Rockets have found their stride and have found the balance that is needed to win, the Hawks are not putting teams away the way they should be. Rockets and Cleveland for the title.
It's one game and they lost one of their best players. If Howard is healthy I still think they can win, if he is out, of course they won't win.
My problem with the Rockets is that Howard is soft and Harden is completely dependent on going to the FT line. Howard is good enough to dominate the matchup like Memphis did with their bigs but he has lost something since he left Orlando.
There is nothing wrong with going to the free throw line, I believe that it has become a lost art in the NBA, getting the other team in foul trouble and getting to the free throw line. Howard is older, I agree with you that he has lost something, he probably never had that fire to begin with as many feel he never played up to his potential of being a dominant player.
Without Love, and Kyrie and still it feels like the Cavs are going to win with essentially 1 good player.
Atlanta looked terrible last night. All the shots these guys took vs. the Wizards are not even being attempted. Guys are just standing around and waiting for Korver to get open or for the defense to let them jack up a 3. If they can't put in more effort in the ECF, they don't deserve to be in the Finals. I'm guessing Warriors win, but I wouldn't call that series yet. No advantage until a road team wins a game.
There is no reason why Cleveland should play Kyrie in game 3. If Cleveland loses, then maybe suit him up for game 4 but this series is toast. They are on a different level then Atlanta right now.
Injuries, and resting their stars consistently after all star break led to their regression. Thabo Selfoshia's injury didn't help either... with his loss the Hawks bench became a hot mess.
