- 7 weeks ago
ITL reacts to Houston keeping the series alive and what it means moving forward.
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00:00It really does feel like the Rockets are being serious individuals.
00:04It's how you feel, right?
00:06If you didn't have confidence in the Rockets before, and I didn't,
00:10you know, I thought they would lose yesterday.
00:12I thought they would lose as well.
00:14I would like to say I had more confidence, though.
00:16I want to take my victory lap on that.
00:17Even if you didn't have confidence before, you shouldn't now,
00:20because my big thing with this game is it didn't feel flukish.
00:23It wasn't the Lakers stealing a game.
00:25It wasn't the Rockets, you know, maybe you're wondering,
00:27all right, can they replicate this or whatever.
00:31It felt like the better team was in control
00:34and doing all the right things throughout the whole game.
00:35They even withstood, you know, the little rallies as you want to get.
00:39They withstood the runs.
00:40They made the big plays down the stretch.
00:43They looked more cohesive, and I know that's a cliche, but they did.
00:49There was no part of it that felt flukish to me,
00:52and that to me alone should give you more confidence.
00:56And by the way, the boys, Sean and Seth, you know,
01:00broached this topic a little bit.
01:02The Lakers look like they're wobbling a little bit.
01:05They look like they're wobbling a little bit.
01:07They do, and I've got to give the Rockets credits.
01:10There's a decent amount of that that was imposed upon the Rockets
01:14or upon the Lakers by the Rockets.
01:16So, one, get involved with the program.
01:18713-572-4610 is the base power text line.
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01:24We keep it 100.
01:25The YouTube page is Sports Radio 610.
01:27The Twitch chat is 610 Houston.
01:29And, yes, it is stave off.
01:30S-T-A-V-E.
01:33It's a word that seemingly you only hear in the context of playoff series
01:37when a team is in a win-or-go-home situation
01:40and they manage to win the game.
01:41It's like, hey, they have staved off elimination.
01:43But that is what the Rockets did.
01:45And it feels like you could probably give credit to a lot of dudes, obviously,
01:49but two dudes in particular.
01:50And so, I'm going to do the sports radio thing.
01:53Bigger performance in your eyes.
01:55Is it the man who said this, Figgy Fig,
01:59because it felt like he had some level of validation?
02:02Jabarsna Jr., how did you feel about this team coming into this?
02:05You know, just stay with it.
02:08Be us, be aggressive, play free.
02:11You know, we're obviously the better team, I feel like.
02:14So, just knowing that, being confident, trusting our work.
02:17And, you know, he's just telling us to be us.
02:20Why do you think you're the better team in this series?
02:22We? Us?
02:23I just feel like from top to bottom.
02:25You can say that's an opinion, you can say I'm biased,
02:27but I just think we're the better team.
02:29But he was like, I said that, I got to back it up.
02:3222 points, seven rebounds, three assists,
02:35a couple of blocks on top of it, in 42 minutes of play.
02:39He was phenomenal.
02:41He was phenomenal.
02:42He was phenomenal.
02:43And your other contestant is who?
02:46The other contestant is a man who was the author of maybe the single biggest stretch of play
02:52in this series, maybe even in this season for the Rockets,
02:55is one Reed Shepard.
02:57Only 12 points in 35 minutes.
02:59However, six assists.
03:00And when the Lakers are on an 11-1 run and get the game down to a three-point lead,
03:07was it under five minutes at that point?
03:09Yeah, it was.
03:09Yeah, well under.
03:10It was like two and a half minutes left to go.
03:11Well under, 220, I believe.
03:12And it looks like the Crypto.com arena is rocking.
03:16Yeah.
03:16The Lakers might do the thing again where they walk you down.
03:19Reed Shepard goes, okay.
03:21Yeah.
03:21Goes, knocks down a shot, coming back the other way, gets a steal,
03:24goes and gets a dunk, which I appreciate that he did that.
03:28Like, it felt like a punctuation.
03:29It wasn't an authoritative dunk, but it was a dunk.
03:31It was a statement.
03:32Yeah, yeah.
03:32He could have gone and laid the ball up.
03:34He could have passed the ball off to Tari, who was about to go dunk.
03:36He's like, no, no, no, I'm going to dunk this to let you know, we ain't scared.
03:40Yeah.
03:40In fact, I think the comment that Emi Odoka made after this game is, we're growing up.
03:45Yeah.
03:45And I felt like in that moment, that was a huge one.
03:48So, it's less of the points and more of, in this moment, where it's, you know,
03:52it's cut in time, where the Rockets have already in this series demonstrated themselves
03:56to not show up, or the Rockets in this series haven't had any real clutch time good moments,
04:02right?
04:02They obviously lose Game 3.
04:04Game 4 is a blowout in their favor.
04:06This is the first time where you go, hey, if you're going to get it done, you're going
04:09to have to get it done in the clutch, which was an issue for them, and Reed Shepard is
04:12the man here.
04:12So, is it Reed Shepard in the way that he shows up in the clutch and helps you get over
04:16that
04:16hump there, or is it Jabari Smith Jr., who is the metronome to this game?
04:19I'm going to say neither, but let me explain.
04:21Whoa!
04:22I'm going to say neither, but let me explain.
04:24No, it's a good thing, Figgy.
04:26It's a very, very good thing.
04:27It wasn't an unreal night for anyone.
04:30That was Jabari's signature game.
04:33That was Reed Shepard's signature moment.
04:35I don't think there's any denying that, at least in this series.
04:38But what really, and this goes back to my big takeaway, it didn't feel like a fluke.
04:45It wasn't an unreal night for anyone.
04:48No one went off.
04:50You know, it was really good games.
04:51You mentioned Jabari.
04:53It wasn't an unreal shooting night.
04:55What'd they go for?
04:5744% from the field.
04:5814 for 40?
04:59Yeah, 14 for 40 on three, which, honestly, it's notable because this team doesn't often
05:04make 14 three-pointers, but that's also because they got up 43-pointers.
05:08On average, I think this season, they shot 32.
05:10Right.
05:11Like, that is a, what is that, a 33% increase in three-pointers that they took in this game?
05:15But that's why I'm saying neither.
05:16It felt, everything offensively felt logical.
05:20You know, it was like the right decisions, the ball being in the right spots.
05:25You know, Sengun was exactly what we thought he should be.
05:29Eight, what did he have, eight assists?
05:30Eight assists.
05:31He didn't have five turnovers, but I thought that that was a good part of the game is recognizing,
05:36hey, I need to be, I need to be good at facilitating, especially if I'm going to be active in
05:40the post.
05:41They're going to come in, they're going to double me.
05:42And he did a lot better job of being a little bit of a hub and passing out of that.
05:46I think it still could be better, but I'm not going to look gift horse in the mouth and seeing
05:50a Sengun game
05:51where he scores about what he needs to, fairly efficient, rather, a five of nine.
05:56And then he also created a lot of those three-pointers that they ultimately made from corners and stuff.
06:00Here's why I felt like this was their best offensive performance, and it was just so logical.
06:04No one scored more than 22 points of the starters, and no one scored fewer than 12.
06:09And, you know, Sengun had eight assists, I think.
06:13And you check my work, I don't have the boxing score.
06:14I think Reed had four, six, Amant had four, and Tari had three.
06:22Tari only had one, but Jabari had three.
06:24I said Tari, Jabari had three.
06:25Yes, sir.
06:25So that's three, four, six, and eight assists.
06:28This was a logical offense.
06:30This was a smooth, coherent offense.
06:33And I can't sit here and say, oh, LeBron went off.
06:35Oh, Durant went off.
06:37Oh, Reed Shepard scored 38 or whatever.
06:39No, this was their best offensive performance, you know, to date.
06:44Wait, hold on.
06:44So is the, is, by God, is that Emeo Doka's music?
06:49When you talk about who had an impressive game here, if you're, if we're going to say
06:52that, hey, Reed had his moment, Jabari had this game, and that's cool, and obviously everybody
06:56shows up in the way.
06:57The team looks like they had the cojones in a moment that is not an easy one.
07:01On the road against a LeBron James-led Lakers team.
07:04And I say that for no other reason than the, in LeBron James' tenure in the league, it has
07:09been since 2008 that he has lost a closeout game at home.
07:14That was, that was April 30th of 2008, funny enough.
07:19So exactly 18 years ago today against the Washington Wizards in a situation where the Wizards were
07:23down 3-1 to take it to 3-2.
07:26That is a circumstance.
07:27It has been 18 years of LeBron James in the playoffs every damn year and not, you know,
07:31and making sure that they close out a game if they're at home in a circumstance.
07:33And the Lakers don't lose very often.
07:35I think they've only lost two of their last 16 games at home.
07:37Yeah.
07:38So, no.
07:39This is a huge, huge moment.
07:40And Emeo Doka, interestingly enough, the Rockets look like they had the better game plan
07:44on the floor as well.
07:46Now, of course, knocking out shots helps you a lot, which Emeo had talked about, but
07:49I could see instances where Luke Kennard, they've taken him out of this series in part
07:54because they decided, oh, we're going to call you up to the table and we're going to
07:56make you dance.
07:57We're going to get you defensively, which served two roles in my mind, John.
08:00And let me see if you saw this the same.
08:03They would do this small, small pick and roll, which would get Luke Kennard on a men
08:06Thompson, and it made a men Thompson more effective because now his ability to beat
08:10somebody off the dribble.
08:11Yeah, get to the middle.
08:12He can get to the middle.
08:13He can maybe take that mid.
08:14He can maybe get all the way to the rack and maybe drive and kick.
08:17That made a men more effective as a point guard option, which you saw a lot during this
08:21game.
08:21But then it also took the legs from Luke Kennard where he wasn't knocking out shots.
08:24I think they also helped.
08:25They helped Marcus Smart be the worst version of himself, and he has fallen off the face
08:31of the earth in this series.
08:33And those are two dudes, role players, that stepped up in this series that made it so that
08:36the Lakers were able to win those early games.
08:38Those guys look like their effect on series are done now.
08:41No, you have to give credit to the approach offensively, also the execution offensively.
08:48I thought Shingun was really, really good, despite the five turnovers.
08:51I thought he was really good.
08:53Just recognition, getting the ball to the right people, the eight assists, as we talk
08:57about.
08:57How about defense?
08:58Defensively.
08:59Because LeBron was looking for him, like, hey, I think I can brutalize you, and that
09:03didn't quite happen.
09:04Well, it was hit and miss, but yes.
09:07And the other part of this, and we have to recognize this, especially as we look forward
09:11to tomorrow night, I said the Lakers are wobbling, LeBron is showing his age.
09:17LeBron looks, look, he's LeBron, but there were moments where you look like, all right,
09:22this is weighing on him, and weighing on them as a result.
09:26No, for sure.
09:27Although LeBron, it sounds weird.
09:30Was that a quiet 25 for him?
09:32Yeah.
09:3225 points.
09:33But he doesn't hit a single three-pointer, which was weird because he decided to play
09:37outside.
09:37He missed a big one at the end, man.
09:39Like, the Rockets went small, and LeBron is playing on the outside, which is a huge win
09:44for the Rockets.
09:45And so, it feels like you're able to get him out of his game in a way that it doesn't
09:49seem like that has happened a lot more recently.
09:51Like, I think the immediate thing that comes to mind for me, where LeBron James was out
09:55of his game in the playoffs, was the finals in 2011.
10:00Remember when J.J.
10:01Barea was under his skin?
10:02Like, that's the last time in my brain.
10:04Obviously, there might be somewhere that I'm missing.
10:05And I won't say the Rockets did it to that effect, but it did feel like, hey, LeBron
10:09James is not quite in the same game, and he obviously didn't do so efficiently on offense.
10:14Like, that, I mean, it felt like the best player on the, or the dude who had the best
10:18game was maybe like a DeAndre Ayton because of the ability to get bored and have putbacks.
10:23He definitely had a good game.
10:24But the Rockets, I mean, all the way around, this was a really impressive game that I think,
10:29again, this feels like the better version of the Rockets.
10:31This feels like the Rockets that...
10:32Oh, that's what I said.
10:32It didn't look like a fluke.
10:33It looked like they had a plan, they executed it correctly, they had everybody involved.
10:38Like, if you just look at the box score, you're like, wow, that's a balanced effort
10:42offensively.
10:42Let's not ignore the defense here, though, now.
10:44Oh, that's all defense.
10:45Let's not ignore the defense because a lot of those turnovers, and I've been saying it
10:49the whole series, they are forcing turnovers.
10:53The Rockets are forcing...
10:54There's another 15 last night.
10:56But the thing about that, they didn't seem like bad decision turnovers.
11:00So there weren't a lot of, what is he doing with the ball?
11:03It was a lot of, you know, jumping, passing lanes, and taking the ball away.
11:09Again, back to Reed Shepard's big moment.
11:11After he got bodied a little bit by LeBron, by the way.
11:14Which, those things are not small.
11:17You've heard it from professional athletes where the mental side of, I'm going to take
11:22this shot, and I'm not going to show you that I'm...
11:24I have pain, but I'm not going to show it as a part of this series, or as a part
11:29of
11:29this, like, kind of, this chess match that we have.
11:31I think that it was big for Reed Shepard to take that physicality and come back and let
11:35him know.
11:35I may be physically small in stature, but mentally...
11:39Well, he said it.
11:39Fight is fight, he said.
11:41Mentally, I'm here.
11:41Fight is fight.
11:42I like that line.
11:43It feels like the Rockets...
11:44Maybe that's the slogan for the rest of this playoff series, or for the rest of this playoff
11:48run, however long it may run.
11:50Fight is fight, and that's what we've seen from the Rockets in this last year.
11:53And they forced a lot of late shot clocks.
11:56They did a little bit of everything.
11:57Pressure the ball, stripped the ball, jumped into passing lanes, forced a lot of late shot
12:02clocks.
12:03All around good effort.
12:04It seemed like, again, I'll just say it flat out.
12:07I thought they were going to lose.
12:08I did not have a lot of confidence in this team.
12:10You should have confidence now.
12:12Yeah, because the things that we were worried about.
12:14Are they going to shoot the basketball?
12:15Hell, Doreen Finney-Smith hit two three-pointers in this game.
12:18Amen Thompson hit two three-pointers in this game.
12:21If you had told me that either one of those things happened in the game, I'd call you crazy.
12:25That both of them happened at the same time, that was huge.
12:27Emeo Doka finding the right rotation.
12:30You didn't see Clint Capello.
12:31You didn't see Jay Sean Tate.
12:32They were like, hey, we're going to go.
12:33We're going to switch everything.
12:34We're going to play with the guys that get this done.
12:36And the right decisions were made from the bench.
12:39Even a really important challenge that happens late in the game by Emeo Doka.
12:44It felt like this was the Rockets clicking on a lot of cylinders that if they start this a little
12:50bit earlier, we are talking about headed into a game six where the Rockets could close it out.
12:54We are headed to a game six still here for the Houston Rockets.
12:57And I wonder what the energy is like for this Rockets team because it doesn't look like a fluke.
13:02That looked like a real Rockets team that you could hope and believe in.
13:06Yeah.
13:06But maybe them going down 3-0.
13:09How much do you believe?
13:09We can talk about that.
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