NBA Playoffs: Everything you need to know about Rockets vs Thunder
Key Question No. 2: Can Houston’s role players knock down 3-pointers?
No team relies more on the 3-point shot than the Rockets. Houston averages a league-high 45.3 3-point attempts per game. While Harden takes and makes his fair share of shots from behind the arc whether or not the Rockets role players to knock down shots from deep often determines the result of the game.
Houston has players like Tucker, Robert Covington, and Gordon who are good 3-point shooters but have struggled in Orlando. Tucker shot 35.8 percent from deep this season but has struggled to find his shot in the bubble, only shooting 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. Similarly, Covington, who shot 33.5 percent from 3-point range on the season, is only shooting 23.2 percent from deep in Orlando.
James Harden on Eric Gordon: "With Russ being out, we need Eric to step up and play big minutes and be aggressive offensively. We need his scoring, we need his playmaking ability, and we need him to be aggressive."
— Anthony Duckett (@a_duckett) August 15, 2020
Gordon, who has been one of the NBA’s best marksmen from downtown his whole career, has not been consistent from 3-point range this season, shooting only 31.7 percent from deep on the season and an extremely low 23.5 percent since February.
With Oklahoma City’s primary defensive focus being on Harden, especially since Westbrook is out to start the series, it will be up to these role players to get back on track and knock down open shots if Houston is to win this series.