HOUSTON — Decisions, decisions.
The one made by the Golden State Warriors was easy. Stephen Curry's sprained right ankle wasn't worth the risk to toss him back out onto the court for a road test in Game 3 of the playoffs.
The one made by the Houston Rockets was a bit more difficult. A team that spent the entire 82-game regular season looking for excuses and the easy way out actually had to make a stand for what was left of their self respect.
As usual, the Rockets left that up to James Harden and, as is often the case, he delivered.
Ian Clark had just scored a fast break layup off a steal by Shaun Livingston when Harden pushed the ball up the court with no timeouts, forced his way down into the lane, turned and dropped in a 10-foot step-back jumper over Andre Iguodalathat was softer than a sigh and much, much harder than it looks.
"The last shot was typical of what James does," said Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff. "The move we've seen before, the finish we've seen before, holding the follow-through that we've seen before. You do get spoiled by it at times, but in these moments, the biggest of moments, you can't help but appreciate it.
Against a very good 1-on-1 defender, he was able to get to his spot, get his shot, and that's a shot he works on every single day.
– Rockets coach J.B. Bickerstaff on James Harden's game-winner
"The value of those two points in the first quarter or the value of them in the final minute of the game, those two points are much different. Against a very good 1-on-1 defender, he was able to get to his spot, get his shot, and that's a shot he works on every single day."
On a night of remembrance for a Prince, the Rockets gave their fans that bothered to show up at Toyota Center a faint reminder of what it was like to be kings and a reason to party like it was 1994 or '95. This just kept the Rockets from being pushed to the edge of a sweep. Still down 2-1 in the series, the task ahead does remain daunting.
That it came down to another late and heroic effort by Harden — 35 points, nine assists, eight rebounds — to get away with the 97-96 win says everything that one needs to know about the Rockets. They blew a 17-point lead and almost let the game get away several different times in the final minute.
It was loose, sloppy and downright ugly for so much of the night. But it had just enough of the intensity and drive that Bickerstaff had hoped for.
"They understand," Bickerstaff said. "It's the constant battle to try to get over that mentality and understanding the importance of it. You can't win at this level and not play that way. If you don't do those things. ... You can't put a number on how many small battles there are going to be. Whether it's the box-out battle, whether it's defending the guy coming off a screen, whether it's getting over a screen in a pick-and-roll situation. There's gonna be a ton of those small battles. The team that's gonna win this game and the team that's gonna win this series is the team that's going to win the majority of those small battles.
"At some point in time skill goes out the door and those things, the nasty things, the dirty work type things, that you have to do. And if you do more of them than your opponent you gotta like your chances of winning the ballgame."
Meanwhile the Warriors looked directionless and without a real sense of urgency in their second consecutive game without the reigning and soon-to-be back-to-back MVP.
Well, I'm not really encouraged. This is how we're supposed to play. We should actually play better. We made too many mistakes. Whether Steph is here or not, we should perform at a high level.
– Warriors coach Steve Kerr on his team's near comeback
The Warriors were careless with the basketball in the first quarter, giving up six turnovers that led to 10 points for the Rockets. They didn't move the ball crisply in the the offense and find the open spots in the defense to attack. They held the ball too long, making too many possessions 1-on-1 affairs that ended with forced, off-balance or just plain errant jump shots.
"Look, when you're missing your best player and 30 points from your offense, it means everybody else is going to have to pick things up and fill in," said centerAndrew Bogut. "But it doesn't mean that it's something that can't be done or is beyond us. We've won before when we've been missing one of us, even Steph."
They had, in fact, done that just three nights earlier in Game 2. But here came 7-for-20 shooting from Klay Thompson and seven turnovers by Draymond Green. Yet for all the things they did wrong, the Warriors were able to come back andtake the lead twice in the final 85 seconds and nearly stole off with a win through sheer force of will and a sense of who they are as defending champions.
"Well, I'm not really encouraged," Kerr said. "This is how we're supposed to play. We should actually play better. We made too many mistakes. Whether Steph is here or not, we should perform at a high level."
The Warriors have not lost twice in a row all season and they have not played three straight games without Curry.
"The next game has to be like we're playing a Game 7," said Rockets centerDwight Howard. "We have to come out like it's do or die. We didn't come into this series to win one game. We want to win the series. We've got put our mindset to win on Sunday."
Decisions, decisions.
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