Episode 50 I History of Houston Basketball - A Houston Rockets Documentary I The Beard
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As the 2018 NBA Playoffs began, the world was eager to see the highly expected matchup between defending Champion Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. First, however, there were two rounds of playoff bas-ketball to be played. The Minnesota Timberwolves would be the first victim of the Rockets, bowing out after 5 games. The Rockets were considered the first legitimate challenge to the Warriors recent reign of dominance. Their success against them in the regular season and singular, determined focus imbued the team with confidence in the task ahead. The Utah Jazz would also fall to Houston in 5 games. Golden State also took care of business on their side of the bracket, also winning both of their series in 5 games to set up the much-anticipated showdown between two franchises who, over the past 5 years, had elevated themselves above the competition and funda-mentally changed how the game of basketball was played.
D’Antoni was deemphasizing the pick-and-roll, reasoning that the Rockets could create a numbers advantage even more effectively by spreading out and letting Harden beat his own man off the dribble. This seemed heretical to D’Antoni’s philosophy, which had become intrinsically tied to Nash’s pick-and-roll brilliance. But Harden wasn’t Nash. He was a far better and more willing scorer, especially in one-on-one situations. With more teams mimicking the Warriors’ strategy of switching ball screens to avoid or at least delay a numbers advantage, it was often counterproductive to send a screener to Harden and risk pulling another defender in his way.
After splitting the first two games in Houston, the series moved to San Francisco. In the first game in Oracle Arena, Steph Curry put on a masterful performance to put the defending NBA Champions back in the drivers seat. James Harden and the Houston Rockets responded with a big victory in Game 4 and took the lead in Game 5, putting them just one victory away from the NBA Finals. The win came at a cost, however, as Chris Paul suffered an injury that would keep him sidelined indefinitely.
Entering Game 6 against Golden State in 2018, the pressure was on the Rockets to finally defeat their nemesis. Would they be up to the challenge?
Пікірлер: 5
I was watching that game 6 with my cousin who was a Warriors fan. Even though we were up big in the first half and my cousin was getting bad nervous, I was the one telling him that we were gonna lose that game. I knew from the start. From tip-off we weren't playing with the same intensity and defense that got us that 3-2 lead. We were out there playing like it was an all-star game. Just flying up and down the court scoring and no defense being played. You're not going to beat the Warriors in a shoot out! You gotta dig in and get stops! We weren't getting stops. They were getting their shots and just not making them. I could just tell by their effort (or lack thereof) that they were just hoping to win but betting on themselves to win game 7 at home. You don't keep giving the defending champs shot after shot. If there was real leadership in that locker room from players or coaches then someone would have said at halftime of game 6 that we're playing well but we gotta step up on D and step on their necks. You've got to sell out and do everything possible to win that game 6 because you don't want it to come down to one game if it doesn't have to! Jordan and the Bulls did that. They rarely ever let a series get to a game 7. As far as game 7, the refs screwed us royally! But, we still should have won it and screwed ourselves just as bad. I don't say you stop shooting threes entirely when you go ice cold like that, but you don't just shoot threes. You gotta have someone recognize when momentum is swinging their way and go get a bucket. That guy would have been CP3. No doubt in my mind we win at least one of those 2 games (6 or 7) if CP3 were playing.
@420Basketball
13 күн бұрын
Without a doubt! CP would have been the guy to capitalise on/hold on to that early lead in Game 6 if he was on the floor. I remember feeling uncomfortable about that game 6 lead too, you could tell the classic 3rd quarter Warriors run was coming and it was clear the Rockets weren't going to be able to hold them off.
Thank you for including the questionable rough plays. Most leave this out. They tend to forget warriors took out Kawhi doing the same in 2017. You can debate Mike D'antoni should have two champs. 2007 and 2018. He was perfect for Houston. Houston Rockets are the only team in history to lead the league in three attempts and made. While also winning the champ in the same season. No other team have done this even once. Rockets did it twice. 2018 was going to be only the third time in NBA history. We were pushing the limits of what was possible with the three. Good times.
@420Basketball
13 күн бұрын
Yeah, Mike D could definitely have 2 rings, that 07 PHX team had it until the suspensions. The moving screens were always bad with GS but in these 2 games they were on another level
@JamesHardenoverKobe13
12 күн бұрын
@@420Basketball Moving screen is one thing. Running up and putting your feet and lower body in another players landing zone is different. Hey remember when spur fans claimed Bruce Bowen wasn't dirty. He injured other teams top stars multiple times doing this. Kinda ironic Zaza from the warriors used the Bruce Bowen move on Kawhi and injured him in 2017. Warriors resorted to doing the same in 2018 as well. Keep in mind even with missed threes, the difference in the roster, and last resort Bruce Bowen moves. Warriors won by only 9 points. Sorry. Warriors are far from "the greatest of all time". With all due respect.