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Around the time the Houston Rockets’ eighth straight 3-point scorer fell midway through the third quarter, Oklahoma City Thunder goaltender Dennis Schroder got on Chris Paul’s ear.
Again.
Schroder had been there since the start of Game 4 on Monday, but he wanted to remind Paul who they were playing against. He wanted to give Paul an extra push against his old team.
“I know I can be stubborn and harsh in my manners. But this game right here, Dennis was on my head, “Paul said.” To give it, you must be able to take it. This is what our team is proud of, making sure to communicate in good times and bad. “
The Rockets opened the second half of Game 4 with a flurry of depth, going 8 for 8 of 3 to open a 15-point lead. According to data from Elias Sports Bureau, this was the first time in the last 20 playoffs that a team opened a quarter by hitting eight straight 3s.
It was the kind of barrage that can deflate an opponent. The Thunder were arguing for shots, rushing to the fences and trying to follow the ball. It didn’t matter.
Robert Covington hit one with a hand in the face. Eric Gordon hit one on the dribble, stepping back. James Harden put his defender to sleep to pierce one. Each felt a bit more grueling than the last, and as the lead increased, it seemed inevitable: The Rockets looked set to move towards a 3-1 lead in the series.
The thunder collapsed. They were losing arithmetic, trading 2s for 3s, but they weren’t panicking either. Paul continued to hit slap singles, calmly taking down midrange pull-ups in response to every Houston artillery shell. As the Rockets poured into eight 3s, Paul quietly scored 11 points.
“It was crazy, to tell you the truth,” Paul said. “We got to half time and the coach said, ‘In the first quarter we gave up eight 3s, in the second quarter we gave up two,’ and the trend was positive.
“Then they went out – wham, wham, wham.”
But while the Rockets may have started the second half 8-on-8-on-3, they went 5-for-26 the rest of the way (including an almost complete Danuel House uprising at the buzzer).
The Rockets took an 88-73 lead with 5:51 left in the third. Oklahoma City outscored them 44-26 to close the game, winning 117-114 in the first round series at two games apiece.
Harden, who came into Game 4 fighting defensive ace Luguentz Dort, started hot but missed seven of his last eight 3s and nine of his last 12 field goal attempts.
“We relaxed, they gained confidence and that’s what happened,” said Harden.
It’s a cliché to quote the adage “live by 3s, die by 3s” here, because this demonstration was far from the cruelty of 27 consecutive misfires of 3 in the Western Conference final. two years ago. But that seems to define these Rockets.
Without Russell Westbrook, who continues to face a quad injury and has yet to play in this series, to change the pace of their microball attack, and the Thunder tilting their defense to slow Harden, the Rockets have dried up.
And it didn’t help that the Rockets didn’t play the kind of defense that backed them up against the droughts in Games 1 and 2.
“The teams are going to be racing, but that’s the way they ran,” said Harden. “We weren’t getting our shots that we wanted offensively; and defensively, we weren’t on our principles.
“It was a disaster on both sides.”
The Rockets threw 58 3 points in Game 4, breaking their own record for 3 of 56 playoff attempts set two games ago. And they were three times in Game 4 to break the record for successful 3s in a game.
In the first three quarters, the Rockets hit their contested shots, averaging 1.2 points per game, 50% of which was 3.
In the fourth quarter, they averaged 0.8 points per game on disputed shots, with 23% of 3.
“I thought we had our looks. We didn’t create them,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We returned the ball a few times. It hurt us. It was fought well. I thought both teams had a chance to win. We just didn’t.”
Once the Thunder got close, they activated their famous closing approach. They fine-tuned their favorite roster, keeping Dort on the floor to match Harden while center Steven Adams sat the final four minutes. It’s a roster choice Billy Donovan had to make during Game 3, and he returned again to complete Game 4.
It’s not an easy decision, but for the Thunder, compared to the Rockets, it’s a luxury to have at least one.
With Houston’s commitment to the super little ball, there is no lineout adjustment available to make. The Thunder choose between big or small, but as the 6-1 / 2-inch Schroder scored 30 points, including a number of layups in the fourth quarter, the lack of inner rim protection was felt by Houston.
Paul has been the engineer of every Thunder comeback. Donovan spoke with his playoff team about the “emotional strength” and mental challenge of playing an eccentric team like the Rockets. The Thunder have a competitive advantage over Paul and Schroder, but they aren’t overreacting. Calm is a calling card of the Dieu Point, and in the Houston treys flurry, the Thunder never lost it.
“With a guy like [Paul] on the floor, with anyone, whether veterans or youngsters, he has a way to stop races and find ways to generate good shots, ”said Donovan. When he uses his mind like that, he understands, ‘OK, the momentum is going here, and he’s really changed it. “
The Thunder have made clutch-winning games their go-to this season (32 wins, including the playoffs; most in the NBA), but they also often had to scratch to get there.
They have a best nine in the NBA this season (including the playoffs) after trailing by 15 points or more. Their winning percentage in games trailing by 15 or more is the third best in the last 20 seasons, and the two better-than-them teams (Golden State Warriors 2016-17 and Dallas Mavericks 2010-11) have both won titles.
Across four games, the formula for both teams becomes clear: the Rockets have won two dominant and crushing victories based on overactive defense and quick shooting; and the Thunder responded to Games 3 and 4 by overcoming meteoric storms and just making the game cling to time, where Paul lives.
Game 5 will likely tell the same story. If the Rockets live in 3s, it looks like the Thunder must die. But with Paul’s poise and the Thunder’s clutch prowess, there seems to be a third way: survive, then thrive.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this story.
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