The Houston Rockets are on to the second round. It took them till the last 2nd to clinch their spot, however they got away with a 104-102 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of their first-round series on Wednesday night..
James Harden had a rough night on the offensive end, ending up with 17 points on 4-of-15 from the field, however he came up huge on defense. With simply seconds to play, he blocked Lu Dorts potential game-winning 3-pointer, which wound up saving the day for the Rockets. Russell Westbrook got better from his mistake-filled Game 6 to score 20 points, while Robert Covington stepped up and added 22.
Dort was the story for the Thunder, kipping down a career-high 30 points while playing strong defense on Harden. Chris Paul, meanwhile, finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 12 helps to become the earliest player in NBA history to have a triple-double in a Game 7. They couldnt get a basket when it mattered down the stretch, nevertheless, and now their storybook season has concerned an end..
Here are three key takeaways from the video game:.
1. Harden saves himself, Rockets with defense.
James Harden is a remarkable basketball player, however his playoff resume is not all that unique. Considering that arriving in Houston in 2013, the Rockets have actually made the playoffs every season, however have won just seven series including this one, made two conference finals appearances, and no journeys to the Finals..
Now, a big part of that is the Golden State Warriors recent dominance, however its still a frustrating stretch of outcomes for someone who challenged for MVP in almost each and every single among those seasons– specifically thinking about Harden has actually had some significant no-shows along the way.
Blowing a 2-0 lead against a team that wasnt even supposed to make the playoffs this season, while scoring 17 points on 4-of-15 shooting in Game 7, would have been yet another big blow to his postseason legacy. So when he came up with a clutch block in the closing seconds on Lu Dort, he didnt just conserve the Rockets; he conserved himself..
2, Dort makes history.
Lu Dort invested part of the season in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue and averaged 6.8 points per video game in the 36 looks he made with the Thunder. You would be forgiven for not knowing much about him heading into this series. Most casual fans most likely hadnt even heard his name before.
Well, everybody knows it now. Thunder coach Billy Donovan relied greatly on Dort this series, mainly as a protective specialist versus Harden. With his speed, strength and size, Dort made life unpleasant for the MVP candidate, including in Game 7, where he assisted restrict him to 17 points..
However after making praise for his deal with the defensive end over the previous couple of weeks, Dort turned in the offending performance of his life on Wednesday night, nearly bring the Thunder to the 2nd round. The Rockets disregarded him on the perimeter and Dort took advantage, knocking down 6 3-pointers en path to a career-high 30 points..
Though OKC ended up losing, Dort made history in the process, joining LeBron James and Kobe Bryant as the only players 21 or more youthful to put up a minimum of 25 points in a Game 7. Not bad company..
3. What an absurd ending.
With 7 minutes and 11 seconds to play, Chris Paul struck 2 free throws to connect the video game at 96-96. The Rockets outscored the Thunder 8-6 down the stretch, as they shot a combined 5-of-26 from the field.
The last couple of minutes, in particular, were remarkable. There was one series where Dennis Schroder missed a jumper and multiple gamers hit the deck for the rebound prior to Eric Gordon came away with the loose ball. As he crossed midcourt, Chris Paul flopped to draw a charge, and though he didnt get the call, he did stop Gordons momentum, and the Rockets guard wound up turning it over. Paul then selected up the ball and barreled into Harden, who stopped working and tumbled at drawing a charge of his own, before Paul missed what would have been a go-ahead jumper. Madness..
Russell Westbrook bounced back from his mistake-filled Game 6 to score 20 points, while Robert Covington stepped up and included 22.
Chris Paul, meanwhile, completed with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists to end up being the earliest player in NBA history to have a triple-double in a Game 7. Lu Dort invested part of the season in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue and balanced 6.8 points per video game in the 36 appearances he made with the Thunder. With 7 minutes and 11 seconds to play, Chris Paul hit two complimentary tosses to connect the video game at 96-96. Up by one with time winding down, Harden flew in to block Dorts prospective game-winner, and the ball came directly back to Dort.
And if that wasnt enough, the last few seconds were even wilder. Up by one with time winding down, Harden flew in to obstruct Dorts potential game-winner, and the ball came directly back to Dort. The rookie attempted to throw it off Harden to conserve the ownership but ended up throwing it between his legs. The Rockets then got the ball with two seconds left, and Robert Covington was right away fouled.
He only made one totally free toss, however, so the Thunder got the ball pull back 2, with 1.1 seconds to play. On their preliminary inbound effort, Billy Donovan went out onto the court to call a timeout to prevent a five-second infraction, while the referee was concurrently calling a nasty on Harden. After deliberating, the refs decided it was indeed a foul on Harden before the ball was inbounded, giving the Thunder one shot and the ball..
Danilo Gallinari could not make the free throw, however, so that whole series wound up not mattering at all. When they finally came back to the initial circumstance of Thunder down 2 with 1.1 seconds left, OKC turned the ball over on the inbounds, ending the video game and their season..
All told, the last minute of policy took 16 minutes of real-time between timeouts, fouls and evaluations. On the one hand, you wish to ensure you get every call right, however thats a bit ridiculous. In any case, it certainly wasnt the most beautiful basketball game ever played, but it was rather remarkable, which is what you desire from a Game 7..
