Rockets refuse to go gently, stealing Game 4 from Warriors: 3 takeaways
By Ian Levy
After the Warriors’ massive Game 3, the narrative shifted towards Golden State’s inevitable dominance. The Rockets bumped that off track with a gutsy Game 4 win.
The Conference Finals on both coasts have been shaped by blowouts to this point, but Game 4 in the West finally delivered a nail-biter. The Rockets used a furious fourth-quarter push to steal a two-point win on the road and even their series with the Warriors as things shift back to Houston.
The Warrior ran out in the first quarter, before the Rockets pushed back in the second to hold the lead at halftime. Stephen Curry caught fire in the Warriors patented third-quarter run but the Rockets hung in there, got stops and out-executed Golden State (barely) down the stretch.
The story coming into this game was the Warriors regaining their air of inevitability. The Rockets have demolished that and regained homecourt advantage. Ladies and gentleman, we have a series.
Takeaways
Rotations are tightening. With the stakes increasing, both coaches squeezed their lineups in Game 4. The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala. They responded by starting Kevon Looney and adding Jordan Bell back into the rotation (he played 17 minutes). Nick Young played 12. Shaun Livingston played 15. Other than that, it was the starters all the way through. The Rockets went the same direction with Gerald Green and Eric Gordon as the only two bench players seeing minutes and Trevor Ariza, James Harden, Chris Paul and P.J. Tucker all playing more than 40 minutes. Exhaustion likely played a significant role in the sloppy offensive execution for both teams down the stretch, and it limits the variability of matchups and puts the emphasis on execution. That’s all well and good but there are potentially three more games left in this series and it’s hard to imagine the stars going quite so hard from now until this thing is over. Will someone blink on the rotations? Will a bench player step up and ease the load? Or will relative exhaustion dictate what happens next?
Chris Paul doesn’t care about your narratives. Paul has long carried an ill-deserved reputation as a playoff failure. Yes this is his first trip to the Conference Finals but he has been undone at every turn by better teams, bad luck and injuries. His playoff averages are without reproach — 21.3 points, 8.9 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game, shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 37.4 percent on 3-pointers. The Rockets needed everything Paul had tonight and he delivered 27 points on 10-of-20 from the field and 5-of-9 on 3-pointers. He was huge down the stretch, helping steady the Rockets offense as things got chaotic on both sides. The Rockets don’t win without Chris Paul being Chris Paul tonight, period.
Next: Stephen Curry is cooking the Rockets
Slow clapping for Houston’s defense. Again, tired legs were a factor. And yes, the Warriors missed some shots they normally make. But down the stretch, Golden State’s offense couldn’t find a rhythm and they scored just 12 points in the fourth quarter. Stephen Curry was en fuego in the third quarter helping the Warriors build a lead but he finished the game just 10-of-26 from the field and with more turnovers than assists. Durant looked unstoppable early but finished 9-of-24 and settled for several deep contested jumpers when the Warriors needed a bucket. Klay Thompson was the only other Warrior to make a 3-pointer and Klay, Draymond Green and Nick Young were just 2-of-9 from behind the arc. Houston forced 16 turnovers and maintained defensive pressure even when Golden State was threatening to break free. Give some credit to the intensity and focus of the Rockets defense, they earned it.