Rockets in Must Win Situation in Game 3 Against Warriors

If Game 3 of the NBA Western Conference Finals is anywhere close to being like Games 1 and 2, hoops fan are in for another edge of your seat contest between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors.

Although Golden State enters the game on Saturday at Houston with a 2-0 series lead, this matchup has been nowhere near one-sided.

Houston blew a lead of 16 points in Game 1 and was able erase a deficit of 17 points in Game 2. Both games were decided by a total of five points.

After the Rockets last second loss in Game 2, they have to quickly regroup, as they cannot afford to lose Game 3 and fall behind 3-0 to the Warriors.

The odds are stacked against Houston. The Rockets have lost both games to start the series and are 0-6 against the Warriors since the start of the regular season.

After falling down 2-0 a comeback drops to just 10% in NBA postseason stats. Houston is coming off a 3-1 deficit against the Clippers but that effort could have taken too much out of their tanks and they just do not have the energy to win against the Warriors.

However, to write the Rockets off is ignoring how they have played in Games 1 and 2. Both losses easily could have been victories. However, to win the series the Rockets will have to beat Golden State in four of the next five games and Golden State has yet to lose four out of five games in any stretch all season. It is also unreasonable to think with a 2-0 lead, 67 wins during the regular season and two shy of their first NBA Finals since 1976 the Warriors would pack it in now.

Both teams have run off to big leads but squandered them. Houston lost its big lead and the game, while the Warriors lost their double-digit lead, but was able to hang on for the win.

Houston will have to play the defense they did to erase Golden State’s 17-point lead. They have to double team Stephen Curry to get him to pass the ball, they must take away as many of the 3-point opportunities by the Warriors as they can and they must play Jason Terry less minutes realizing his bad defensive play outweighs what little he has produced on the offensive end.

With a loss on Saturday, Houston will not recover to win this series.

James Harden has played incredible basketball for the Rockets, but can sometimes try to do too much. He has scored at will, rebounded, handed out assists and stolen the ball yet Houston has still lost both games.

Golden State seems content to allow Harden to run up his score knowing that playing 1 on 5 or 2 on 5 if Dwight Howard plays well, will not beat, 5 on 2.