NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
Fred Faour: 5 quick thoughts on the Warriors' Game 3 rout of the Rockets
May 20, 2018, 9:21 pm
Steph Curry did not do much in the first two games, but he had plenty reason to smile Sunday night. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
The Warriors took a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals with a 126-85 rout of the Rockets on Sunday night. None of the three games have been close. All three games have been decided relatively early, and the fourth quarter has been meaningless. (Hey, at least it ended in time to watch the Astros' 3-1 win over the Indians). The Rockets will look to do what they did after their bad Game 1 loss and bounce back to even the series. First however, a look at Game 3:
When it was decided: The Rockets struggled in the first half and it proved costly. They managed to hang around early, but several missed layups and poor shooting led to a 11-point deficit (54-43) at halftime. The Warriors weren’t great, either, including 4 of 18 on 3s. But the Rockets scuttled along at 34.9 percent from the field and just 26.7 percent on 3s, and the real problem was nine turnovers to just four for the Warriors. The third quarter started with a 10-0 Warriors run that upped the lead to 21, and it eventually would get as high as 28. The Warriors outscored the Rockets 34-24 in the third quarter and that was that; the fourth quarter was basically garbage time.
Still no answer for Durant: Kevin Durant has been the best player in this series, and he was solid again Sunday night. He scored 25 on 9 of 19 shooting and came up with several clutch plays when the game was still in doubt. The Rockets have not slowed him down yet, and until they figure something out, he will continue to be a handful.
Curry up: Steph Curry has not been good in this series, and he was not great in the first half, starting just 2 for 13. But he cranked it up in the third quarter, starting with mostly layups and backdoor cuts, then he started hitting 3s, and the game just got ugly. He would finish with 35. If the Warriors are going to get great performances out of Durant and Curry, the Rockets have little chance.
Meanwhile, the Rockets stars…: Chris Paul hit a few shots in the second half, but overall he was well below average and finished with 13 points on just 5 of 16 shooting. James Harden was not much better with 20 points. He was 1 of 5 on 3s when it counted, and 2 of 6 overall. The Rockets simply can’t compete unless at least one of those two plays outstanding basketball.
The real killer: Turnovers. The Rockets finished with 19 to just eight for the Warriors, and Golden State converted those into 24 points. The turnover battle has been key in all three games. Both teams feed off the easy baskets and it helps get their offenses going. The Rockets did not protect the basketball, and it came back to haunt them.
The bottom line: You basically saw a repeat of Game 1, and now the Rockets will need a repeat of Game 2 to avoid going down 3-1, which would seem insurmountable. They need to clean up the turnovers and get better games from Paul and Harden, but another effort like Sunday will help hasten the end of the season.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
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