Tonight the Houston Rockets take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. As the title states… this is a matchup that I think will go 7 games. Even though this is the only series to not start, I think that this will be the best matchup of this round. Two very different styles of basketball are going head to head, I think Houston has the edge.
Last round, I predicted the Rockets to beat the Thunder in 7 games, which they did. Throughout the series, there were a lot of positives as well as some glaring negatives that need to be fixed in order to take down the
The Bench Continues to Step Up Offensively
In this past series, it wasn’t always Harden or Westbrook getting buckets down the stretch. Time and time again, the bench showed up late and hit big time shots. To add, it wasn’t like they only showed up late in games, they were there the entire time. When more than 4 players who are not even in the top two in 3 point attempts are over 35%, it really improves your chance to win. Green, Covington, Tucker, House and McLemore are doing that for Houston. Even though these guys are not top tier shot creators, they fit really well into the system and are able to make contested catch-and-shoot 3’s. If Houston wants to win this series, their bench has to dominate LA’s bench.
The Defense is Great Right Now
Believe it or not, the Rockets have had the best defense in the playoffs. What everybody thought would be a huge flaw for Houston has turned into their best asset. Even James harden is stepping up his game on the defensive end. As good as he is on offense, in the bubble a lot of his late game heroics have been on defense.
The biggest X-factor on defense for the Lakers in this series will be Robert Covington. I say this because he will most likely be taking the majority role of guarding Anthony Davis. He is a bit undersized, but is known for playing better against bigger players. Now I know AD is an absolute beast, but the Rockets will be in great shape if RoCo can hold him to 25 or less.
One more focus for Houston in this series will be stopping LeBron James, obviously. Guys like Daniel House, Jeff Green and PJ Tucker will need to play some of the best defense of their life if they want to win this series. On top of that, I just do not know what type of LeBron we will see in this series. Yes he is playing great, but he is not dominating like the King of old, which is expected in year 17. If the wing tandem of the Rockets could hold Lebron to 20 or less, that would be a win for them.
The Ups and Downs of James Harden
As electrifying as Harden is, I thought I missed some of that in this series. Even though he was putting up points, it was not on great splits with all praise to Lu Dort. Like I said, a lot of improvement has been made on the defensive end, but this cannot result in a loss of offense. It needs to be added to his arsenal, making him that much more dangerous. Especially in this series, where he is playing against a much worse backcourt in Los Angeles. This is a series where if he is on his game, he could seriously carry the rockets past LA.
Westbrook Needs to Figure it Out
Coming off of injury, I want to cut him some slack, but I simply cannot. Russell Westbrook has come back and has been awful from the field. Shooting 41% from the field, 16% from deep (not a typo) and 50% from the line is holding Houston back. Westbrook is so explosive and can get by anybody in the league, he just needs to slow himself down at the rim and finish. Like I said earlier, this Lakers backcourt is weaker than OKC’s, so I think Westbrook too can shine, but will he? If he shoots like he did in this past series against the Lakers, I will really contemplate why they even traded for him in the first place.
The Bottom Line
When it comes down to it, basketball is a team game. Last series for the Lakers, it was easy for LeBron and AD to carry their team past the horrific Blazer’s defense. The Rockets are surprisingly deep and have a bunch of guys to fit in their system. It won’t be nearly as easy to carry this series against Houston. I have said it before and I will say it again, Houston has the capability to go to the WCF. This Lakers team is the next step and the Rockets will need to play lights out. I think they will.
Rockets in 7.