Game 3 Was Disheartening
“It’s over.”
That was the only thought I had mid-way through the third quarter when Steph Curry hit a three. Then danced for another step-back on James Harden. And then finished a crazy layup. Then Kevin Durant drained a pull-up three.
The Warriors capped off that crazy run by winning the 3rd quarter 34–24 with 18 of those points coming courtesy of Steph Curry, who went 7 for 7in the third quarter. As a Rockets fan and believer, Curry’s breakthrough was the terrifying next gear the Warriors had in this series, that final gear that the Rockets’ have no answer for.
When the 3-pointers weren’t falling and driving to the basket was tough for Steph, the Rockets’ had a plan. Let Kevin Durant be a ball-stopper and take lots of shots, even if he makes a lot of them and scores 30+. Keep Klay Thompson shut down and make the Warriors beat you with Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green, and their bench.
That’s the kind of pick-your-poison that the Rockets have the personnel to deal with. Throw a combination of primarily Trevor Ariza and PJ Tucker at Durant to make him work at least a little bit. Let Chris Paul clamp down Klay Thompson, James Harden can take Iguodala, Capela takes Draymond, and PJ Tucker can stop a 85% Steph Curry who isn’t making shots.
When Steph is dangerous? The Rockets run out of perimeter defenders. Here’s a quick look at their top 5 perimeter defenders:
1. Trevor Ariza
2. Chris Paul
3. PJ Tucker
4. Luc Mbah a Moute
5. Clint Capela
Ariza is the Rockets’ best option on Durant. Paul needs to be on Steph if Steph is truly in full form. PJ Tucker is a decent matchup for Klay Thompson, but he will inevitably get beat when Klay runs through three or four off-ball screens. Mbah a Moute has barely meaningful minutes since Game 1 and Capela makes it work by blocking layups from behind, which is basically inviting high-percentage shots.
The Rockets have no answer for defending a fully functional Death Lineup (I refuse to say “Hamptons Five, that doesn’t sound intimidating in any way, shape or form). Defending Golden State at their peak is a number’s game where the Rockets lose. The only way the Rockets can continue to compete with the Warriors is by hitting on all cylinders on offense, which they failed to do once again in Game 3.
At one point in the first half, the Rockets had missed 11 layup or dunks attempts, a number they just cannot survive on, especially when they shoot 32% from 3. A huge reason for both of those problems was the style that the Rockets were running. In Game 3, the Rockets reverted back to the worst parts of Game 1’s Iso heavy mess.
The first couple of minutes or so went really well and it looked like the Rockets had a solid game plan and were sticking to it. Their first four buckets were directly related to Steph Curry almost refusing to switch onto Jame Harden or Chris Paul and subsequently getting beat to the rim. After a timeout and some on court words from Andre Iguodala, Steph’s mindset seemed to shift. He started switching on every screen, like the Rockets wanted, with the mindset that he was at least going to make Harden or Paul get around him.
When that happened, the Rockets hit a brick wall. Harden and Paul started dancing and holding the ball late in the shot clock and they started forcing passes which led to turnovers and quick Golden State points. The Rockets turned the ball over 19 times in Game 3 while forcing just 8 Warrior turnovers. Now the points that the Rockets lost from those turnovers and missed layups/dunks doesn’t add up to 41, but probably adds up to close to 30, which given the Rockets’ ability to score quickly, would have changed the game.
The Rockets don’t really have another way to score more though and retain at least some defensive prowess. Gerald Green is always ready to pull a 3 in transition, but he’s not stopping anyone defensively, the Paul-Harden-Gordon lineup saw the floor early in the 1st quarter and didn’t really work, which leaves Iso Joe and Ryan Anderson as the Rockets’ offensive saviors? That’s, uhhh, not great Coach.
Joe Johnson played 23 games this season for the Rockets and Ryan Anderson has mostly fallen out of the rotation since his ankle injury. It might be worth bringing in Johnson to start the 2nd quarter to work with Chris Paul and give the Rockets another go-to scorer, even in limited minutes. If Johnson can keep the Rockets offense afloat for maybe 4 or 5 strong minutes each game and let Chris Paul/James Harden take a small break, that opens the door for the rest of the game. Such a lineup though, would require at least two of PJ Tucker, Luc Mbah a Moute and Trevor Ariza on the floor to balance the defense. Throwing out Joe Johnson is kind of a last ditch effort, but it also feels like that’s where the Rockets are right now.
The other option that the Rockets have is to start playing Ryan Anderson again. Not necessarily starting him, but giving him meaningful minutes. Anderson could be the primary reserve center, which helps maximize the shooting and spacing the Rockets can have when Clint Capela sits. Defensively, Anderson would be able to guard on of Draymond Green, Iguodala, or Jordan Bell at almost all times; at least until he got switched onto Steph Curry or Kevin Durant. There are defensive downsides to playing Anderson and Joe Johnson, but those might be the only adjustments that the Rockets can make given the state of their team in Game 3.
