Golden State Warriors: 3 takeaways from Game 7 vs. Rockets

2. We have to talk about the 3s

Writing a referendum on Houston’s “live by the 3, die by the 3” strategy immediately after it died by it is easy, but misguided. The Rockets both earned and made it to a home Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Their approach worked, in the regular season and in the playoffs.

By going up 3-2 against Golden State, they allowed themselves two chances at one hot shooting game to make the NBA Finals. It just did not happen. The Rockets went 11-for-22 from deep to open Game 6, but the next three halves were progressively uglier: 4-for-17, 6-for-23 and a series-defining 1-for-21 to close out Game 7.

Golden State, meanwhile, went 10-of-18 during those final 24 minutes. I generally try to avoid “they made more shots” analysis, but doing so here would be dishonest. We can credit Golden State for its terrific perimeter defense as well as its all-time great shot-makers, sure. But if the Rockets had been just normal-bad (5-for-21 let’s say) and the Warriors normal good (8-for-18), we would be talking about a nine-point Houston win rather than a nine-point loss.

It is important to have a backup plan if the 3s are not falling. Golden State does, as it can thrive in the midrange. Houston took a similar approach when the Utah Jazz took away their 3s, but failed to do so this series. Chris Paul‘s absence made that more difficult, but you would think Harden and Mike D’Antoni could make the adjustment after their team’s 10th, or 15th, or 20th, or 25th straight miss.

Ultimately though, there is a randomness to basketball, particularly to Game 7s. We have seen Curry and Klay Thompson go ice-cold in this setting. This time, their shots fell, while their opponents’ did not.