D'Antoni scratched his itchy head, then got up and walked to the sideline.
He made a tactical gesture to Harden. They were changing up their offensive approach.
The Rockets brought the ball into the frontcourt, while the Pelicans continued with their previous defensive scheme, leaving Westbrook open.
This time, Harden called for the ball and signaled for Westbrook to cut inside early, then began driving with the ball himself.
But the moment he drove in, Brogdon came over from the weak side to help, while Gasol under the basket was also ready to move.
Westbrook cut in from the right, then used Capela's screen to run to the left corner.
It was a decoy run meant to draw the defense, but the Pelicans ignored him completely and kept leaving him open!
Stevens' tactical thinking tonight was crystal clear: I'm giving you Westbrook's threes. If you've got what it takes, shoot me to death.
It was exactly the same strategy they had used against Antetokounmpo in last season's Finals.
This was also one area where Westbrook fell short of Paul. Paul's three-point shooting was not particularly strong, but he was reliable when left open. Westbrook simply was not reliable at all.
Harden ran into layers of defenders when he drove to the free-throw line. He tried to force contact for a foul but failed, and his shot slammed into the backboard.
Davis soared into the air and pulled down the Defensive Rebound. The Rockets' offense came up empty once again!
On the other end, Durant missed another shot, but Gasol directly tipped in the putback.
The Pelicans' outside shooting was inferior to the Rockets', but their two Big men inside clearly overwhelmed the Rockets.
12-3. The gap was heading toward double digits.
Harden continued driving in the frontcourt. This time, he