With Russell Westbrook out, the Houston Rockets should have turned into the James Harden show. Instead, they lead their 2-0 first-round streak against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to everyone but Harden. The former Houston MVP shot 5 of 16 for a pawn (by his standards) 21 points. It does not matter. Houston won 111-98 over Oklahoma City. Seven Rockets hit double digits in what was an incredibly balanced attack.
The Thunder now have their backs to the wall, but if they can take anything away from this game, it’s that they have something with Lu Dort. The rookie, who missed the first game, took over Harden himself and absolutely baffled the NBA’s top scorer. The Thunder have to return to the drawing board in an offensive way, but if they can continue to contain Harden in this way, they will be able to make a series of it. Here are the main conclusions of the Houston victory.
Here are the three most important results since the Rockets win tonight.
1. The Rockets are disproving everything we thought we knew about them
The precondition for entering the postseason was that Houston’s victories would, broadly speaking, be based on three things:
- James Harden’s Witchcraft
- Outshooting their opponents
- Winning the wretched battle every night
Well, James Harden has been completely under control in this game. His 5 out of 16 line of sight doesn’t do his fights justice. Three of those shots came in garbage time. While Houston scored 19 3-pointers, they shot just 33.9% behind the arc, worse than Oklahoma City in Game 2. They were also dead in fouls and took one less free throw.
And it doesn’t matter. The Rockets have won. They won despite their two overhead ball managers shooting 11 for 36 from the field and 2 for 21 for 3. But the total seven Rockets reached double figures and held Oklahoma City just 98 points behind their substitution defense. . Size remains a weak point, but defenses that deflect and strip every time Houston does will always be problematic for ball managers. The Thunder lean on three point guards and they too have problems with Houston.
Harden won’t fight every night. Russell Westbrook will be back soon. They will usually reach a higher percentage of their 3. We already knew all this. What we didn’t know was whether or not they could win when those things weren’t working in their favor. But today was proof of that. The Rockets can win even when the game is not played on their terms. They don’t need to draw 40 free throws or get 50 points from Harden. This is a championship caliber team.
2. We are watching a candidate for the best defensive player of the year blossom before our eyes
James Harden, former MVP, perhaps the greatest one-on-one scorer in NBA history, shot 2 for 13 from the field for the first 42 minutes or so of this game. He upped his stats a bit in the final few minutes, hitting his last three shots, but only after the Thunder removed rookie Lu Dort to boost their attack. Dort blocked Harden for the vast majority of this game, and he did it, essentially, on his own.
This was Dort’s first playoff game. He stared at perhaps the best offensive player on Earth and completely blocked him. This should come as a surprise to anyone who has seen Dort all season, but the list of rookies who have done something like this in the postseason is extremely short. Dort will be one of basketball’s best defenders for years to come. Today was her coming out party.
3. Is Jeff Green a point guard now?
Something terribly familiar has happened in the later stages of this game. Houston, behind a team led by Chris Paul, went on a furious run with James Harden on the bench led by a non-shooter. Jeff Green isn’t quite as clumsy as Josh Smith, but he drove the Houston race in a very different way. Yes, he scored 3 points, but more importantly, Houston allowed him to essentially function as a point guard.
Houston was down by three when Harden left the game in the third quarter. They have been driving since 11 when he returned. This is probably not Green’s permanent role. Westbrook will be back sooner or later, but it’s a nice trick to keep in your pocket. Green’s ball handling for its size has always been a strong point, but it has never been armed in this way.
