The Rockets need Eric Gordon to continue his strong play in the playoffs

Eric Gordon was on a roll in March, lighting it up from the 3-point line. Can EG continue his stellar shooting for the Houston Rockets in the postseason?

After a prolonged shooting slump earlier in the season, Eric Gordon looked like his old self in the month of March.

The former Sixth Man of the Year winner averaged 16.8 points on 46.9 percent shooting from the floor and a sizzling 45.3 percent shooting from 3-point range in his 14 appearances in March. He managed to score in double-figures in all but one game, when he went scoreless against the Milwaukee Bucks, although he appeared to be hampered by an ankle injury.

More importantly, the Rockets finished 12-2 in Gordon’s 14 appearances in March. In Gordon’s only absence on March 20, the Rockets lost to the Grizzlies by a point. Besides the game in Memphis when Gordon sat out and the game against Milwaukee when he wasn’t 100 percent, Houston’s only loss came against the Warriors, a very formidable opponent.

Clearly, Gordon is an extremely important part of Houston’s offense. Furthermore, Gordon often defends star point guards on the opposing team in an effort to preserve Chris Paul for the postseason, so he has become increasingly important to the team’s defense as well.

When Gordon is connecting on his 3s, defenders have to think twice before leaving him to help on James Harden or Chris Paul. However, when Gordon, along with Houston’s other role players, are missing their shots, the Rockets’ offense becomes a lot easier to defend, as we saw in the game against Milwaukee.

Gordon was also one of the players who put up good numbers against Golden State in last year’s Western Conference Finals, averaging 19 points on 35 percent shooting from 3-point range in the seven game series.

If the Rockets want to go deep in the playoffs and beat the best in the west, Eric Gordon has to be one of the standout performers. Houston’s offense becomes nearly unstoppable when EG is clicking, as we saw in the month of March.