46 replies to this topic

[Cooper]

Much better overall game than the first one at least.

[PKM]

It's definitely one of those "would the Rockets have won if Lin was healthy" moments.  On one hand, Beverley had a spectacular game and probably would have played less with Lin.  On the other hand, Lin was bad, but holy mother of God was Brooks completely awful. 

[bboley24]

Brooks had a few minutes...  hasn't played real NBA ball in a very very very long time.  Let alone playoff ball.  I think he'd be a great backup.

[Sir Thursday]

Brooks looked awful, so we'd probably have been better with Lin on the floor than Brooks when Beverley had to go to the bench with 4 fouls.  But it should be noted that Brooks had a +/- of 0 while he was on the court, so it's not like the team dug itself a hole while he was on the court.

 

Although wait a minute, ESPN's +/- stats look a bit dodgy. There are no Houston players with negative +/-, and no OKC players with positive...someone's got their minus signs mixed up, methinks.

 

ST

[thejohnnygold]

That was a great game.  Still haven't played our best and nearly stole home court from them.  Those threes have to start going in soon.  Kudos to Harden for a pretty solid game.  Only a few drives where it looked like he wasn't actually trying to make the shot and only a couple of times did I wish he hadn't shot the three ball.  His defense was better, but still needs some work.

 

I can't wait for all the "trade Lin/start Beverley" cries from the peanut gallery.  Bev played great.  Loved watching him and westbrook go at it.

 

Carlos, if you don't start knocking down more threes, I think it's fair to ask for a little bit of that $3M back.

 

Parsons played great and shot poorly.  If I had to point a finger, that 7-23 is an easy target.  That being said, his three point shot with 1 minute to go could have swung the game in our favor and I'm fine with him taking it.

 

Asik battled all night.  I know Dwight gives us the offense, but I don't think he plays that hard on defense....maybe with his athleticism he doesn't have to....but he should anyways.  Love Asik. 

 

Let's hope they can patch Lin up--I liked the three guard line-up.

[Cooper]

Sacrementos crappiness seems to have rubbed off big time on brooks.

[RollingWave]

ugggh, so close.

 

I'm still worried that Harden is still not hitting shots at a good percentage. he got to the line a lot more this game , but I'm pretty user 20 FT is high even for him,  he needs to hit his FG / 3P at a better than sub 40/20 % he was shoot at again this game.

 

Here's hoping Lin can recover in time for game 3.

 

Mad props to McHale for the ballsy lineup and defense arrangement this game, and it actually worked.

[Red94]

New post: Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Houston Rockets 102 - Upgrade to Heartbreak
By: Forrest Walker

The Houston Rockets made the right adjustments and played the right game. The good news is that it all worked, forcing one of the most exciting games of the young playoff season. The bad news is that even this wasn't enough to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder at home, who pulled out a critical win to go up 2-0 on the Houston Rockets.

Despite the fact that this was one of the most heartbreaking losses of the year for this new Rockets team, this was also reason for hope and excitement. Game one was a story of a dominant team winning a game they were expected to. Game two was a scrappy underdog showing why they might be a real threat in the future. Even though the Rockets couldn't quite hold off the Thunder as the game closed, they put themselves in the position to be heartbroken at all.

The biggest stories of the game all revolve around Patrick Beverley, a point guard who looks increasingly important for the Houston Rockets. Power forward Greg Smith was pushed out of the starting lineup to accommodate Beverley, who was one of the only bright marks in the previous game. Beverley then replaced Lin, who left the game with a chest contusion in the first half.

Beverley ended the game with 16 points, 6 assists and 12 rebounds, more than any Thunder player and second only to Omer Asik's 14. He not only did everything on the boards, but also did an amazing defensive job against Russell Westbrook, one of the most deadly point guards on the planet. He also got under Westbrook's skin on a couple of plays, including one in which Russ took a hit to the knee.

James Harden finally had the kind of game the world had been waiting for, racking up 36 points on 25 shots and a whopping 20 free throws. His 11 rebounds and 6 assists rivaled Beverley, and he looked as aggressive as Houston needed him to be. His 6 turnovers are an ongoing cause for concern, but the Rockets were able to push the Thunder to the brink with 16 turnovers, which is a positive sign.

Parsons also had a good game, guarding both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook at times, and playing like his rookie self. His tools are there on defense: length, height, size and effort. As the series progresses, Durant may come to hate him, especially since he kept Durant to under 50% yet again. He may have had 17 points on 23 shots, but he won't always miss 7 of 10 from three.

The entire team had another poor three point shooting night, shooting under 30% yet again. While this is a testament to OKC's defense, many of the shots the Rockets missed were wide open. It's unlikely the Rockets will keep missing open shots, which might make all the difference in Houston.

Of course, the downside of all of this is that the Rockets were playing above their heads and it still wasn't enough. Asik was his usual defensive stalwart self, Smith was grabbing offensive boards and slamming them back, and the Rockets were closing out on shooters, but it didn't matter.

What we've learned is that while the Thunder are the better team, the Rockets have enough X factors to push them. Oklahoma City is likely to adjust to Houston's zone defense and punish them next game, but this series is no longer a cake walk. Houston might have to work twice as hard to make up for a talent difference, but they're willing to work that hard. As painful as it may be, the Rockets are being forged in Oklahoma City's crucible of fire.

[thenit]

It's definitely one of those "would the Rockets have won if Lin was healthy" moments.  On one hand, Beverley had a spectacular game and probably would have played less with Lin.  On the other hand, Lin was bad, but holy mother of God was Brooks completely awful. 

 

Not sure what game you were watching. How can you say that Lin had a bad game? He had played a decent game, not great but it was respectable.

 

Agree on the point on Bev, he was outstanding and loved his I don't care who you are attitude on Russ.

[2016Champions]

the downside of all of this is that the Rockets were playing above their heads and it still wasn't enough

 

Not sure about that, I think we missed a lot of wide open threes, we could have easily scored 130 points if we were really playing playing above our heads.

[Freebird]

Agree - was a very good game.  They let themselves slip a bit late 3rd - early 4th, but that was a seriously good run to take the lead with 3 minutes left.  I *am* a bit disappointed with dirty plays by Perkins - the elbow to Harden's "solar plexus" and the grab are not basketball plays, and never should be.

 

Lin did okay, but only playing him and Bev during the season really showed.  Brooks was completely out of sorts during his minute.  Didn't have time to pick up the offense, or folks' tendencies.

 

Omer needs to develop a pump fake.

[Jason]

Beverley is better than Lin.

[kevingan]

I'm a huge Lin fan (I've followed him here from the Knicks, whom I no longer follow, after 43 years!), but tonight I think we saw some interesting alternatives.  Of course, the obvious one is to trade Lin and have Beverly/Harden at the 1/2--Beverly's sure not ideal at the 1 in terms of running the team, but he could learn, and his other attributes are outstanding--super game tonight, Bevsanity!  This "trade Lin" strategy would be to acknowledge that all plans and chemistry changed when the Harden deal popped up.  If the Rockets are going to go all uptempo athleticism, Beverly could be the better answer, though again, I would caution against underestimating Lin's ability to grow and adapt; I think his basketball IQ is tremendous, and he'll improve his shot and his ball handling over the summer.

 

However, tonight's lineup suggested another strategy--a tip of the hat to McHale, who surprised me with this creativity.  Have people been watching the new Miami offense with LeBron as a point forward who mainly operates near the elbow? I think it was Zach Lowe who analyzed the innovative scheme in Grantland a while back.   What it boils down to is that with the right hugely talented player and good three point shooters to spread the floor, this is a nightmare offense for opposing teams: 27 in a row nightmare!

 

Well, what if you installed that system with Harden in the role of LeBron?  With Lin and Beverly at 1 and 2?  I actually think that would be better for Harden, with his fabulous passing ability, and more likely keep him out of the hero ball problem; I'd rather see him emulating LeBron than Kobe, and with his strength and skill set, I think he's one of the few players in the league who actually could. Beverly and Lin could take turns playing Wade and Chalmers.  Worth thinking about, anyway.

 

This game was more painful than the first one!  So close and yet so far....

[Jason]

Beverleysanity. I like it. He does more things on the court to help you win a basketball game than does Lin, in my opinion.

[2016Champions]

Bev's defense on Westbrook was incredible, he was actually outplaying Westbrook until those sketchy calls put Bev on the bench. 

[Jason]

Bev's defense on Westbrook was incredible, he was actually outplaying Westbrook until those sketchy calls put Bev on the bench.

Yep. Time to bench Lin.

[kevingan]

Beverleysanity. I like it. He does more things on the court to help you win a basketball game than does Lin, in my opinion.

 

That's probably true in an offense that's centered around James Harden--but it's not always true, even in that system, and in other systems, it often wouldn't be true either.  As they say in England, it's horses for courses. 

[2016Champions]

Yep. Time to bench Lin.

We actually don't need to. McHale went with a line-up of Bev-Lin-Parsons-Harden-Asik and it actually worked. Harden shut Ibaka down defensively and gave him hell offensively. 

[Jason]

We actually don't need to. McHale went with a line-up of Bev-Lin-Parsons-Harden-Asik and it actually worked. Harden shut Ibaka down defensively and gave him hell offensively.

Yeah, mine as well stick with this lineup (assuming Lin can play next game)

[Steven]

Game was lost starting Delfino.