The Oklahoma City Thunder kept the first half of Game Three close against the Houston Rockets, going into the break trailing 63-57.
Oklahoma City, who fell behind early, caught up by playing with a much faster pace than they are accustomed to and bursts of offense by Dennis Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in particular.
Schroder led the Thunder with 15 points at the break. Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari had 11 points apiece.
There was little offense at the beginning of the game. The Rockets were up 19-7 almost nine minutes into the game before Gallinari hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer to kickstart the Oklahoma City offense.
In the second quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander went on a run with two layups and a 3-pointer in just over one minute of game time to cut the deficit to 41-39.
But the Thunder couldn’t tie it up. When they finally cut it to a one-point game with a minute to go in the half, James Harden scored six straight points.
Harden made just one of his eight 3-point attempts, yet ended the half with 24 points. He was 8-for-10 inside the arc, beat Steven Adams badly off the dribble twice, and went 5-for-7 from the free throw line.
Combined with the game Thursday, Harden has now made just three of his last 18 3-pointers.
While Oklahoma City’s bench put up a better battle in the first half Saturday than it has in the past two games, Rockets backup wing Jeff Green has remained unstoppable. He had 14 points of 4-for-5 3-point shooting at the half.
The Thunder will need to do a few things in the second half to catch up:
One, they must keep up the fast pace. It’s killed them when they try to slow it down this series.
Two, free throw shooting must improve. Oklahoma City attempted 21 free throws but only made 12. Those 21 free throws should be a huge advantage, as only Harden and Robert Covington have attempted free throws for Houston, a combined 7-for-9 from the line.
Instead, that free throw discrepancy just helped the Thunder keep it close.
They must find more room in the paint on offense, and close the paint on defense.
The Rockets have 32 points in the paint, twice as many as the Thunder.
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