Houston Rockets: 5 adjustments for Game 3 vs. the San Antonio Spurs
By Frank Urbina
2. Shoot more threes
May seem overly-simplified, but sometimes it’s best not to overthink things. The Rockets are a better team when they shoot more threes, so they should do just that.
In Game 1, Houston heaved 50 shots from beyond the arc. They made 22 of them and won by 27. In the following matchup, they only attempted 34, converted on 11 and lost by 25. Clearly, science is telling us they should stick to their bombs-away strategy. And science is never wrong.
During the regular season, the Rockets attempted at least 50 three-pointers 11 times, and won eight of those games. In outings in which they attempted fewer than 35 threes, they had a 10-6 record. Still okay, but a distinct drop-off from their 72.7 win percentage in games of the former variety.
Their record improves as they shoot more threes because they don’t exactly have a roster with too many pure three-point snipers. As a team in 2016-17, Houston was an all-too-average 35.7 percent from beyond the arc, which placed them 15th in the NBA. However, they attempted 3,306 threes on the year — the league’s highest total by 526 — and that helped them achieve the second-best offensive rating of the season, behind only the Golden State Warriors.
More opportunities help the Rockets settle the difference against the more accurate-shooting teams in the NBA. Though their ways may seem inefficient, they work.
The elephant in the room is that San Antonio allow the third-lowest frequency of three-point attempts in the league. But hey, that’s a problem for offensive savant Mike D’Antoni to figure out (and one that he has already solved once before in this series.)