The Houston Rockets dominated Game 1 of the NBA playoffs in 2020 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. But they are aware that they still need three wins to advance from the first-round series.
Just ask the Denver Nuggets, who went from an exciting victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of that Western Conference series to a blowout loss in Game 2. The Rockets want to avoid a similar turnaround.
When asked at the practice on Wednesday how Houston celebrated its Game 1 victory at the NBA “bubble”, Robert Covington replied:
Preparing for Game 2. It’s just one game. We are not celebrating anything yet.
Reserve big man Jeff Green (22 points, +28) was a revelation for the Rockets in Game 1, and even played in place of Covington alongside the starters in the fourth quarter. But as soon as Game 1 of Tuesday finally went down, he said it was time for the team to move on.
“Well, the focus is on Thursday and Game 2,” Green said. “Every game will be different, I’m pretty sure OKC will try to make some adjustments. We have to get ready for Game 2. ”
All-Star guard Russell Westbrook (right quad-strain) will be sidelined again on Thursday, so backcourt co-star and MVP finalist James Harden will be the clear focal point. “The Beard” scored a game-high 37 points on 12-of-22 shots (54.5%) in Game 1, but what happens when the Thunder try to catch the ball even more out of his hands and force it?
Except for Harden, the Rockets shot 14-of-39 on Tuesday at 3-pointers (35.9%), which was solid but not great. “I think we had a lot of chances for shots we missed, those were really good shots,” Harden said after postgame. In particular, Covington is fighting for a 1-of-5 from 3-point range (20%), and they may need more of him in Game 2.
The Rockets also benefited by having just seven conversions. In the regular season 2019-20, she averaged more than 14 per game, and pressure on Harden in Westbrook’s absence could force secondary ball managers like Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers into bigger roles than normal. The Thunder should also not be so surprised by Mike D’Antoni’s new ripple of using Green as an occasional ‘points center’, as he called the postgame.
At a low minimum, more pressure and traps would perhaps help to slow the pace of Houston, which punishes the Thunder in transition sequences.
Then again, the Rockets had surgical performance in semi-rigid settings, too. Led by Harden’s brilliance, Houston’s official rating of 129 was the best of any game all season versus a playoff opponent.
For the Thunder, Danilo Gallinari (29 points) and Chris Paul (20 points, nine assists) performed well, with each shot 50% or better off the field. But guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder fought mightily, shooting just 5-of-20 combined (25%) for 15 points.
The Thunder could give more minutes to shots of greats like Darius Bazley and Mike Muscala in a bid to open up more lane.
Players from Oklahoma City lamented a surprise postgame over Houston’s ability to still protect the rim, despite a small lineup.
As expected, the Thunder promise to make adjustments and potentially give Gallinari even more touchdown and shooting attempts. Gallinari was OKC’s leading scorer in the regular season, and at 6-foot-10 he is higher than any player in the current Houston rotation.
The biggest problem for the Thunder could be basic math. The Rockets shot 48.3% overall in Game 1 and 38.5% on 3-pointers, while the Thunder came in 44.0% and 37.1%, respectively. Houston had only a slight advantage in shot attempts, 89 to 84, while the Thunder shot six more free throws (25 to 19) and won the rebounding battle by 10. On face value, those numbers should suggest a relatively close game – not one where ‘ t the Thunder never came within a single figure in the last 35 minutes.
As it turned out, the defined statistic was 3-point volume. Houston shot 20-of-52 and Oklahoma City 13-of-35, providing a net advantage of 21 points. For the season, the Rockets ranked first in the NBA in attempts with 3 points (45.4), while the Thunder was fourth-to-last (30.2).
If the Rockets make a satisfactory percentage of those shots and the Thunder can’t reduce the volume, then that’s a big mountain to climb – even with the size of Gallinari and Steven Adams.
The pressure also appears to be continuing on Oklahoma City. With games at the Disney World bubble in Florida, it’s not as if the scene has shifted between Game 2 and Game 3 (as it normally does) to potentially change. Moreover, Houston goes up 2-0, it could allow them to be even more conservative with Westbrook’s quad recovery – so if he needs to win this series, he could be closer to 100 percent.
Game 2 between the Rockets and Thunder tips at 2.30pm centrally on Thursday with a national broadcast on ESPN and a regional version (featuring Houston announcers) on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. For subscribers, both networks have streaming available on their mobile apps.
.
