The Rockets would have had a much easier time in their first round series against the Thunder if Trevor Ariza had been able to hit his three-pointers. He wasn’t the worst offender; Ryan Anderson made three of them the whole series just like Ariza did, but needed eight more attempts to get there. So there were actually two guys slumping hard for the Rockets, one reason why they needed five games to take out the OKC Westbrooks.
What we saw in this blowout win against the Spurs is that if everybody on the Rockets plays well simultaneously, they cannot be stopped, unless you “forget” to turn on the air conditioning in the arena and afflict them all with painful cramps. As so many teams found out during the regular season, the Spurs’ found that their defense just couldn’t handle the multitude of three-point shooters on the floor at all times. LaMarcus Aldridge? More like LOLMarcus Aldridge. Kawhi Leonard? More like Kawhi LOLnard. Pau Gasol? More like LOL Galol. Manu Ginobili? More like Manu GinobLOL. I am LOLLING right now. Absolutely LOLLING.