As it’s so often been in this increasingly special season, D’Antoni’s team altered everything with an increased devotion to defense. And in a game that these Rockets absolutely had to have, they turned to the one team-wide asset that has turned them into true title contenders in 2018.
Everyone knows they can score.
The Rockets made this a series and avoided a deadly 2-0 hole with defense.
“The whole key. That’s everything,” said D’Antoni, after his team held the Warriors to 105 points and outscored them by 22. “You guys can write an article in one sentence, that’s it. We got into people.”
For the rest of these conference finals, “Run As One” should be replaced by “We Get Into People.”
The 65-win Rockets showed their teeth in Game 2.
P.J. Tucker proudly hit the floor (and sank five three-pointers).
Trevor Ariza brought it from the opening minute (and finished with a 2018 playoff-high 19 points).
Eric Gordon attacked and refused to settle, running the hardwood like the Sixth Man of the Year while scoring 27 points.
Golden State turned the ball over 15 times, had only 21 assists on 39 made baskets, was held to 30 percent shooting on threes and was outrebounded 47-36. Defense, defense, defense. The Rockets looked and felt different — tougher, stronger, more united — as soon as Game 2 began. They never wavered and again reminded the NBA world why they’ve been so dangerous since they took Game 1 of 82 from Golden State on Oct. 17. ,
“We got what we deserved,” Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said. “They kicked our butts. No other way to say it.”
D’Antoni spent the day in between Games 1 and 2 insisting that his team had to ignore all the echoing outside “noise.”
The sudden experts tore down the Rockets after the Warriors took a 1-0 series lead: Too much isolation, not enough team ball.
Somehow, the Rockets had won 65 games, finished with the best record in the league and had home-court advantage in the conference finals by allowing Chris Paul and Harden to run it all.
D’Antoni followed his own advice and clicked on the radio silence.
“That would be silly on my part to panic,” he said. “You don’t do that. We’re very comfortable about who we are, and we can beat anybody, anywhere, at any time playing the way we play. Some people might not like it. Hey, sorry.”
There was nothing to apologize for in Game 2. The home arena adored its team. And for the third time this postseason, the Rockets answered a defeat with a deeper drive.
The true key for the Rockets on Wednesday was simply playing sharper and better — and tougher.
Active hands and a renewed devotion to defense ignited the Rockets’ first-half attack.
Golden State turned the ball over 11 times and was held to 50 points, while the Rockets poured in 64 and shot 52.3 percent from the field.
The role players missing in Game 1 returned to life. Ariza poured in 15 first-half points; Tucker and Gordon had 13 apiece.
But the other side of the court — an emphasis for D’Antoni’s team ever since the rapid offense began two season ago — keyed it all.
“We’re really good in transition,” Paul said before Game 2. “So how do we get in transition? Play better defense.”
During the regular season, much was made of the Rockets’ near-perfect success when Clint Capela, Harden and Paul ran the court together. Game 2 was a powerful reminder of another critical stat. The Rockets are 9-0 in the playoffs when holding their opponent below 110 points and went 50-8 during the regular season when doing the same.
“From the start we were more aggressive, instead of allowing them to attack us first and us react,” Ariza said. “We reacted first and brought the fight to them.”
Crazy, one-game adjustments?
Listen to the masses who didn’t study them (or really believe in them) all season? The heck with all that. D’Antoni’s Rockets simply played harder and brought the D. They bodied up the Warriors, never let up and evened a series too many had already declared over.
There will be a Game 5. Bring this attack to Oakland and this already charged series could last the full seven.