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Houston Rockets

James Harden agrees with coach Mike D'Antoni's assessment: Rockets 'played soft' in Game 3

Sam Amick
USA TODAY
Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) saves the ball during the second quarter against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) in game three of the Western conference finals of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena.

OAKLAND — During the three days between games in these Western Conference finals in which every angle of this Houston Rockets-Golden State Warriors matchup was analyzed, there was one talking point that was consistently used by both teams.

The team that plays with force, coaches and players on each side said, would be the victor.

So when Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni opted to call his team’s Game 3 performance “soft” after a 126-85 loss that was the worst in the franchise’s playoff history, it should have come as no surprise.

“We played soft, actually,” D’Antoni said afterward. “I mean, you can't do that with these guys. These guys are good. We still might not have won (without playing soft). If you want points, you have to play well. We didn't make shots early, we turned it over. It was not a very good game, and we're going to have to play a lot better on Tuesday.”

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There’s not a stat in the box score that refutes D’Antoni’s stance. The Rockets were outworked in every way, most notably on the defensive end where they’d made such impressive hay in Game 2 in Houston. Rebounds? A 49-41 Warriors edge. Turnovers? The Warriors, who had seven in the first quarter of Game 2, had just nine for the entire game. They forced Houston into 20 (which turned into 28 points) and finished with 11 steals to the Rockets’ three.

All of which explains why Rockets star James Harden wasn’t about to argue with his coach’s assessment.

“He's right,” Harden, who had 20 points on seven of 16 shooting, nine assists, five rebounds and four turnovers, said when asked about D’Antoni deeming them soft. “We weren't as aggressive as we needed to be. We started off the game pretty solid, and then we let them gain some confidence to end the first quarter. You know, but just defensively they didn't feel us and it showed tonight.

“Like I said, we just for whatever the reason was, we allowed them, especially like I said at the end of the first quarter, what did they have, 31 points, and the second half we came on too slow, too soft. Offensively we didn't have any thrust, and they exploited it. I think (Steph) Curry had 27 points in that second half (it was 26 of his 35), and we did a pretty good job in the first half. But, you know, you just can't allow it to happen.”

Chris Paul didn’t dispute D’Antoni’s view, either.

“Yeah, it's 22-22 right there in the first (quarter), and then it went to 31-22 (to finish the period),” said Paul, who hit just five of 16 shots and had a minus-18 rating. “Coach is right. We've got to be better. I think, you know, we've got to come out more aggressive. We were letting them hit first, you know what I mean? They were running their screens and all that stuff like that. I mean, we know that we're at our best when we're in transition and not taking the ball out the net. And tonight we were taking the ball out the net. We had 19 turnovers. That's uncharacteristic of us. We knew we were going to get a great game from them being back here at home, but we've got to be better Game 4 (at Oracle Arena on Tuesday).”

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick on Twitter. 

 

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