Houston Rockets Steal Away Oklahoma City’s Thunder
The Houston Rockets once again were ready to take center stage in H-Town sports once again as they resumed their first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight.
The Houston Rockets once again were ready to take center stage in H-Town sports once again as they resumed their first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight.
Let’s talk about what the Houston Rockets did against the Thunder this past Sunday or the bigger question is what didn’t they do?
The Rockets were in front for the majority of the game and they kept their foot to the pedal as they kept the Thunder by as much as 33 points.
They shot 49.5 percent from the field, out-rebounded the Thunder 56-41 and although the didn’t shoot all that well from behind-the-arc, 10-for-33 for 30.3 percent — this team found a way to win.
Would the same be the case for tonight?
It depends on how one perceives the Rockets’ performance.
It was ALL Thunder starting out, with the team jutting out a 16-4 lead and an uphill battle for the Rockets to climb.
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The three-ball wasn’t falling consistently and our opponent was having their way.
It was definitely a double-edged sword for the Rockets.
The ended up trailing the Thunder 35-26 after the 1st quarter.
It was in the 2nd where the Rox got to work and closed the gap to by as much as three points, when Patrick Beverley hit a three-ball to trail 43-40.
The Rox continued to stay within striking distance, trailing by only six — 68-62 — at the half.
The 2nd half is what made the difference for the Rockets.
Their stroke improved from deep and by the end of the third, the Rockets went on a late 12-3 run to trail 86-83 with 44 seconds left after a James Harden three.
And to note, Harden put an exclamation point on the team’s comeback with one more three to boot, ending the 3rd trailing 89-86.
This concluded a 12-3 run put together by the Rockets in the waning minutes of the quarter.
Victor Oladipo had a made a three on the previous possession to put the Thunder back up by six.
The 4th quarter was the most exciting of the game because it was when our team came alive, ready to thrive.
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Eric Gordon, Harden and Beverley all started to sizzling knocking down three after three.
The team having never led in the game, took their first after Gordon hit a three to put the Rockets up 96-94.
It became a shootout of the stars as each team jockeyed for position to try to win this game.
But the Rockets went on a 10-0 run late in the 4th to go up by as much as 10 points — leading 114-104 — until Westbrook answered with a three of his own.
Rockets 114, Thunder 107
The Rox held their own after that and they were able to seal the deal with terrific shooting down the stretch and the prolific scoring of the bench down the stretch.
The Rockets officially took a 2-0 lead in the series after beating the Thunder 115-111.
For the Rockets, Harden led with 35 points, eight assists and four rebounds while Gordon had 22 points (3-for-6 from three) and Lou Williams throwing in 21 (3-for-4 from three).
Beverley had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, demonstrated that the showed up on both ends of the floor.
BOX SCORE HERE
Clint Capela also chipped in mightily with 10 boards.
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As for the Thunder, Westbrook had a super triple-double with 51 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds while shooting 17-for-43 from the field.
Andre Roberson had 12/8 and Oladipo at 11/9.
Well, that’s all she wrote folks and it now the series moves to OKC for the rest of the week.
It’ll be interesting to see how we respond to a rowdy playoff crowd but if I know like I do now, that will be no problem for the Rockets.
See you then.
Go Rockets.