By: Mitchell Felker
Do you believe in jinxes? Because to me, they always seemed so silly. In high school, guys who wouldn't wash their socks after big wins weren't insuring a repeat performance, they were only making their shoes stink. I personally just never had much use for superstition (and certainly didn't need any help making my shoes stink).
But jinxing was on my mind when I wrote the headline for Game 3's post-game coverage, "You may or may not want to consider thinking about possibly pulling out your brooms".
I was a little cautious at first with the headline, afraid to outright upset mystical forces that I don't understand and/or believe in. But as I got to writing and re-watching some of the game, I couldn't help but notice how dominant the Rockets looked; Dwight snatching every rebound, Harden slicing and dicing the Mavs defense. Even though it was a wire-to-wire game, the Rockets had absorbed two 30-point performances by Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis, and saw every trick in Rick Carlisle's toolbox and still came out on top.
So if i was a little concerned at first that perhaps I was being too cavalier with the title, by the end it was all I could do to not out-and-out guarantee the sweep.
But I was wrong: maybe jinxes really do exist, and Rick Carlisle definitely still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
First off, Carlisle made the obvious decision to start JJ Barea and my new least favorite player in the whole world, Al-F@#% Aminu, in place of Raymond Felton and Richard Jefferson. In all honesty, that should be an indictment of Carlisle, not praise. Starting Ray Felton and Richard Jefferson? What was he thinking?!
But beyond just shaking up the starting five, Carlisle used Aminu as his own personal Kawhi Leonard, and was rewarded with a very Kawhi-performance: 16 points on 6-10 shooting and 3-5 from deep, with 12 rebounds (4 offensive), 2 assists and 1 block. After doubling to force the ball out of Harden's hands in Games 1 & 2 and getting beat over the top, the Mavs tried playing him straight up in Game 3 and the Beard went off for a playoff career-high 42 points. But last night with Aminu starting, Carlisle had him hound Harden one-on-one all night, keeping Harden out of the paint and even forcing a turnover on an eight-second violation after poking the ball away in the backcourt.
And it wasn't just stifling defense; Aminu was all over the court, making plays on both ends. He swatted a Harden layup into the second row in the first half, bullied Harden on the block in the fourth quarter for a vicious dunk and grabbed multiple offensive rebounds at the worst possible times. The Rockets just had no answer for his energy.
And speaking of energy: JJ effing Barea. I could save myself some time and just copy & paste what I wrote about him after Game 3, but unfortunately for me (and Houston), I wasn't effusive enough for it to really work for Game 4. Barea was even more aggressive last night, going for 17 points, 13 dimes, 3 boards and a steal. As I've stated before, nothing Barea can do will ever take away how happy he made me in the 2011 Finals, but dammit if he isn't trying. Patrick Beverley may not have have been able to make a huge difference against the likes of Steph Curry and Chris Paul, but boy do the Rockets miss him against the Mavs diminutive point guard. He's just too quick and too crafty for elder statesmen Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni, who both had terrible games with Terry missing eleventy open threes and Pablo providing next to nothing.
Monta Ellis had another killer game, following his 34-point Game 3 performance with 31 last night. He only hit two threes, but they were both back-breakers as the Rockets were trying to fight back from a 20+ point deficit. Dirk Nowitzki wasn't quite as spry as he was in Game 3, but his timing could not have been worse for the Rockets. It seemed like every shot he hit was either capping a big Mavs run, or hitting the breaks on one for the Rockets. With Houston switching so much, Dirk had no problems finding a wing to backdown and shoot over.
As for the Rockets, everything that they did well in Game 3 was missing last night. Harden (24 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast & 2 stl) played decent, but hardly looked like an MVP candidate. Aminu's length really frustrated him at times, and his usually solid post-defense was nowhere to be seen against Dirk and Aminu. Trevor Ariza had, by my memory, his worst game as a Rocket. He wasn't just a non-factor, he was a huge hindrance. There were multiple times when he took the dreaded pull-up 19-foot jumper in transition that everyone knows the Rockets hate. He did little to take advantage of Dirk's defense when he was matched up with the lead-footed German, and was a total non-factor on the boards, usually one of his strengths. I was glad to see it wasn't just me that was so bothered by Ariza's performance, even Trevor himself noticed:
Quote:
"I take a lot of responsibility because I didn't play particularly well. I played with low energy. That won't happen again."
But Ariza was hardly the only Rocket to play substandard. Dwight Howard, so dominating on the glass in Game 3, couldn't be found after the first quarter of Game 4. He started solidly, scoring 8 points in the first while abusing the Mavs big men on the block and out of the pick-and-roll. But after the opening quarter, the Mavs were monsters on the boards and nothing Dwight did seemed to help. By the end of the game, he wasn't even really fighting for rebounds anymore and the Mavs finished with ease. And let's not even discuss his free throws. After going 12-18 from the stripe in the first three games, he probably deserves some leeway, but 3-13 is unacceptable. Josh Smith caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 points on 7-7 shooting (hitting 4 threes, including two dagger step-backs) in the final frame, and made a game out of a blowout. But even when paired with Howard, he couldn't help the Rockets on defense or especially on the glass.
The Mavs are the WORST rebounding team in the league but mauled the Rox on the glass tonight 52-38, leading to a 20-4 edge in 2nd chance pts
— Craig Ackerman (@ca_rockets) April 27, 2015
The Mavs had 16 offensive rebounds to the Rockets 7, and as Houston (read: Josh Smith) was fighting back at the end, Dallas grabbed back-to-back offensive boards leading to a Monta Ellis three-pointer that was essentially the nail in the coffin. For some reason McHale went away from Terrence Jones as the game went on, but he still had an easy 13 and 6. McHale admitted afterward that he should have played Jones more, and he certainly would've helped against Dirk and on the glass. Nick Johnson logged a few minuted for the first time this series. and although he didn't make much statistical impact, I wouldn't be surprised to see him log a few minutes in Game 5 as well. His energy on defense was noticeable and he looks more capable of keeping up with Barea than the rest of Houston's backcourt.
The truth is, Houston looked like a team that had a 3-0 lead and was playing on the road. Everyone knew the Mavs weren't going to lay down, and yet the Rockets played like that's what they expected. Things will be different in Houston on Tuesday, when the Rockets will look to close things down in Game 5.
San Antonio and Los Angeles look like they're headed for seven, so there's still time to get some rest before round two, should the Rockets make it that far. (See what I did there?)
