The Rockets are blowing their best chance to take down the Warriors
The stars were aligning for the Houston Rockets to have their best shot at defeating their rival Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals.
They were on the minds of the Dubs — Klay Thompson admitted as much — when the Warriors were taken to six games by the eighth-seeded Clippers in the previous round. They were facing a team without DeMarcus Cousins and had James Harden coming off a regular season in which he averaged an astounding 36.1 points per game. In Game 2, even with Harden’s eye injury, Steph Curry’s dislocated finger was a factor — he shot just 3-of-13 from three and the team as a whole hit just 30.6 percent from distance.
But the Rockets are blowing it. And the Warriors once again look like the team firing on all cylinders.
It’s partially because the Warriors have gone back to their “Hamptons Five” lineup with Draymond Green at center and Andre Iguodala starting. The result? This stat:
That uber-tough small-ball lineup can take advantage of a bigger Rockets group that includes center Clint Capela, who struggled in Game 1 and who you’ll see on the wrong end of a few highlights from Game 2 on both ends of the floor:
All that switching through screens creates mismatches for Kevin Durant and Curry, and Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni had to tip his hat to Green for neutralizing Capela on the offensive end:
That all might point to proof that the Warriors have reached that unstoppable phase that practically no opponent can figure out. But the Rockets had their chances in the first two contests — they were within three with under seven minutes to go in the fourth on Tuesday night, and it looked like Game 1 could go their way in the final minute.
But they just couldn’t close. Plus, good teams like the Rockets find ways to adjust. And although matching up with the Hamptons Five can be confounding, D’Antoni and the Rockets have to try something different.
There’s still time to get back into this series with the matchup moving to Houston. But if the Warriors keep this up and the Rockets have no answer, it’s already over.