I was writing about the three over a month ago:
Now, during the playoffs it’s way different. Teams expect those shooters beyond the arc and will make sure they don’t get the ball that often. The shooter has all the pressure and that’s where shooting 3s becomes a curse: you miss one. You miss two. Four. It’s the playoffs. Not scoring leads to stressed AF really fast. Then you doubt. Should you try again? Should you pass, drive? If you hesitate, you lose.
It becomes a curse. You try to focus on making those 3s and suddenly your defense sucks hard.
The Rockets missed 37 threes and the Celtics missed 32 of those in game 7, showing that my theory about the three in the playoff was on point. If they don’t go in, the opposing team gets the rebound 70% of the time. Missed 3s totally ruin your mind and your defensive focus, and then you lose. Which also highlights how good the Warriors are (16 threes made on the road last night).
Those finals were ugly. Team basketball should have won the East: Boston definitely had the best basketball there. But then they shit the bed catastrophically and of course, LeBron. In the West, it made sense: ugly iso from Houston couldn’t win and I’m glad because it’s the ugliest basketball. Jesus, those dribbles.
This is also a reminder that stats don’t matter: the Rockets have had an amazing season. Harden and most of his teammates have great playoff numbers. It doesn’t matter now. It don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got no ring.