The game-changing strategy of the 2nd half...

[coffee425]

...was when CBS decided to sick the dawgs on Houston. I'm talking about Rozier, Larkin, and Smart picking up the Rockets ballhandlers at full-court after made baskets in the 2nd half. I thought this was a highly underrated moment that changed the pace of the game.

Two factors to consider:
The Rockets were gunning at a ridiculous pace in the 1st half. The flow of their offense was honestly pretty amazing and every one of their shots were in rhythm. After the first quarter, the Celtics had to play catch-up for the rest of the half. When Brad decided to single-player full court press, it slowed the game down just enough to knock the Rockets from their pace. The guard depth on this team is perfectly designed for this scenario.

Without Chris Paul, the ball-handling on the Rockets are actually below average. They are limited to 2 ballhandlers, since all of their forwards/bigs are absolutely liabilities to put the ball on the floor. Harden and Gordon are good ballhandlers; and would typically be be okay against most teams. However, the physicality and annoyance of Larkin/Smart/Rozier were just enough to bother their two guards. Back to my original point of "pace", the way Harden and Gordon handle the press is only through creating space with their bodies. This style only delayed when the Rockets get into their offensive sets. Counter that with how Kyrie/Rozier/Larkin handle a press, it's simply to blow by their defender with speed. Not to mention that the Cs have probably the second best group of ball-handling bigs and forwards in the league (Warriors still the best).

I'm betting that other teams will do this against the Rockets until CP3 returns.

[Diggles]

That and they stopped switching as much..... What a fun melt down by James H!

[timpiker]

Great observations

[Chris22]

I don't know why more teams don't use full court pressure because of the 24 second shot clock.

[footey]

Houston played great defense first half which sapped their energy 2nd half. They seemed spent.

[mr. dee]

I don't know why more teams don't use full court pressure because of the 24 second shot clock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abCjTkOZ7jg

This type of playstyle is not sustainable for a 82-game season grind.

[coffee425]

I don't know why more teams don't use full court pressure because of the 24 second shot clock.

because most teams have a guard that will destroy your press. not to mention players that only need 2 steps to get from 3pt line to the rim.

houston just wasnt ready for it.

[Kevins Gamble]

Another key element I noticed was Baynes bodying up Rockets as they drove to the hoop.  In the first half, if the Rocket could get past their guy...they were almost always uncontested to the rim.  In the second half, they would often still get past their guys...but Baynes was always there to cut off any oxygen quickly and punish them for their life choice.  I thought that was a key contribution to getting the Houston scorers out of sync and chucking threes.  Gordon seemed especially uncomfortable when all he had left was forced long shots.