Houston Rockets: 3 things we learned from Game 2

2. Quicker decisions leads to better offense

In Game 1, the Rockets, and James Harden in particular, nearly dribbled the air out of the ball. Harden and Paul seemed to forget about their teammates throughout parts of the game, and they decided to go one-on-one against Golden State’s elite defense on every possession.

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On top of that, Harden and Paul were dribbling the clock down to single digits before they decided to make a move. This led to multiple shot clock violations and last second Hail Mary heaves. In Game 1, the Warriors dribbled the ball 812 times. Harden and Paul somehow tallied 959 dribbles alone.

In Game 2, the Rockets still played iso heavy ball, but Harden and Paul got into the offense much more quickly. When the defense collapsed and they kicked the ball out to the perimeter, there was enough time on the clock to swing the ball until they found the open man.

This small shift in strategy led to an enormous amount of open looks for Houston’s 3-point shooters. It also got all of the other players a lot more touches and the Rockets scored way more points despite rough shooting nights for both Harden and Paul.

Next: No. 1