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Well, that's a way to inspire the Rockets starters to stick around.
Actually, they probably won't be able to take off early again this season with the regular-season finale in Oklahoma City before the playoffs begin next weekend, anyway. But after the to-do that was made of the Rockets regulars lifting weights and melting ice in the fourth quarter of the blowout of the Knicks on Friday, they stuck around to see their bench take over for whole of the fourth quarter against the Suns on Sunday.
They were well-entertained. They had staked the bench to 22 3-pointers through three quarters and Iman Shumpert and Danuel House Jr. quickly pushed it to 24. That left the Rockets 10:45 to make the 3-pointers needed to break their record for 3s in a game.
No way the starters could miss that.
Well, they probably could. Most had departed for the locker room in the final six minutes in Sacramento on Tuesday when the Rockets tied their record, but no one seemed to object that night.
On Sunday, they got to watch, with Gary Clark making a pair of 3s in time for the Rockets to have the final three minutes to shoot for the record. That was when the home crowd that was still there – with many having also departed early for weight lifting and therapy – began calling for 3s.
Austin Rivers did not know how many the Rockets had made or that they were on the brink of the record until he heard the calls from the crowd. When he did, he decided he would do the honors. He dropped in the Rockets' 27th 3-pointer of the night with 1:09 left on a stepback 3 off the dribble, replacing Michael Carter-Williams as the trivia answer to the question, 'Who made the 3-pointer to break the single game team record for 3s in a game?"
Now, how could anyone miss that?
1. With the Rockets down to their final game, the playoff seeding scenarios have at last become clear.
Their win on Sunday kept them in third place in the Western Conference standings. But the Trail Blazers ran past the Nuggets (playing without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Paul Millsap) with a 17-3 finishing kick.
If the Rockets beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, they can move up to the second seed if the Nuggets don't win both remaining games, against the Jazz and Timberwolves.
If the Rockets and Nuggets win out, the Rockets would be the third seed, regardless of what the Blazers do.
The Rockets, however, might need to win. The Blazers win on Sunday moved them to a half-game behind the Rockets with the tie-breaker. They should win their final games, against the Kings and Lakers. If they do and the Rockets lose to the Thunder in Oklahoma City, the Blazers would catch them in the standings and be the third seed, dropping the Rockets to fourth.
In keeping with how tight this race has been, the Rockets could still be anywhere from second to fourth even if they lose on Tuesday. If the Rockets lose and the Blazers win twice, both finishing with 53 wins, the Rockets would be the second seed if the Nuggets lose both of their remaining games.
That seems unlikely, however. To avoid finishing in the bracket with the top-seeded, defending champion Warriors, the Rockets likely have to win on Tuesday.
An argument can be made that the Rockets might be better off facing the Warriors, assuming both win their first-round series, sooner, rather than later. They can be fresher and more likely to be at full strength. That also diminishes the chances of the Warriors going through any kind of grind to get there.
The Rockets will not think that way. They will go to Oklahoma City with intentions of beating the Thunder. They will arrive in third with the Thunder sitting sixth as their first-round matchup if the standings don't change. The Thunder have a half-game lead on the Clippers and Spurs, so things can change.
If nothing else, the Rockets go into their final game of the season knowing that they will play the Thunder in the first round. Or the Jazz. Or the Clippers. Or the Spurs.
2. The Rockets' romp past half the Suns and the 3-point record that fell would seem to be the result of a good shooting night against a bad team.
That was a large part of it. That was not, however, where it began.
The Suns had a clear strategy. They double-teamed James Harden as he crossed mid-court. He still got hot and finished with 30 points (along with 13 rebounds, nine assists and two steals.) He finished off another milestone accomplishment, joining Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals in a season.
Harden, however, got his final burst of scoring – with 14 points in his final four minutes on the floor – when the game was already a blowout.
The Rockets obliterated the Suns long before that because when he moved the ball away from the double teams, the Rockets went four-on-three and have gotten much better at it.
That often meant Clint Capela handling the ball in the middle of the floor, drawing the defense and sending passes out to the three-point line. It meant Chris Paul playmaking, sometimes getting the ball back to Harden to go to work when no longer surrounded. It meant an unusual number of "hockey assists" for a team that usually sees switching defenses and goes one-on-one.
The Rockets' 27 3-pointers were the most a team has ever made in a game. But their 34 assists were the most they have collected this season. They did it with just nine turnovers.
The Rockets likely won't see many teams go to the Suns' extremes to defend Harden. But there are other things teams do to get the ball out of his hands. The Rockets' ability to move the ball will be tested in other ways. It could not have gone better than it did on Sunday. They also shot well.
3. The Nuggets benched arguably their three best players – Jokic, Murray and Millsap – on Sunday and then benched Gary Harris, Monte Morris and Will Barton for the fourth quarter.
Assuming Harris, Morris and Barton did not suddenly take on loads that needed to be managed, this seemed to be an apparent attempt to take advantage of the playoff seedings and tie-breakers to potentially avoid a second-round matchup with the Rockets should both advance out of the first round.
The Nuggets can win their way to the second seed. The Rockets could fall to fourth. That's far from certain and the Nuggets could lose and end up costing themselves homecourt advantage in a second-round series, but they seemed OK with taking that chance. They rested key players and might have successfully manipulated the brackets.
There is nothing wrong with that. Even if the Nuggets did not have to still earn it, as if their 53-27 season so far did not earn plenty, there is nothing wrong with a strategy that they believe is in their best interests.
The Bucks might sit their regulars in the season finale against the Thunder, a decision that could impact teams battling Oklahoma City for playoff position but not hurt the Bucks at all. And that's fine, too.
Teams at this time of the season should do what works for them. Other than any consideration of giving the customers what they pay for – the Blazers fans seemed OK with not getting to watch Jokic's passing for a night – strategies like the Nuggets' on Sunday are fair game.
Besides, they could have lost to the Blazers on the road, anyway. Now, they will be well-rested while playing the Jazz and Timberwolves to close the regular season.
The Rockets rested by getting a fourth consecutive blowout with no one playing 30 minutes. In the past eight games, only Harden has averaged more than 30 minutes (31.9) and in the four blowouts he's knocked that down to 29.5.
That was not as imaginative a way to do it as the Nuggets pulled off. But if the Nuggets did it and booted a game in the process, they did what was in their best interests, which is what teams are supposed to do. It would make things even more interesting, however, if the Rockets and Nuggets should meet again.
Well, that's a way to inspire the Rockets starters to stick around.
Actually, they probably won't be able to take off early again this season with the regular-season finale in Oklahoma City before the playoffs begin next weekend, anyway. But after the to-do that was made of the Rockets regulars lifting weights and melting ice in the fourth quarter of the blowout of the Knicks on Friday, they stuck around to see their bench take over for whole of the fourth quarter against the Suns on Sunday.
They were well-entertained. They had staked the bench to 22 3-pointers through three quarters and Iman Shumpert and Danuel House Jr. quickly pushed it to 24. That left the Rockets 10:45 to make the 3-pointers needed to break their record for 3s in a game.
No way the starters could miss that.
Well, they probably could. Most had departed for the locker room in the final six minutes in Sacramento on Tuesday when the Rockets tied their record, but no one seemed to object that night.
On Sunday, they got to watch, with Gary Clark making a pair of 3s in time for the Rockets to have the final three minutes to shoot for the record. That was when the home crowd that was still there – with many having also departed early for weight lifting and therapy – began calling for 3s.
Austin Rivers did not know how many the Rockets had made or that they were on the brink of the record until he heard the calls from the crowd. When he did, he decided he would do the honors. He dropped in the Rockets' 27th 3-pointer of the night with 1:09 left on a stepback 3 off the dribble, replacing Michael Carter-Williams as the trivia answer to the question, 'Who made the 3-pointer to break the single game team record for 3s in a game?"
Now, how could anyone miss that?
1. With the Rockets down to their final game, the playoff seeding scenarios have at last become clear.
Their win on Sunday kept them in third place in the Western Conference standings. But the Trail Blazers ran past the Nuggets (playing without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Paul Millsap) with a 17-3 finishing kick.
If the Rockets beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, they can move up to the second seed if the Nuggets don't win both remaining games, against the Jazz and Timberwolves.
If the Rockets and Nuggets win out, the Rockets would be the third seed, regardless of what the Blazers do.
The Rockets, however, might need to win. The Blazers win on Sunday moved them to a half-game behind the Rockets with the tie-breaker. They should win their final games, against the Kings and Lakers. If they do and the Rockets lose to the Thunder in Oklahoma City, the Blazers would catch them in the standings and be the third seed, dropping the Rockets to fourth.
In keeping with how tight this race has been, the Rockets could still be anywhere from second to fourth even if they lose on Tuesday. If the Rockets lose and the Blazers win twice, both finishing with 53 wins, the Rockets would be the second seed if the Nuggets lose both of their remaining games.
That seems unlikely, however. To avoid finishing in the bracket with the top-seeded, defending champion Warriors, the Rockets likely have to win on Tuesday.
An argument can be made that the Rockets might be better off facing the Warriors, assuming both win their first-round series, sooner, rather than later. They can be fresher and more likely to be at full strength. That also diminishes the chances of the Warriors going through any kind of grind to get there.
The Rockets will not think that way. They will go to Oklahoma City with intentions of beating the Thunder. They will arrive in third with the Thunder sitting sixth as their first-round matchup if the standings don't change. The Thunder have a half-game lead on the Clippers and Spurs, so things can change.
If nothing else, the Rockets go into their final game of the season knowing that they will play the Thunder in the first round. Or the Jazz. Or the Clippers. Or the Spurs.
2. The Rockets' romp past half the Suns and the 3-point record that fell would seem to be the result of a good shooting night against a bad team.
That was a large part of it. That was not, however, where it began.
The Suns had a clear strategy. They double-teamed James Harden as he crossed mid-court. He still got hot and finished with 30 points (along with 13 rebounds, nine assists and two steals.) He finished off another milestone accomplishment, joining Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to average at least 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals in a season.
Harden, however, got his final burst of scoring – with 14 points in his final four minutes on the floor – when the game was already a blowout.
The Rockets obliterated the Suns long before that because when he moved the ball away from the double teams, the Rockets went four-on-three and have gotten much better at it.
That often meant Clint Capela handling the ball in the middle of the floor, drawing the defense and sending passes out to the three-point line. It meant Chris Paul playmaking, sometimes getting the ball back to Harden to go to work when no longer surrounded. It meant an unusual number of "hockey assists" for a team that usually sees switching defenses and goes one-on-one.
The Rockets' 27 3-pointers were the most a team has ever made in a game. But their 34 assists were the most they have collected this season. They did it with just nine turnovers.
The Rockets likely won't see many teams go to the Suns' extremes to defend Harden. But there are other things teams do to get the ball out of his hands. The Rockets' ability to move the ball will be tested in other ways. It could not have gone better than it did on Sunday. They also shot well.
3. The Nuggets benched arguably their three best players – Jokic, Murray and Millsap – on Sunday and then benched Gary Harris, Monte Morris and Will Barton for the fourth quarter.
Assuming Harris, Morris and Barton did not suddenly take on loads that needed to be managed, this seemed to be an apparent attempt to take advantage of the playoff seedings and tie-breakers to potentially avoid a second-round matchup with the Rockets should both advance out of the first round.
The Nuggets can win their way to the second seed. The Rockets could fall to fourth. That's far from certain and the Nuggets could lose and end up costing themselves homecourt advantage in a second-round series, but they seemed OK with taking that chance. They rested key players and might have successfully manipulated the brackets.
There is nothing wrong with that. Even if the Nuggets did not have to still earn it, as if their 53-27 season so far did not earn plenty, there is nothing wrong with a strategy that they believe is in their best interests.
The Bucks might sit their regulars in the season finale against the Thunder, a decision that could impact teams battling Oklahoma City for playoff position but not hurt the Bucks at all. And that's fine, too.
Teams at this time of the season should do what works for them. Other than any consideration of giving the customers what they pay for – the Blazers fans seemed OK with not getting to watch Jokic's passing for a night – strategies like the Nuggets' on Sunday are fair game.
Besides, they could have lost to the Blazers on the road, anyway. Now, they will be well-rested while playing the Jazz and Timberwolves to close the regular season.
The Rockets rested by getting a fourth consecutive blowout with no one playing 30 minutes. In the past eight games, only Harden has averaged more than 30 minutes (31.9) and in the four blowouts he's knocked that down to 29.5.
That was not as imaginative a way to do it as the Nuggets pulled off. But if the Nuggets did it and booted a game in the process, they did what was in their best interests, which is what teams are supposed to do. It would make things even more interesting, however, if the Rockets and Nuggets should meet again.
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