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The Houston Rockets miraculous series win over the Los Angeles Clippers will go down as one of the all-time great series turn arounds in playoff history.
Down 3-1, the Rockets looked certain to be eliminated and they would have been were it not for a dramatic Clippers collapse in Game 6.
Facing a 19-point deficit and certain elimination, the Rockets, led by Josh Smith of all people, would out-score the Clippers 40-15 in the fourth quarter and snatch Game 6 from a shellshocked Los Angeles.
The Rockets completed the sensational comeback by cruising to a relatively easy Game 7 victory in Houston.
Unfortunately for Chris Paul and the Clippers, this will go down as another missed opportunity. Although Paul had a terrific series, the criticism and scrutiny on him will, rather unfairly, continue to intensify for again failing to lead his team past the second round of the playoffs.
Yes, CP3 and the Clippers didn’t reach the Western Conference Finals but the problem wasn’t Paul, or any of the Clippers starting five for that matter.
The problem was that they had the worst bench unit in the entire playoffs.
This led to the Clippers starters having to play huge minutes every single night. And after a gruelling seven-game series with the Spurs, Los Angeles was right there for the taking.
The longer the series went on the better it was for the Rockets. All they needed was a little luck in Game 6 and the Clippers were mentally and physically finished by Game 7.
Interestingly, Houston go into the Western Conference Finals with a negative points differential during the playoffs. They now have to face the all-conquering Golden State Warriors.
Let’s face it, for the Rockets to win this series a lot of things will need to go right. The Warriors are, in basic terms, just a better version of the Rockets. While offensively, you could argue the Rockets are almost as good as the Warriors, defensively they are nowhere near.
The Warriors have so much flexibility with Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes able to guard multiple positions, while Houston only has one such player in Trevor Ariza.
There in lies the problem, who does Ariza guard?
The Rockets would love to stick him on the Warriors most dangerous player in Steph Curry but that would lead to either Harden or Jason Terry having to defend Klay Thompson, which isn’t a desirable option.
This is where Houston really misses injured guard Patrick Beverley. While limited offensively, he’s a tenacious defender and would have been the first choice to guard Curry in this series.
Houston’s best bet might be to just let Harden go toe-to-toe with Curry and hope he can somehow break even in the match-up. Ariza could then guard Thompson, while Terry would need to match up against either Green or Barnes were he’d be giving away a substantial amount of size.
Of course Rockets coach Kevin McHale could insert Josh Smith into the line-up for Jason Terry, giving the Rockets flexibility on defence, but this would lead to spacing issues on the offensive end.
Whatever option Houston decides to go with defensively, it will come with its own set of problems.
The Rockets also have problems offensively. The Warriors will almost certainly guard Harden with Klay Thompson, who was able to shut down The Beard during their regular season meetings. Thompson is quick enough and more importantly strong enough to stop Harden from driving to the hoop and drawing soft fouls.
It goes without saying, if you stop James Harden you stop the Rockets.
The other key match-up will be Dwight Howard versus Andrew Bogut. So far, in the playoffs, Howard has been a beast and not just defensively. Both DeAndre Jordan and Tyson Chandler struggled mightily in defending Howard in the post.
Bogut though, should fare better. If the big Aussie can stay on the court, staying out of foul trouble and more importantly staying injury free, it will be hard for the Rockets to win one game, let alone four
That’s the only way I see the Warriors losing this series – injuries.
Barring that, Houston will need to play out of their skins, while conversely Golden State’s shooters would need to hit a major form slump for the Rockets to win.
I guess stranger things have happened and if Houston do somehow upset the Warriors they’ll probably go into the Finals as favourites.
If you’re a Rockets fan you’re hoping for the fairytale to continue – I don’t believe in sporting fairytales unless it involves Tim Tebow – the Warriors to win the series 4-1.
Better luck next year Houston.
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