The NBA playoffs and our lying eyes
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By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Sometimes nothing reveals less about NBA teams than the result from their previous playoff game.
Boston lost to Cleveland by 30 points in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, a couple of games after thrashing the Cavaliers by 25.
Golden State lost to Houston on Tuesday, a couple of nights after routing the Rockets by 41 points in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
You want to make grand proclamations and sweeping assessments after each 48-minute segment of a best-of-seven series? Go right ahead.
Just understand you run the risk of looking foolish.
The Warriors were shorthanded in Game 4, missing forward Andre Iguodala due to a knee contusion. Iguodala is a key cog in Golden State’s machine, not a star but the Finals MVP three seasons ago. Not normally a starter, but a fixture in the opening lineup since this postseason began.
His absence obviously hurt. But enough for his team to go from plus-41 on Sunday to minus-3 on Tuesday? There must be more behind the 95-93 defeat that evened the series and allowed Houston to recapture the homecourt advantage.
“There are just so many things that go into it,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters afterward. “Obviously you have to have great players, that is number one. It always is. But they believe in each other, they can get on each other and push each other and do all the right things and all from the right spot. Everybody just win, no matter what.”
That could be the motto of these conference finals: “Win, no matter what.”
For Houston, that means proving it has the mental toughness to complement its offensive firepower. For Golden State, it’s showing that regular-season apathy really can be flipped off with a switch.
For Cleveland, it’s demonstrating that LeBron James plus whoever else joins him on the floor is still good enough to beat all comers in the East. For Boston, it means overcoming youth, inexperience and the absence of two All-Stars.
The Rockets might have the most to prove, despite winning 65 games and setting a league record for 3-pointers. Perhaps no team in history has been so accomplished yet faced so many doubters.
Led by James Harden and Chris Paul – players with spotty playoff resumes – and D’Antoni – whose teams often play spotty defense – Houston faced familiar questions after Golden State’s 126-85 beatdown on Sunday. It was the worst loss in franchise history, leading to inquiries about the team’s resolve and style of play.
Apparently, only everyone outside the locker room wondered about those things.
“That third game was just one loss,” Harden told reporters. “We all know what that is. We’ve had the mentality that we were going to win Game 4. We talked about it, we preached it.”
Then they won it in unexpected fashion, overcoming a 12-point deficit while holding Golden State to 12 points in the fourth quarter. They snapped the Warriors’ 16-game winning streak at Oracle Arena and made Kevin Durant look average (at best) down the stretch.
“I’ve had an opportunity to learn in other series from veteran teams like the Spurs and whatnot in the past,” Paul told reporters. “Those losses where you lose by one or two, or if it’s 35-40, it’s one loss. So you bounce back. Thankfully we didn’t start this game down 30.”
They started it down 12-0 and were doubled-up in the third quarter (34-17) as Stephen Curry went off. He matched the Rockets’ total output in the frame while connecting on 5-of-8 shots behind the arc.
The crowd was going wild as Curry shook and shimmied. Houston was on the verge of falling into a 3-1 series hole and being written off as soft, showy, iso-heavy frauds. Then Curry went 1-for-8 and Durant went 1-for-5 in the fourth quarter and Golden State didn’t look nearly as shiny or invincible as two nights earlier.
“I don’t think the mindset is any different,” Curry told reporters. “We went in Game 1 and took care of business. We need to reset, put together a pretty solid, 48-minute game and steal one down there. We can regain control of the series if we go down there and play a complete game, and we’ve shown we can do it before.”
That’s the problem with these playoffs.
You’re never certain if the things we’ve seen before can be trusted to occur again.
— Brooklyn-born and Howard-educated, Deron Snyder writes his award-winning column for The Washington Times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Follow him on Twitter @DeronSnyder.
