The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 119-107 in Saturday night’s third game to reduce Houston’s lead to 2-1.
Here are some conclusions:
Time for despair: Thunder coach Billy Donovan turned to his lineup to start the final quarter with Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroder, Danilo Gallinari and Steven Adams.
Donovan alternated the minutes between Luguentz Dort and Gallinari defeated in the game to exchange the opposite attack on the defense depending on the situation.
With 24.4 seconds to play, Paul committed a foul on James Harden when the two became entangled in a Rockets pass to Houston from 102-101. Due to the missing before the pass, Harden received a loose kick to put the Rockets forward 103-101.
Houston then threw the ball into the resulting within-limits pass and revised the game. The Thunder took the lead through two problems and Paul discovered Gilgeous-Alexander for a triple that put thunder forward 104-103 with 13.1 seconds to play.
Nerlens Noel committed a foul on Danuel House Jr. with 9.5 seconds to play. House made the first shot on the loose and missed the second one. Houston and Oklahoma City tied 104-104 after Paul missed a difficult setback ringing the bell.
Harden committed a foul a minute after overtime, and the Thunder ruled in the extra era thanks to Paul’s three-point clutch.
The guards are stepping up: Thunder’s Game 3 in the same way they finished Game 2, with a terrible offense.
OKC opened game 2 of 14 from the field, however, thirteen on-the-spot attempts saved the Thunder from a disastrous quarter. Then the Trio of Thunder Star Guards intervened.
Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder have accelerated speed offensively, in what Donovan has insisted since last week.
THE OKC offensive still did not look elegant as opposed to Houston’s defense, however, Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder scored problems in their own way.
For Paul, he’s in the midrange. Schroder used his speed to attack the hoop. Gilgeous-Alexander’s arsenal of smart finishers on display, and his last shot won the game.
The three guards scored at least 23 points.
Dort shines defensively: Harden missed his first seven triple attempts on Saturday night as Dort continued to hunt the Rockets star. Harden fired 3 out of 14 with Dort for him.
Harden, of course, discovered scoring tactics (38 problems in 27 shots), however, he captured the most of his problems when Dort wasn’t protecting him.
Dort had a defensive play midway through the last quarter when he stopped Harden’s practice until the hoop. Thunder won the ball after bouncing off Harden. Dort claps, giving himself a well-deserved ovation.
Even after missing the first game with a right knee sprain, Dort the Thunder’s most valuable player defensively.
On the other hand, the Rockets challenge him to shoot. Dort accepted the challenge, but failed his six triple attempts.
Improved Rotation: Donovan has gradually adjusted its rotation game through the game. He’s got eight players on Saturday night.
Hamidou Diallo, Terrance Ferguson, Abdel Nader, Mike Muscala and Andre Roberson stayed on the bench the game. Darius Bazley and Noel, the seventh and eighth men of OKC, played less than 15 minutes.
Green is coming back: Jeff Green kept hanging out with his old team.
Green hit a soft triple to give the Rockets a 95-93 lead. He then propelled a dump house to give the Rockets a 99-94 lead.
The Rockets’ eaves, who play most frequently in the substitute P.J. Tucker, scored 22 problems on the bench.