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Jermaine Every: 5 keys to victory for the Rockets against the Warriors

Jermaine Every: 5 keys to victory for the Rockets against the Warriors
This is a key series for Chris Paul and James Harden. Houston Rockets/Facebook

The Rockets and Warriors took care of business on Tuesday and will meet in the Western Conference Finals.

By finishing the regular season with the league’s best record, the Rockets have clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. In my honest opinion, home court doesn’t matter much when the opponent is as talented as the Warriors. They’ve been through the wars and proven capable of winning on the road. They even climbed out of a 1-3 deficit against the Thunder in Kevin Durant’s last year with Oklahoma City. He couldn’t beat ‘em, so he joined ‘em.

What will it take for the Rockets to topple the Warriors? Here are five keys:

1) Defense! Defense! Defense!

The Rockets defense improved greatly this season. Chris Paul, PJ Tucker, and Luc Mbah a Moute have been excellent additions on this end. Holdover Trevor Ariza no longer is looked upon as their best perimeter defender. Clint Capela raised his stock as a defender as well. He’s now a viable rim protector and solid rebounder. The Warriors won’t beat themselves unless…

2) Capitalize on turnovers

The Warriors will have uncharacteristic spells turning the ball over at an alarming rate. You would think a team with four All-Stars, great chemistry, and tremendous ball handlers wouldn’t be prone to this. They are averaging 16.7 turnovers per game. That’s seven more than the Rockets (9.7 for the mathematically precise). Every turnover must turn into Rockets points.

3) The Draymond Effect

Draymond Green recently admitted to purposely getting under opponents’ skin – a self-professed pain in the ass. The Rockets can’t let Green do his thing. They must ignore his shenanigans and tomfoolery. Vets like Paul and Tucker can help keep the Rockets stay focused when Green tries to sucker them into doing somethin’ stupid. Things like that can sway a game, which can swing a series.

4) 40 Percent-plus From Three

The Rockets are averaging 36.2 percent from 3-point land in these playoffs. You can look it up, the Rockets win when they shoot better than 40-percent beyond the arc and hold their opponent below 30-percent. No doubt the Warriors have more prolific scorers, but the Rockets love to spread the wealth when it comes to shooting from long range.

5) Eric Gordon Must Outperform Klay Thompson

No one is disputing that Thompson is a dynamic offensive threat. He can lead the Warriors in scoring any given game. However, Eric Gordon is a Sixth Man of the Year award winner. He can be a deadeye scorer when he’s hot, an albatross when he’s not. If Gordon can outperform Thompson in offensive production, and contribute on the defensive end, the Rockets stand a good chance of getting past Golden State.

The Warriors have championship pedigree, star power, and firepower to overcome just about any obstacle thrown their way. However, there are a couple below-radar factors that will determine this series’ winner. One is health. The Rockets have been relatively healthy all year, while the Warriors have battled through injuries to key players. Another is home-court advantage. Joel Blank laid out his challenge for Rockets fans to arrive early and get loud. We know that Oracle Arena in Oakland is a hostile environment. Let’s turn Toyota Center into a house of horrors for the Warriors.

 

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The Texans will look to get back on track this Sunday against the Colts. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are looking for answers after their passing game couldn’t get going in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Houston’s passing attack had been a strength all season, and the Texans ranked fifth in yards passing per game through their first six games. But on Sunday at Lambeau Field, Stroud was limited to a career-low 86 yards in the 24-22 loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Stroud was 10 of 21 and didn’t have a touchdown pass for the first time this season. The second-year player was under duress for much of the day and was sacked four times and hit seven other times.

“We have to go back to the drawing board and see what those issues were,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “As we watch the film, we’ll see what happened, starting for me the communication and just guys being on the details of the job.”

The Texans scored a season-high 41 points in a win over New England a week earlier in which Stroud threw a season-best three touchdown passes despite being without star receiver Nico Collins.

They were unable to replicate that success Sunday with Collins out for the second of at least four games after a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve.

Stefon Diggs led the team with five receptions against the Packers, but they only amounted to 23 yards. Tank Dell, who the Texans expected to step up with Collins out, was targeted four times but didn’t have a catch.

Stroud discussed the importance of getting Dell more involved in the offense.

“We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there,” he said. “It has to be a focus for us, not only just him, but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”

Ryans spoke about his confidence is getting Dell going.

What's working

The Texans have forced seven turnovers combined in their last two games after they hadn’t caused any in their previous three games.

Houston scored 16 points off three turnovers Sunday. The Texans had two interceptions and recovered a fumble on a punt. In their win over the Patriots, they scored 17 points off a season-high four turnovers.

What needs help

The Texans won’t get to where they want to be this season if Stroud doesn’t get back on track. Before Sunday, last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year was averaging more than 262 yards passing a game, giving the team confidence that the problems in the passing game are fixable.

Ryans knows the line must give Stroud more time to throw and said the coaching staff will focus on improving in that area this week.

Stock up

RB Joe Mixon continued to shine Sunday in his second game back after missing three games with an ankle injury. Mixon, who is in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati, had 25 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay.

Mixon is confident the Texans will rebound this week if they quit making mistakes.

“Does it look I’m worried? I’m not worried at all,” he said. “Like I said, we got a ... good football team. At the end of the day, we are our own worst enemy.”

Stock down

Dell was unable to help Stroud get the passing game going. The second-year player had a solid rookie season with 709 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg. But he hasn’t been able to build on that success this year and has just 194 yards receiving with one score in six games.

Injuries

LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), LB Henry To’oTo’o (concussion), CB Kamari Lassiter (shoulder) and S Jimmie Ward (groin) all missed Sunday’s game and it’s unclear if any of these starters can return this week.

Key number

3 — Safety Calen Bullock had his third interception Sunday to tie Dunta Robinson and Jumal Rolle for most interceptions by a rookie in franchise history through the first seven games. He leads NFL rookies in interceptions this season and is tied for third-most among all players.

Next steps

The AFC South-leading Texans (5-2) return to division play Sunday when they host the second-place Colts (4-3), who have won two in a row and four of five.

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