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Stephen Curry dribbled the ball behind his back and broke away from the rest of the traffic in less than 20 seconds in a five-point deficit in overtime. But after being created an unobstructed way for the hoop, the most useful player twice fell several inches from the edge on a completely open dunk.
The embarrassment of the rejection of the rim put an end to a very energetic thriller at Toyota Center, while the contingent of Golden State allowed time to flow flawlessly. The horrible finish of Curry was a microcosm of his painful night. The Rockets won 126-121 to bring the series to 2-1, Golden State.
Saturday night's match went differently for a Houston team that seemed to outperform each game by 25% in this series. Namely, the shots fell for them. The Rockets shot 48 percent of the field and sank 18 of 42 appearances in three points, thus proving the effectiveness of their attack-inspired analysis. James Harden finally seemed to be the most useful player, Eric Gordon scored 31 points and Chris Paul created a real goalkeeper track. But it's not just their efforts that drove the Rockets to a "W." well-deserved.
Houston would probably have a defeat if Curry had not experienced one of the most brutal nights of his career. He missed his six shooting attempts in the fourth quarter and scored only 17 points on 7 shots out of 23. He is absolutely stinky.
Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni, however, was congratulated for his win in the third game of Houston. There are many things to love about the Houston victory.
First, D'Antoni limited the center minutes of big money, Clint Capela, when the match turned too fast for him. The seven-foot is one of the league's top scorers and protectors, but much like Rudy Gobert and Steven Adams of the previous series, these skills are losing value over faster spacing units. Capela only played 34 minutes in a match that lasted 53 minutes and finished the last four minutes of overtime.
Instead of Capela, D'Antoni went to center with 6 striker, P.J. Tucker, to counter the Warriors' training, and it worked wonderfully well. Despite his 3 shots out of 9, Tucker was the Rockets leader in plus-minus among starters at plus-5, showing his defensive side value. He made 12 rebounds – five offensive – playing more than his size and having the restricted area. And although Kevin Durant scored 46 points on 31 shots, he was held in check by Tucker.
Many other things went well for Houston as well. Eric Gordon received the ultimate go-ahead and he took it, connecting 7 strands out of 14. Harden made 5 of 13 trios. Capela, in her small role, scored 13 points on nine shots. Iman Shumpert scored 10 points in 18 minutes on five shots.
Nevertheless, it is the terrible night of Curry that makes a series of 2-1 feel like a facade. To go with his 30% shot, he had three turnovers and five fouls. His three point shot was out of the question all night, his feet moved for at least one trip that the referees missed, and he was creating about as much for his teammates (four assists.) If Curry had been at 50% of himself, of Antoni the genius and feats of his actors would have been neglected.
So, it will be a gentleman sweep, after all? Will Golden State solve the problem in five?
This could come back to Curry's play. The warriors are not as deep as they were. In the third game, the bench players totaled seven points. With so much money locked in its stars, the Golden State elites have to produce and Curry has not pulled out of the game in this series. In three games, he averaged 18 points on 37% shooting and 25% accuracy.
If Curry comes out of his funk, the warriors should roll. Otherwise, the adjustments of D'Antoni could be enough to dispel this inconvenience. This series is suddenly alive.
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