Houston Rockets can’t beat Golden State Warriors at their own game

If the last two NBA Playoffs have proven anything, the Houston Rockets aren’t capable of beating the Golden State Warriors at their own game.

The Houston Rockets have been obsessively attempting to maximize the system the Golden State Warriors created. While they have seen much success with their space-and-pace style, the Rockets continue to find time and time again that nobody can replicate this system quite like the Dubs.

Houston’s front office has made it no secret that they want to beat Golden State. In fact, they have even alluded to building their team specifically with the goal of taking down the Warriors. The importance of 3-point shooting and wing defenders have been the primary building blocks to this team.

In many ways, Houston has been amazing at replicating the Warriors style. Obviously, they changed a few things. For example, no one on the Warriors roster has the workload or greenlight that James Harden has.

This season the Rockets led the entire league in 3-point shooting. With over 1300 shots from deep, the Rockets have set the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a season for three consecutive seasons. So, I would say they are pretty good at this style of basketball.

However, the Rockets are not capable of beating the Warriors at their own game and they have learned this lesson once again in Game 1. While the Warriors shot a poor 31.8 percent from the 3-point line, they still bested the Rockets who shot just 29.9 percent from deep.

Where things get really interesting is the fact that the Dubs attempted only 22 shots from beyond the arc while Houston tried a whopping 47. This is far too many attempts from deep for a team shooting below 30 percent in the game.

This is not an outlier for Houston. As many remember, the Rockets missed an NBA record 27 consecutive 3-pointers in Game 7 of last years Western Conference Finals. Unlike the Dubs, Houston simply doesn’t understand when to switch up the game plan.

This is a credit to the brilliance of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. If the 3-point shot isn’t falling, they will find a different way to beat you. In contrast, Houston is pretty much living and dying by the jump shot.