Houstons rotations were on point all night. Houston is thought of as an offending group, their small-ball lineups gone over through the lens of scoring and wide-open lanes ripe for penetration. Paul was method too passive as a scorer for method too long, and by the time he actually started pushing the scoring envelope, the game was over. If youre Houston, you absolutely enjoy what you saw from Gordon in this video game.
For one video game, the Houston Rockets were simply great without Russell Westbrook. On Tuesday, the Rockets beat the Thunder in every facet of the video game en route to a 123-108 success to take a 1-0 lead in their first-round series..
With Westbrook out with a quad stress (reports indicate its getting much better), Harden was spectacular with 37 points and 11 rebounds on 12-of-22 shooting, consisting of 6-of-13 from beyond the arc, and the Rockets had 5 players score in double figures. In addition to Harden, Jeff Green was exceptional, ending up with 22 points. Eric Gordon had 21, Ben McLemore had 14 and P.J. Tucker included 11..
Houston made 20 3-pointers as a group, outscoring OKC by 21 from deep..
Danilo Gallinari led the Thunder with 29 points, while Chris Paul fell one assist shy of a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine cents– but a lot of Pauls scoring came when the video game had currently escaped in the 2nd half. OKC looked dead on both ends, and will have to find out how to move the ball much better to break Houstons defense, which was significant all night..
Lets talk about that Houston defense for a second. Houstons rotations were on point all night.
Houston is considered an offensive team, their small-ball lineups discussed through the lens of scoring and wide-open lanes ripe for penetration. When their switching defense is clicking, they can be a beast. It is extremely difficult to discover open appearances when they are tied together..
OKC didnt assist itself by giving in to the switching. Paul was way too passive as a scorer for way too long, and by the time he actually began pushing the scoring envelope, the game was over.
If youre Houston, you absolutely enjoy what you saw from Gordon in this video game. By the time Westbrook gets back, if the Rockets are getting these kinds of peripheral performances, theyre going to be difficult to stop.
Its just one game, however in a series that lots of saw as probably the most evenly matched of the first round, the Rockets looked like the clear better group on both ends and one that could be hazardous deep into these playoffs..
