ROCKETS NEWS
Rockets-Thunder NBA Cup semifinal was a clash of defense
Dec 16, 2024, 11:12 am
The Thunder beat the Rockets, 111-96. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
It was midway through the third quarter of the Oklahoma City-Houston NBA Cup semifinal matchup on Saturday night. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had just made a short jumper in the lane and, to his delight, a time-out was immediately called.
He needed it.
He retreated to midcourt, crouched down, propped himself up by his fingertips and took deep breath after deep breath. It was that sort of night. And given the way the Rockets and Thunder have defended all season long, such a game was predictable.
In the end, it was Oklahoma City 111, Houston 96 in a game where the teams combined to shoot 41%. The immediate reward for the Thunder: two days off to recover. The bigger reward: a matchup with Milwaukee on Tuesday night for the NBA Cup, with more than $300,000 per player the difference between winning and losing.
“That's what defense does for you,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, whose team has held opponents to 41% shooting or worse a league-best 11 times this season — and is 11-0 in those games. “It keeps you in games.”
The Rockets-Thunder semifinal was basketball, with elements of football, rugby, hockey and probably even some wrestling thrown in. It wasn't unusual. It's how they play: defense-first, tough, gritty, physical.
They are the two top teams in the NBA in terms of field-goal percentage defense — Oklahoma City came in at 42.7%, Houston at 43.4% — and entered the night as two of the top three in scoring defense. Orlando led entering Saturday at 103.7 per game, Oklahoma City was No. 2 at 103.8, Houston No. 3 at 105.9. (The Thunder, by holding Houston to 96, passed the Magic for the top spot on Saturday.)
Houston finished 36.5% from the field, its second-worst showing of the season. When the Rockets shoot 41% or better, they're 17-4. When they don't, they're 0-5.
“Sometimes it comes down to making shots,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Especially in the first half, we guarded well enough. ... But you put a lot of pressure on your defense when you're not making shots.”
Even though scoring across the NBA is down slightly so far this season, about a point per game behind last season's pace and two points from the pace of the 2022-23 season, it's still a golden age for offense in the league. Consider: Boston scored 51 points in a quarter earlier this season.
Saturday was not like most games. The halftime score: Rockets 42, Thunder 41. Neither team crossed the 50-point mark until Dillon Brooks' 3-pointer for Houston gave the Rockets a 51-45 lead with 8:46 left in the third quarter.
Brooks is generally considered one of the game's tougher defenders. Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the game's best scorers. They're teammates on Canada's national team, and they had some 1-on-1 moments on Saturday.
“It's fun. It makes you better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That's what this league is about, competing against the best in the world and defensively, he is that for sure. And I like to think that of myself offensively. He gives me a chance to really see where I'm at, a good test. I'd say I handled it pretty well.”
Indeed he did. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 32 points, the fifth instance this season of someone scoring that many against the Rockets. He's done it twice, and the Thunder scored 70 points in the second half to pull away.
“We knew that if we kept getting stops we would give ourselves a chance,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And we did so.”
Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo has “no hard feelings” toward Amen Thompson after the Houston forward was ejected for pulling him down from behind by his head and neck Tuesday night.
The Bucks were down by two with about 4½ minutes left when Thompson committed the foul as Antetokounmpo went up for a shot in the lane. The play was reviewed and determined to by a flagrant foul 2 and Thompson was ejected.
Houston went on to a 100-97 victory that snapped Milwaukee’s four-game winning streak.
“At the end of the day like you don’t wanna have a league that’s soft,” Antetokounmpo said when asked about the play. “I love guys that play hard. I love guys that they’re great competitors.”
“I’m one of those guys,” he continued. “Sometimes your competitive nature gets in the way (of) making the best decision, the best judgment at the time. And I feel like he wanted to make it a hard foul, but he grabbed my neck. But there’s no hard feelings.”
Thompson didn’t speak to reporters after the game.
Antetokounmpo believes that plays like this one or simply part of the game.
“I understand like when you’re a competitor, you’re gonna make mistakes like that,” he said. “I love it. I love playing this way. I don’t have no hard feelings against him.”
Both Houston coach Ime Udoka and Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers agreed that Thompson should have been ejected for the foul.
Crew chief Tony Brothers explained the decision to eject Thompson to a pool reporter after the game.
“Because the contact to the head was both unnecessary and excessive and by rule that’s a flagrant foul penalty two,” he said.
It’s the second ejection this season for Thompson, who was also tossed in a December game against the Heat after throwing Miami guard Tyler Herro to the floor. The incident triggered an altercation between the teams which led to the ejections of six players and staff members.
Thompson, the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft, was suspended two games for his actions in that skirmish.