Harden's health not only concern against Warriors
James Harden, a two-time league scoring champion and perennial MVP candidate, arrived for practice on Thursday with eyes nearly as bloody and impaired as they were for most of Game 2 in Oakland, with Harden declaring his condition better although he certainly didn't look the part. Still, taking into consideration the damage incurred by their best player, the Rockets returned home for Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Golden State Warriors facing problems greater than Harden and his compromised vision. On Saturday at Toyota Center, they must correct two issues that stalled their growth during the regular season. Even if Harden can see clearly enough to shoot and pass with confidence, the Rockets will likely fall into an 0-3 series hole if they don't rebound the ball with greater effectiveness and display a level of ball security necessary to compete with the two-time reigning league champions. "We know that they're champions, but we're losing the game because -- it's real simple -- they're taking more shots at the basket than we are," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We're actually shooting a little bit better but they're taking more shots, and they're doing it because we have too many turnovers and we're not rebounding the basketball. And we've got to cure those two problems. "If we do that, we'll be fine. If we don't, obviously the series is not going to be as good as we want it to be." The Rockets committed 31 turnovers over two games at Oracle Arena and, combined with their woeful defensive rebounding, fueled a Golden State offense that has been less efficient shooting-wise. Houston actually carved out a 54.6 effective-field-goal percentage over Games 1 and 2, slightly better than the Warriors' 53.6 eFG percent. But Golden State is plus-15 in field-goal attempts largely because of the Rockets' wayward ballhandling and the Warriors' offensive rebounding rate. Golden State has corralled 26 offensive boards, or 30.2 percent of its misses. Even with their edge in shooting the basketball, the Rockets do need more offensively, especially from their complementary performers. Harden has shot poorly (38.3 percent) against the army of skilled defenders the Warriors usually funnel in his direction, but he is averaging 32.0 points and 5.0 assists this series. What Houston needs more of are contributions from center Clint Capela. The Warriors have effectively siphoned off the rim against Capela, essentially removing the threat of him catching lobs. As a result, Capela totaled only 18 points during Games 1 and 2. "I think you've just got to pick and choose your spots," Warriors forward Draymond Green said of how Golden State defends Capela and the rim. "It's not an exact science. They're great at that, so it's not something that you're going to take away the entire game. It's not something that you're going to be flawless at the entire series. "But if you can kind of keep those to a minimum you give yourself a better shot at beating those guys because it's an important option of their offense that you could possibly limit. You can't necessarily take it away because Capela still caught some lobs in this series. But if you can limit it, you give yourself a much better chance." For Houston, there are adjustments to be made. In order to wrestle away a competitive advantage, the Rockets realize that they must push back against the Warriors' defensive might. "It's something that we've all got to bear the burden of, doing what we do -- period," Rockets forward P.J. Tucker said. "We play the way we play and we're going to continue to play the way we play. Everybody has to step up." --Field Level Media |