All regular season games between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets took place before Clint Capela had been traded, so the Thunder didn’t get to face the full-time Rockets small ball before the playoffs started.
Oklahoma City lost its first two games of the series, but came out with a 119-107 overtime win in Game Three.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said he thinks Oklahoma City is starting to figure out how to better attack the Rockets’ switch-heavy defense.
“I think we’re starting to figure out how to play against their defense,” he said. “They’re the only team in the NBA that really plays like that, it’s something that we have to get used to.”
After scoring just nine points in the first game of the series, Gilgeous-Alexander had a 31-point outburst in Game Two and followed that with 23 points in Game Three.
Oklahoma City guards struggled to create space over the first two games against the Rockets. There wasn’t much room on the perimeter, and Houston was quick to crash into the paint for help defense when guards would drive.
With a quickened pace in Game 3, the Thunder were able to create better spacing, which helped on both jumpers and driving into the lane.
It wasn’t just Gilgeous-Alexander. Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder also had their biggest games of the series Saturday.
Schroder, who had a total of 19 points on 8-for-24 shooting over the first two games, had 29 in the third game.
Paul had 26 points, which included four 3-pointers and key baskets late.
Houston played this small-ball style frequently even before Capela was traded, so it’s not brand-new to the Thunder. Still, not getting a traditional big to attack off the dribble has hampered the Thunder, a team who thrives on finding favorable matchups through pick-and-rolls and allowing the guards to go to work on the slower defender.
After three games in a row against the Rockets, Gilgeous-Alexander thinks the Thunder have learned ways to attack Houston that weren’t apparent earlier in the series.
“I think we’ve figured it out,” he said. “(I’m) excited going forward.”
