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The Houston Rockets needed an answer in the third game of their second round series against the Golden State Warriors. They delivered one with a 126-121 overtime win to reduce the series' deficit to 2-1.
The Warriors started to burn and took a good lead in the first minutes. But the Rockets retaliated at home and used a second quarter push to take a 58-49 advantage in the break. They maintained that lead until the start of the fourth quarter, when Kevin Durant collected 10 points in less than two minutes to allow the Warriors to return to the game.
From there, both teams exchanged baskets and the game became an instant classic. Late in overtime, James Harden equalized one of his 3 patent-backs to give the Rockets a six-point lead at the last minute. It looked like a possible dagger, but Kevin Durant came down on the other side and had a 3 pointer imposed to reduce the deficit in half.
However, at the other end, Harden looked for a clutch float to bring the lead back to five, and when Steph Curry missed a dunk in the final seconds, the win was sealed.
Durant finished the night with 46 points in another masterpiece of the playoffs, while Harden led the Rockets with 41 points. Meanwhile, Eric Gordon added 30 to give the Rockets a boost.
Here are three big things to remember about game 3:
Make the Harden far
Give credit to James Harden, dude. All the story of his first two tough games against Golden State and his cold shot during the playoffs, not to mention the lacerated eyelid (that some of the Warriors have apparently the impression that he embellished), and all he does is get out and save the Rockets season in a must match with 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
And it was not just the numbers. Harden had buckets while the Rockers had to have some. Here, with the Rockets hanging on a possession of a possession with less than a minute to play:
Here Kevin Durant had just sank three free throws at the other end of the game to make it a game again with less than 30 seconds to play:
Harden was fantastic. And he had to be. Because Durant, who plays absolutely incredible basketball during these playoffs, was doing everything in his power to steal this match in Houston. Harden would not let that happen.
So, about Kevin Durant
If ever we wondered who was the most valuable player of the Warriors, Durant ends the debate with force. Very simply, the warriors would be sunk without him now. Durant hung 46 points on the Rockets in the third game. He shot only 12 out of 31 (6 out of 10 out of 3), but that's a credit for Houston's defense that put him to work.
The fact is that Durant can not count on Steph Curry for the moment. Curry has a miserable series, and the Rockets play so that Durant does everything to be able to do everything by focusing on limiting others. They do not double it much. And Durant, rightly, does everything he can to carry the load. That was not enough in the third game, and you have to wonder if that will continue to be enough in this series if Curry does not understand it.
The struggles of Steph Curry
Curry is 25 percent – 8-by-32 – of 3 in this series. If you come out of the first game against the Clippers, in which he was 8-in-12 out of 3, he gets 35% off 3-point in the playoffs, and even that sounds generous. He managed a great deal to seal the first game against Nene to hide the fact that he had laid bricks for most of this game, but on Saturday his difficulties were on another level.
Curry missed several strokes in the stretch that we all got used to doing, and they were not all jumpers. Curry blew layups to the right and left. According to ESPN, Curry missed seven shots in the restricted zone of the third match, which represents the greatest number of players in the last 20 years. This following clip summarizes just about everything:
Listen, it was not a disposable bucket. This would have reduced the Rockets lead to three and that there was 20 seconds left to play. He blasted a breakaway by trying – once again – to prove that he could dunk. He has often done so before, but in such a complex situation, he is inexcusable. Boneheaded does not even play justice.
"He's coming off a tough night," Steve Kerr said after the match. "No matter how good you are, you're going to have bad games."
Bad game is putting it lightly. Curry finished with 17 points on 7 shots out of 23, including 2 out of 9, and even that line would have a more positive impact than Curry. Again, it attracts a lot of defensive attention and good for him. It is important. But it's not even enough for a player of his caliber in a series with this kind of issue.
For a long time, there was a very false story that Curry did not perform in the playoffs. It's wrong. He actually has some of the best numbers in the playoffs of history. But he's playing legitimately wrong right now. There is no other way to say it.
Summary of live updates
If you missed something, CBS Sports followed all the live action since the third game between Warriors and the Rockets. If the live blog does not automatically load for you, click right here.
How to watch Match 4
- Date: Monday, May 6
- Time: 21:30. AND
- Location: Toyota Center – Houston, Texas
- TV channel: TNT
- Live Statistics: GameTracker
- Streaming Online: fuboTV (try it for free)
- chances: N / A at this time
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