After suffering their 4th worst playoff loss in the Steve Kerr era in Game 3, the Golden State Warriors proceeded to handing the Houston Rockets their worst playoff loss ever and the worst playoff loss for a team with 65+ wins during the regular season.
Houston beat Golden State by 22 points in Game 2 but the Warriors returned the favor by almost doubling the Rockets’ winning margin with a 41-point win in Game 3. If the Rockets had worked their way back to the series with their win on Sunday, the Golden State Warriors put themselves in a pedestal all by themselves in Game 4.
Houston has one big problem right now and that’s Stephen Curry coming to life in Game 3. Curry had been struggling so bad that some people questioned if his knee ( or ankle ) is 100% healthy. Well, Chef Curry answered those questions in Game 3 and he left no doubt about anything else.
With Golden State threatening to blow the series wide open, Houston needs to put off the Curry fire while at the same time hope that Klay Thompson doesn’t catch fire himself. That’s not even counting limiting Kevin Durant, who has been deadly in the playoffs. Can the Rockets stop the juggernaut?
Check out the odds, our preview and pick for Game 4 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals.
For a while in Game 3, it looked as if Stephen Curry’s struggles were going to continue. The Warriors’ two times NBA MVP only had 5 points on 2-10 shooting, including 1-7 from three-point range. That was only the second time in Curry’s career where he’s missed five three-pointers or more in one quarter.
While he struggled to score, Curry played excellent defense in the first half. As the primary defender in 9 Houston plays, Curry limited the Rockets to 2-8 shooting with one turnover. He contested all but one of those shots and did not commit a single foul in the process. Defense isn’t what Curry is known for. But it got him going in the game and probably in the series moving forward.
Curry exploded for 18 points in the third quarter, going 7 of 7 from the field as the Warriors put blew the game wide open with another superb third quarter performance. Historically, the Warriors are explosive in third quarters and if Houston doesn’t want to get blown out again, they must be ready for that third-quarter storm.
Houston did a good job on defending Curry in the first two and a half games of the series as the Dubs’ all-star point guard struggled to shoot just 18-45 from the floor and 3-20 from three-point range. But in the second half of Game 3, Curry splashed for 26 points on 10-12 shooting including 4-5 from behind the three-point line. He’s caught fire and if Mike D’Antoni isn’t going to bring out the fire extinguishers in Game 4, the series will be over quickly.
With Curry doing the shimmy again, Kevin Durant got his much-needed rest. Durant learned what it was to be LeBron James when he single-handedly carried the Dubs in Game 2 with 38 points while the rest of the starters combining for just 35. Durant also averaged 37.5 points per game in Games 1 & 2 while taking 24.5 shots per game. In Game 3, Durant scored only 25 on 19 shots but he was definitely very happy with that.
Andre Iguodala took six shots in Game 3, the most attempts his has in the series. He finished with 10 points as did Draymond Green who also added 17 rebounds and 6 assists. Klay Thompson had another rough shooting night but he still finished with 13 points for the Dubs.
Despite Thompson’s current struggles ( he’s getting out of it soon, just like Curry ) the Warriors are now clicking on all cylinders. In Game 3, all five of their starters scored in double digits. It’s the first time in the ongoing playoffs that has happened. For Steve Kerr, that’s good news. For Mike D’Antoni, that’s a big problem.
Trevor Ariza, P.J. Tucker, and Eric Gordon combined for 68 points in Game 3 while shooting 23-33 from the field 12-18 from behind the three-point arc combined. That stat line was definitely very sexy but the big question after game two was if they could sustain that kind of torrid shooting. The answer was a resounding no.
After a playoff career-high of 22 in Game 2, Tucker scored only six points on five shot attempts. Ariza also scored six points on six shots while Gordon was held down to 11 points on 4-13 shooting. Combined, the three shot a measly 14-13 from three-point range and the Rockets made just 11 threes two days after hitting 21 trifectas.
In Game 1, Harden and Paul combined for 64 points while the rest of the team scored just 42 total points. In Game 2, the rest of the team already had 47 at the half and had a total of 84 after the game. The Rockets’ supporting cast had 52 in Game 3 but Harden and Paul only scored a combined 33 points, their lowest of the series.
James Harden’s 20 points and Chris Paul’s 13 in Game 3 were also their lowest of the series. The Rockets’ all-star duo combined to shoot just 12-36 from the floor, including 4-14 from the three-point area. They also committed a total of six turnovers. As a team, the Rockets had 20 turnovers, which were converted to 28 points by the Warriors. Houston only forced 8 turnovers and scored 8 points off them.
Harden and Paul’s struggles in Game 2 could be linked to Steve Kerr making the rockets dynamic duo work hard on defense. Paul led Houston with 19 plays as the primary defender while Harden was next at 16 plays. In the 16 plays where Harden was the primary defender, the Warriors made 8 field goals and five of them were either layups or dunks, Curry shot 4-6 over Harden and Durant 3-4 against his former OKC Thunder teammate.
If the Rockets are to get back in the series, Harden and Paul must play better not just individually but as a tandem. Both have had spectacular individual moments during the current playoffs but we haven’t seen them play their signature games which helped Houston become the #1 team in the NBA during the regular season.
When the Houston Rockets traded for Chris Paul this past summer, GM Daryl Morey called the NBA an ‘arms race’ and said that adding a prime Chris Paul to a prime James Harden gives them a real shot at chasing the juggernaut teams. Without mentioning names, Morey was specifically talking about the Golden State Warriors who romped away with their second NBA title in three years while going 16-1 in the playoffs. That’s the reason why people often refer to these current Rockets as ‘built to beat the Warriors’.
Houston topping the NBA with its franchise-best 65 wins this season was the first step in GM Morey’s goal. But the championship trophy isn’t awarded after 82 games. The championship season begins after the 82 games regular season and that’s why we are here in the Conference Finals.
The Rockets yielded precious home court advantage when they lost in Game 1. They made a statement with a 22 point drubbing of the Warriors in Game 2. But blowing out Golden State in Game 2 wasn’t enough. To prove that they were really built to beat the Dubs, they needed to win the very pivotal Game3, in Oakland. Well, they failed so miserably to do so.
If there were any doubts about the Warriors’ being the favorites to win this year’s NBA title, those are gone right now. Golden State stamped its class in Game 3 and with that, they have also broken the Rockets’ backs. With Game 4 at the Oracle Arena where the Warriors have won an NBA record 16 in a row and Stephen Curry just getting started, you bet the Warriors are also going to break the Rockets’ spirits in Game 4. We’re picking the Golden State Warriors to win Game 4 and pull away from the Rockets.
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