Houston scored 93.2 points per 100 halfcourt plays in the regular season, 22nd out of 30 NBA teams per Cleaning the Glass. In Game 1 against Golden State, Houston scored 65.5 points per 100 halfcourt plays.

6 comments

1. Hopefully it’s game 1 jitters. We’re going to get swept otherwise.

2. It doesn’t help Rockets don’t have guards who can attack the rim consistently to create for themselves or others. That’s probably one of the biggest issues.

   It’s either they rely on the defense not being set such as the fastbreak.

   Amen has potential with his size and feel, but his handles need to improve.

3. This may sound counterintuitive given his clear nerves and struggles to handle in a crowd last night, but congestion in halfcourt is one reason why I think HOU should put ball in Amen’s hands more going forward against GSW.

   Dubs aren’t guarding him off-ball at all, but they’re also smart and experienced enough to be able to consistently take away the opportunities he normally gets as a cutter along baseline.

   Giving Amen more on-ball reps would mitigate the dire spacing issues a bit, while also giving Jalen and FVV the chance to get comfortable off spot-up opportunities. Not sure where HOU can go consistently for paint touches+kickouts other than Amen, and that’s the key to getting Dubs’ defense scrambled.

   That Amen was largely being guarded by Steph, potentially tiring him out, and seems like the only penetrator capable of drawing fouls are just more reasons he should take a larger offensive role against GSW.

   Not saying it’ll always be pretty. Just don’t know how HOU can pressure rim off-dribble and scramble defense consistently if Amen doesn’t shoulder more ball-handling duties.

4. Warriors been the best defense in the league since the ASB

5. it sure looked that way

6. This lends credence to the idea that the 85 point offensive output is more of a poorly-timed outlier.

   I would bet that stats would show that holding Golden State to 95 was more likely, and if they can’t produce any points outside of Steph and Jimmy Tomball, we should do well going forward.

   We owe it to the national media to team with Minnesota and eliminate the only two teams ESPN is rooting for. Not only would a Rockets/TWolves series be electric, but it would piss off the people who would rather see the entire NBA die before seeing Steph or LeBron lose.