I couldn’t remember the last instance of an opposing player completely imposing his will upon the Rockets the way Isaiah Thomas did down the stretch of last week’s loss against Boston. I wanted to go back and see what exactly happened, given that Patrick Beverley has been the second best defensive point guard in the league this season. In watching all of Thomas’ made field goals and assists in the fourth quarter, I assumed I’d see a lot of defensive breakdowns. In some instances, however, it was more a case of individual brilliance.
Here, Beverley plays Thomas perfectly, and he nails the ‘3’ after the fake.
This possession was mainly Harden’s fault in switching over so weakly, but then Ariza slides over perfectly to contest at the rim. Thomas just hits a seemingly impossible floater with his left hand over Ariza’s outstretched arm.
Here, Thomas completely breaks Beverley with a vicious right to left crossover with no big at the rim to contest. You might have liked Harden to step up harder to contest.
On this possession, Dekker rightfully comes over to help. Unfortunately, he isn’t able to get back out to contest the three pointer by Crowder.
This one is either on Dekker or Harden.
Looking closer, the Rockets start out in traditional man to man coverage.
Anderson traps aggressively. God bless him. His limitations have been beaten to death, but Ryan Anderson tries really hard at that end.
Dekker is now left to account for both Horford and Smart. He’s committing more towards Horford, while Smart leaks backdoor.
Smart seeps in backdoor for the layup with Harden stuck in no man’s land. Dekker can’t get back in time.
If Houston wants to close games without a rim protector on the floor, they’re going to have to tighten up their defensive rotations. The best teams in the league have the personnel to exploit these situations like Boston did above.
