Houstons rotations were on point all night. Houston is believed of as an offending team, their small-ball lineups talked about through the lens of scoring and wide-open lanes ripe for penetration. Paul was way too passive as a scorer for way too long, and by the time he truly started pushing the scoring envelope, the game was over. If youre Houston, you definitely like what you saw from Gordon in this video game.
For one game, the Houston Rockets were simply great without Russell Westbrook. On Tuesday, the Rockets beat the Thunder in every aspect of the game en path to a 123-108 success to take a 1-0 lead in their first-round series..
With Westbrook out with a quad pressure (reports show its improving), Harden was mind-blowing 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, finishing with 22 points. Eric Gordon had 21, Ben McLemore had 14 and P.J. Tucker added 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 help shy of a triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine cents– however a great deal of Pauls scoring came when the video game had already escaped in the second half. OKC looked dead on both ends, and will have to determine how to move the ball much better to split Houstons defense, which was remarkable all night..
Lets talk about that Houston defense for a 2nd. Houstons rotations were on point all night.
Houston is considered an offending group, their small-ball lineups talked about through the lens of scoring and wide-open lanes ripe for penetration. However when their changing defense is clicking, they can be a beast. It is extremely tough to discover open looks when they are looped..
OKC didnt assist itself by yielding to the changing. Paul was way too passive as a scorer for method too long, and by the time he really started pushing the scoring envelope, the video game was over.
You definitely like what you saw from Gordon in this video game if youre Houston. When hes playing aggressive like that, looking for his offense, Westbrooks lack is manageable in the short term. By the time Westbrook gets back, if the Rockets are getting these type of peripheral performances, theyre going to be tough to stop. It ends up being simple: Harden draws doubles, Westbrook assaults the open space and either finishes himself of kicks to shooters who are in rhythm..
Its simply one game, however in a series that numerous viewed as arguably the most evenly matched of the first round, the Rockets appeared like the clear better group on both ends and one that could be hazardous deep into these playoffs..
