If feels like trading for Westbrook is what formally closed the window. Thats what Harden desired. He didnt want to keep playing with Paul, who is just irrefutably better than Westbrook, and there arent any take-backs in the NBA.
Possibly the Rockets still wouldve gone little and traded Capela with Paul on board, however with Westbrook, there was just no other choice. They had to open the lane for drives, due to the fact that Westbrook is something not too far from worthless as a flooring spacer. That is taking full advantage of a restricted gamer over, perhaps, the team as a whole. Westbrook had a fantastic 2nd half of the season. You understand the offer: The playoffs, as the cliche goes, are different. In the playoffs, unless youre LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard, defenses are typically able to cut into what you do best, if not take it away completely, therefore forcing you to tap into 2nd and third dimensions..
But Westbrook is a one-dimensional scorer. We saw that predictable, head-down offense does not work even with a physical freak like Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Westbrook is no Antetokounmpo. The Lakers werent concerned about Westbrook in the slightest. That is, undoubtedly, a major issue when Harden is dealing with unrelenting, late-clock double teams developed to make someone else make a play. Westbrook is the only guy who can theoretically do that, due to the fact that the Rockets picked to fill out the rest of their roster with spot-up shooters who cant be relied on to develop off the dribble..
By Game 5, with Harden off the floor and Westbrook on, the Lakers were literally running a box and one on … Eric Gordon. Listen, as the Raptors displayed in the Boston series when they sprung that defense on Kemba Walker, there are reasons to release a box and one defense beyond not fearing any gamer outside the one youre boxing. To slap a box and one on Gordon, not Westbrook, is about as telling as it gets..
None of this is to totally discharge Mike DAntoni, either. He couldve tried some modifications previously in the series. He waited up until Game 5 to start having Hardens ball screen set farther out so he could get going downhill before the double gotten here. He didnt trust his bench at all, although Ben McLemore is probably the best floor-spacing 3-point shooter he has, specifically after Houston lost Danuel House, which was a larger deal than well make it however definitely not the distinction in this series..
But in the end, DAntoni is pretty bound by the lineup at his disposal. The Rockets have devised a strategy totally dependent on two players producing whatever, and one of those guys cant be depended on. They wont shoot even short midrange shots, so again, theyre predictable, which is a death sentence in the playoffs. They think in the math, but numbers play out over time. Playoff series are short, even more so if you arent hitting 3-pointers..
The Rockets have no other way to beat you, and they have very few choices for changing that reality moving on. They do not have any cap space. They do not have any young players anyone would want, maybe outside of House, and even he, integrated with a partially meaningful future draft choice (that chest is currently quite bare, too) isnt going to bring anything significant enough to up and change the short-term fortunes of this company..
The guy does not exactly have a history of coming up big in big moments, and he was practically nonexistent in too lots of fourth quarters in these playoffs. He didnt take a single fourth-quarter shot in Game 4 against the Lakers. Through the very first four games vs. L.A., Harden balanced fewer than 3 shots and five points in the 4th quarter.
The Lakers were coming with their doubles late in the clock, and Harden waited till Game 5 to lastly begin going quicker, before the 2nd male shown up. He is the most unsafe gamer on the flooring for the Rockets, and he takes himself out of essentially every belongings as soon as he passes the ball.
Thats what the playoffs demand. Being able to beat teams multiple methods. Harden is a 33-percent playoff 3-point shooter for his career.
Its true, Westbrook missed a handful of those games. And thats what gave everyone hope. But to depend on Westbrook at this point in his profession, come playoff time, is false hope. After lastly dropping 3-pointers and pull-up mid-range efforts from his toolbox leading up to the bubble, Westbrook fired 27 3s versus the Lakers, making 7 of them. Thats 25 percent. Include 53 percent from the free throw line, and under 35 percent on all shots outside five feet, and yeah, thats not going to cut it..
Paul, meanwhile, shot 37 percent from three and 49 percent from the field in the playoffs– consisting of 45 percent on shots outside five feet, 55 percent on shots from 10-19 feet, and 61 percent on shots from 15-19 feet. Those are the exact shots the Rockets neglect, except for Westbrook, who took 27 shots between 10 feet and the 3-point arc in the playoffs, per NBA.coms shot tracking information..
Westbrook, clearly, doesnt make almost enough of those shots to justify the efforts, however beyond the glaring ineffectiveness, its a microcosm for how the Rockets put themselves in an impossible position by trading for Westbrook in the very first location: Either reconstruct your team to take advantage of what he can do, or die at the hands of what he cant do. Turns out they were dead in any case..
The Houston Rockets were eliminated from the 2020 NBA playoffs on Saturday, as the Los Angeles Lakers completed a gentlemans sweep with a 119-96 triumph in Game 5. Not in a vacuum, and certainly inside this Rockets system that frantically needs a 2nd elite playmaker/high-level shooter to balance out the attention Harden draws. We all attempted to talk ourselves into the Rockets being non-traditional enough to offer the standard Lakers problem. After folding the camping tent in Games 4 and 5, its a hassle-free time to remember the Rockets were only 12-10 after the Capela trade– 8-6 pre-COVID shutdown, and 4-4 in the 8 bubble seeding games. Maybe the Rockets still wouldve gone small and traded Capela with Paul on board, but with Westbrook, there was simply no other option.
The Houston Rockets were removed from the 2020 NBA playoffs on Saturday, as the Los Angeles Lakers finished a gentlemans sweep with a 119-96 success in Game 5. On its face, its not an unexpected result. The Rockets were a No. 4 seed. They needed 7 video games to squeak past the Thunder in the preliminary. The Lakers are a No. 1 seed. They have, irrefutably, 2 of the top three players still alive in the playoffs. Theyre a larger and better team than Houston..
However somewhere along the line we connected inflated expectations to the Rockets, in part since they have James Harden, in part since its been burned into our heads that their mathematic method to basketball somehow makes them less beholden to the real skill on their roster, and also due to the fact that we all still remember them coming this near knocking off the Kevin Durant-Steph Curry Warriors in the 2018 Western Conference finals..
But the Rockets arent that group anymore..
That team had Chris Paul. This one has Russell Westbrook. Thats where well start with what has actually gone wrong for this Rockets team, and where it can perhaps go from here..
Russ was a bust.
Theres a lot more going on with this closing Houston window– if it hasnt already knocked shut– than the imperfections of one gamer, and this isnt to put whatever on Westbrook. But hes simply not as excellent as Paul. Not in a vacuum, and definitely inside this Rockets system that desperately requires a 2nd elite playmaker/high-level shooter to balance out the attention Harden draws. Paul, in impact, was the C.J. McCollum to Hardens Damian Lillard..
Its clear that Westbrook simply isnt anywhere near that class of player any longer, regardless of the reality that he had a fantastic regular season; from January through the shutdown you couldve argued he belonged on the fringes of the MVP conversation, when he trimmed his 3-point efforts to bare bones and focused nearly entirely on attacking the rim by means of the increased space created by Houstons choice to trade Clint Capela and dedicate to full-time small-ball..
It was a fun experiment that renewed the quickly diminishing enthusiasm surrounding the Rockets, probably even within their own locker room. They beat the Lakers the opening night Robert Covington appeared on Feb. 6. They beat the Bucks in the bubble. We all tried to talk ourselves into the Rockets being non-traditional enough to provide the conventional Lakers difficulty. After Houston won Game 1, the masses completely purchased into the buzz..
It wasnt precisely deceitful. The Rockets were in position to win both Games 2 and 3. After folding the camping tent in Games 4 and 5, its a hassle-free time to keep in mind the Rockets were only 12-10 after the Capela trade– 8-6 pre-COVID shutdown, and 4-4 in the eight bubble seeding games. They were never ever actually that good..
