With Russell Westbrook sidelined by injury, the clear focal points on offense for the Houston Rockets are MVP finalist James Harden and backcourt mate Eric Gordon. In Thursday’s Game 2 versus Oklahoma City, those two combined to shoot 2-of-21 on 3-pointers (9.5%), which would seem to be a bad formula for the NBA’s most 3-point heavy offense.
Largely because of their defense, it worked out, anyway — and it gave the Rockets a commanding 2-0 lead in the first-round of the playoffs against the Thunder. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series looms on Saturday.
The undersized Rockets utilized their active, switching defense to perfection in Thursday’s second half, limiting the Thunder to 39 points in a 111-98 Houston victory (box score). The Rockets went on a pair of suffocating 16-2 and 20-2 runs over two different periods of seven-plus minutes — the initial run early in the third quarter, and the second spanning the end of the third quarter through the middle of the fourth.
“If we hold each other accountable and everybody does what they’re supposed to, our defense can be the best in the NBA,” said veteran leader and defensive ace P.J. Tucker. “Everybody always talks about how small we are, but we’ve got to make that our strength.”
“Getting under people and being aggressive, if we do that, then people can’t run their plays, and they can’t score,” added Tucker, who also made all four of his 3-pointers, including a dagger in the final two minutes.
The Rockets had a 81 DRTG in the 2nd half, after starting with a 125.5 DRTG in the 1st half.
Tapped into their championship-level defense.
— Disney Gary Clark (@Itamar1710) August 20, 2020
It was a collective team effort for the Rockets, with Tucker, Gordon, Danuel House Jr., Robert Covington, Jeff Green, and Austin Rivers all playing key roles with active hands and the versatility to constantly switch onto different players. The Rockets forced 13 Thunder turnovers, while committing only seven themselves for a second straight game.
All-Star guard Chris Paul, who shot 50% for the Thunder in Game 1 and had nine assists, was limited to just 6-of-15 shooting (40%) and two assists in Game 2. The Thunder were an astounding -36 during the 37 minutes that “CP3” played, with House and Gordon leading the charge.
“The second half was incredible,” head coach Mike D’Antoni of Houston’s defensive effort in Game 2. “That won us the game. Our defense has taken a couple steps up [in the playoffs].”
House, who set a personal playoff scoring high with 19 points, led the Rockets with nine rebounds — which kept Houston competitive on the glass (48-41, OKC) against a much larger opponent.
“Even if you don’t score a basket, as long as I’m defending, rebounding, and staying in front of someone, and this team wins, I’m going to be happy,” House said postgame. “I promise you that. And I’m pretty sure everyone else in the locker room is going to be happy.”
Great offense early…17-0 run late, but amazing defense and effort ALL GAME LONG propelled the Rockets to a Game 2 win, 111-98 and a 2-0 series lead over OKC. 7 Rockets were in double-figs. House, Tucker and Rivers were really good today. Game 3 on Saturday. Run to the Hills.
— Craig Ackerman (@ca_rockets) August 20, 2020
Harden scored a team-high 21 points, and while he shot just 5-of-16 from the field (31.3%), he had nine assists to zero turnovers. “The Beard” also played a key role defensively, especially in the post against 6-foot-10 forward Danilo Gallinari. After scoring 29 points in Game 1 on 53% shooting, Gallinari was held to 17 on 42% shooting in Game 2.
“If I’m not making shots, I’ve got to find other ways to impact the game,” Harden said. “We felt a sense that Oklahoma City was getting tired, and we just kept pressing the gas on them.”
Game 3 between the Rockets and Thunder will tip off at 5:00 p.m. Central on Saturday, with a national broadcast on ESPN and a regional version (with Houston announcers) on AT&T SportsNet Southwest.
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