More Games – I was so ecstatic last night! My wife is going to be so bummed…
Cause and Effect – Last night was the first game of the series in which Houston shot at or above their average percentage on threes. They won. Could they do that 3 more times? Could a penny land face up four times in a row?
Who? – Mark Titus at Grantland doesn’t understand why Chandler Parsons is so good:
Parsons has been in the NBA for only two years, but his career scoring average as a pro is higher than any of his individual-season scoring averages at Florida. That sentence alone should give you a good idea of how surprising Parsons’s NBA success has been. But he’s more than just a decent scorer in the NBA — Gerald Henderson and Ramon Sessions are living proof that anybody can put up points for a bad team. Parsons is a major contributor on a playoff team, and he shares the ball with James Harden, one of the most trigger-happy players in the league. Considering all that, with the exception of the lack of a SiriusXM channel that plays nothing but Disney songs, Parsons’s success in the NBA is the biggest mystery in the world to me.
Related note: I’m really glad Titus is not a scout for the Rockets.
Related note number 2: Dear writers, please keep giving Chandler Parsons bulletin board material to motivate him for big games.
Related note number 3: Chandler Parsons doesn’t want your daps.
Beverlove – Patrick Beverly gets named “Fringe Rookie of the Year” at Hardwood Paroxysm.
At risk of alienating certain Brian Roberts fans I know, I have to give this to Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets. Beverley’s not the most popular player in the NBA right now, especially among Oklahoma City fans, he’s made the most of his opportunity with Houston. He posted 36 minute averages of 11.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks on .418 shooting from the field (.375 from deep, .829 from the line). These scoring numbers aren’t particularly impressive on their own, but combined with his .551 TS%, his low usage rate (15.4%), and his tenacious defense, he’s one of the more effective backup guards in the NBA over the past few months.
Compliments are nice, even when they are kind of back-handed. Fortunately, Beverly got more love from Amin Elhassan (ESPN Insider) that was unqualified, recognizing him as one of this year’s best playoff first-timers:
Offensively, he’s not your prototypical set-the-table point guard. Rather, Beverley wants to use his quickness and athleticism to get to the front of the rim and make the kickout pass as the defense collapses. He did a good job of this in Game 2, as Houston went with an extremely small lineup in an effort to pick up the pace offensively and dropped back in zone coverage defensively — another advantage for Beverley’s skill set, as he has played extensively in Europe and is accustomed to zone defense. When he has gotten open looks from the perimeter, he’s knocked them down efficiently, which was a knock on him when he came out of college four years ago.
Beverley’s stellar playoff debut has all but guaranteed that the Rockets won’t waive his nonguaranteed deal this summer, which probably works against his favor, as he would stand to cash in if he were a free agent.
Tweet That – It was probably an accident, but Not Bill Walton best summed up Houston’s win:
Eat, drink and be merry my friends, for Wednesday night we may die.
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