THE HOUSTON ROCKETS ARE IN TROUBLE! Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors Game 1 Reaction
By Jayden Garcia (Your Average Sports Fan Blog)
Last night the Houston Rockets dropped game 1 of the western conference finals to the Golden State Warriors 119–106. Kevin Durant had a huge night and was pretty much unstoppable. He led the way for the Warriors with 37 points and Harden led the Rockets with 41 points. I said in my previous article (click here) that if Houston dropped game 1 the series was over and I’m sticking to that. They just couldn’t get any easy shots. Their was a lot of standing around and too much iso basketball during key moments in the game. If you asked me last night if I thought the Rockets would lose with Harden scoring 41 points I would have called you crazy, but it happened.
James Harden and Chris Paul didn’t get much help last night. Trevor Ariza pitched in only 8 points and PJ Tucker scored 1 single point. Those 2 guys were huge contributors to their success during the regular season. I’m not sure if the task of handling Durant on the defensive end took away from their offense, but they just couldn’t get it going. Not that they were the only ones because Luc Mbah a Moute missed a ton of easy layups that could have helped them gain momentum. I expect the supporting cast to respond in game 2, but if it will be enough is something I just don’t know. I think Mike D’Antoni led teams have a hard time succeeding in the playoffs because he isn’t a defensive minded coach. His coaching style is to try and put up a lot of points and your not going to out score Golden State. You must lock in on the defensive end which they are more than capable of doing with all the athletic defenders they have on that team. Now was Durant in a zone? Yes. When your as great as he is sometimes as the opponent you just have to hope and pray he misses, but what you can’t do is allow Klay Thompson to go off for 28 with a number of wide open 3 pointers. Once again I am going to say Houston can not play so much iso ball and expect to win. Put Capela in the pick and roll, cut to the basket, or run a play…just do something other than hold the ball for 15 to 20 seconds. We’ve seen Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns back in the day share the ball like crazy. That teams ball movement was unreal, so I know for sure he will make that clear to his players the next game. After the game he told the media, “I’m going to talk to him. He needs about 55 next time.” I don’t even think if Harden scores 55 they win. The Warriors don’t mind letting Harden score as long as they make him work for his points.
Now Golden State came out like the champs should. No matter who has home court they don’t care. They want to make you eat your words and man did Houston give the them some motivation. You don’t think they know that GM Daryl Morey has said numerous of times that this team was constructed to try and dethrone them? It’s time for Houston to come out and prove it because the pressure is on. If they lose Wednesday this will be a sweep. I don’ think that’s a good look on a 60+ win team. See you Wednesday and limit everyone else.
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