NBA PLAYOFFS
Fred Faour: 5 quick observations from the Rockets' series clinching win over Minnesota
Apr 25, 2018, 11:09 pm
Clint Capela had a big series for the Rockets. Houston Rockets/Facebook
The Rockets advanced to the second round with an 122-104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Rockets won the series 4-1 and will face either Utah or Oklahoma City in the next round. Here are five quick observations from Wednesday night’s win:
Halftime adjustments. For the second straight game, the Rockets flipped the game in the third quarter. They did not score 50, as they did in Game 4, but they erased a four-point deficit and entered the fourth quarter up 11. James Harden, awful in the first half, scored 15 and finished with 24 for the game. The Wolves scored just 15 in the quarter, so it was adjustments on both sides of the ball. Give some credit to Mike D’Antoni.
Timmmbbbeerrrr! (Sorry, could not resist). The Wolves played as well as they could have hoped for in the first half. Harden and Chris Paul were terrible. Karl Anthony Towns was a dominant force for the Wolves. Jimmy Butler came to play. And the Wolves only led by 4. This is a good team, but they simply had to have everything go right to win a game. It did in the first half, and they could not separate themselves. It came back to haunt them. If the Wolves are to take the next step, they need Andrew Wiggins to become more engaged and more consistent. He scored just 14 points in the elimination game and often looked out of sorts. Five of those came in garbage time.
Depth, numbers. While Harden and Paul struggled early, the Rockets got solid efforts from Trevor Ariza (16 points), P.J. Tucker (15), Clint Capela (26, 15 rebounds) and Eric Gordon (19). Capela continues to be a terrific finisher at the rim. The Rockets lesser lights held down the fort until Harden found the range, and when he did, it was over.
Raising their game. Yes, the Rockets won the series relatively easily, but they will need to play better moving forward. OKC or Utah might not be much tougher than the Wolves, but the Warriors are the real target, and the Rockets will need to be better. Positives: they controlled the boards, 40-38, even with Minnesota playing both Towns and Taj Gibson at the same time. Also, the Rockets only had four turnovers. Those factors and more consistency on offense will give them a puncher’s chance against the Warriors.
Versatility. The Rockets won their four games in different ways. Game 1 was all Harden. Game 2 he could not buy a shot, but the Rockets got it done. In Games 4 and 5, they did it with third-quarter outbursts and lockdown defense. They can score in transition. They can hit 3s. They can score in the half court on the pick and roll or in isolation. They were far from perfect in this series, and yet it was never in doubt. The Wolves might have been the third-best team in the West when Butler was healthy, and they were never a threat. It bodes well moving forward.
How 3 major x-factors could tip the scales in Texans-Colts: Week 1
Sep 5, 2024, 7:27 pm
Each football game of a season carries much more weight than one game in a 162 Major League Baseball schedule. That reality, combined with the National Football League campaign opening and with it the most anticipated season in Texans’ history, the Astros are relegated to second banana this weekend. Just the way it goes despite the Astros’ phenomenal extended run from 10 games out of first place in mid-June to now having control of the American League West race and a likely (though definitely not yet certain) eighth consecutive year of postseason play.
It is reality that getting swept out of Cincinnati cost the Astros two games in the standings to Seattle the last two days and trimmed their division lead to four and a half games going into this weekend. There was nothing shameful about getting swept. It’s not as if they choked. They got outplayed and beaten in all three games. Stuff happens within a 162-game season. The 2019 Astros were vastly better than the 2024 Astros. The 2019 ‘Stros posted the best record in franchise history at 107-55. In Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole they had the two best pitchers in the AL. The Reds finished 75-87 in ’19. In the lone Astros-Reds series five years ago, Verlander and Cole started two of the three games. The Reds swept the Astros out of Cincy by scores of 3-2, 4-3, and 3-2. Stuff happens. The following week the Astros called up Yordan Alvarez. There is no Yordan coming to fortify the offense now, but wait! Is that Kyle Tucker's music?
The Astros host the NL champs this weekend
It’s highly unlikely but it’s still a possible World Series preview at Minute Maid Park this weekend with the Astros home for three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The reigning National League Champions woke up under .500 July 11, but since then have been sizzling with 33 wins against just 15 losses. Over the same time frame the Astros are 27-21. The Diamondbacks by a large margin have scored the most runs in MLB this season, and that’s while playing the last nearly three weeks without Ketel Marte because of a high ankle sprain. Marte has been far and away the best second baseman in the game this year. He may return this weekend in a designated hitter role. The Arizona offense overall has been sensational, however it has vulnerability against left-handed pitching, in significant part because it typically takes lefty-hitting platoon beast Joc Pederson out of the lineup. The D’Backs are 55-35 in games facing right-handed starters, just 24-27 in games started by opposing southpaws. The Astros have lefties Framber Valdez and Yusei Kikuchi set to go in the first two games this weekend. While the Astros deal with the Diamondbacks the Mariners are in St. Louis for three against the Cardinals.
Eleven Diamondbacks have had at least 200 plate appearances this season. Only one of them has an OPS below .725. The Astros also have 11 guys with at least 200 PAs. Five of them lug around sub-.715 OPSes: Jeremy Pena (.714), Jake Meyers (.664), Mauricio Dubon (.645), Jon Singleton (.697), and Chas McCormick (.566).
Maximizing Tucker's return
Speaking of returns, Tucker fiiiiiiinally should see action for the first time since his June 3 bone bruise. Oh wait, broken leg. Shame on the Astros for their BSing over this and other injuries. Yeah, Alex Bregman slept funny. Whatever. To boost the lineup Tucker doesn’t have to be the .979 OPS MVP candidate he was when felled. Ben Gamel has done some good work, but over time he’s Ben Gamel. Same for Jason Heyward. If Tucker's legs are under him his power is a B-12 shot and only Yordan is in his league in on-base percentage. Joe Espada has decisions to make as to how slot the batting order. Against a right-handed starter Jose Altuve, Tucker, Alvarez, Yainer Diaz, Bregman one through five makes sense with Tucker dropping down below Yainer against a left-handed starter. No question those are the top five in some order. How much of a workload Tucker is ready for bears watching. Presumably he doesn’t initially play the outfield day in day out. When Tucker DHs obviously Bregman (and Yordan) can’t so Alex’s ailing elbow holding up is key. One might say hopefully the bone chips don’t fall where they may. Tuesday the Astros start a stretch playing 16 days in a row.
Keep hope alive!
If you’re an Astros fan holding out hope of chasing down the second seed to avoid having to play the best-of-three Wild Card series, say it with me, whatever nausea it may induce: “Go Dodgers Go!” Hurt as it might, business is business. The Dodgers play host to the Guardians. The Astros trail Cleveland by five games with just 22 to play, but do finish the regular season with three games at Cleveland. It's pretty much over for the Astros to catch both the Orioles and Yankees.
Season-long trends mean nothing once the playoffs start, and that’s a good thing for the Astros provided they are in the playoffs. They continue to flat out stink in close games. Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds has the Astros record in one-run games at 15-24. In two-run games they are 10-14. Correlatively, the Astros also continue to routinely fail late in close games. The Astros have played 14 games that were tied after seven innings. They have lost 11 of the 14. In games tied after eight innings they are 7-13. Every team loses an extremely high percentage of games when trailing after eight innings, but the Astros haven’t pulled out a single game they’ve trailed going to the ninth. 0-50. Oh and fifty. But hey, the White Sox are 0-92!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.