Rockets Zone Out Thunder

The Houston Rockets take a 1-0 in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. We'll tell you what Oklahoma City has to even up the series on Thursday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are down 0-1 in the Western Conference Quarterfinals after falling to the Houston Rockets 123-108.  Lost is the best way to describe the  Thunder. 

All night long, Oklahoma City looked for ways to solve the Rockets zone defense while figuring out a way to guard them on offense. After the game, Billy Donovan said the Thunder must understand that when they take away the three-point shot from the Rockets, that opens up Houston's ability to get into the paint. 

Despite the Thunder's size advantage, the Rockets outscored them in the paint 44-38. 

If you were expecting James Harden to light up the Thunder with Lu Dort sidelined, you be right, but he wasn't the only Rocket torching Oklahoma City.  Ben McLamore, Jeff Green, Eric Gordon, Austin Rivers, and PJ Tucker were all in double figures by the end of the night. 

Houston's defense frustrated a usually patient Thunder offense into taking shots from beyond the arc and early in the clock. There were times Steven Adams and Dennis Schroder was able to get into the paint, but, those opportunities were few and far between. 

Danilo Gallinari thought the Thunder bigs were effective in the post but just didn't go to it enough throughout the game.  He also says that Oklahoma City needs to go up and down the floor and pick up the pace if they want to break the Rocket's zone. 

Game 2 is Thursday, 2:30PM CT. pic.twitter.com/eLNhDcSRLN

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) August 19, 2020

For the Rockets winning game one gave them the cushion they needed, there is no reason to rush Russell Westbrook back with an injured quad. At worst, you'll be tied after two games, and all the pressure is on the Thunder coaching staff to figure out how they can get their team to play faster. 

If the Thunder are going to have any chance, they must play more physical and figure out a way to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander involved in the offense early on. Gilgeous-Alexander, who is averaging 19 points per game, didn't get his first bucket till the third quarter and only took three shots in the first half. 

The Thunder have won 17 games when trailing after the third quarter this season, but they looked spent being down 21 going into the final frame. 

The good news, it's just one game, and the Thunder hasn't lost back to back games since coming to Orlando.   

Thunder/Rockets Thursday at 2:30 on Fox Sports Oklahoma and 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa. 

Have you signed up for the Inside the Thunder Community Board? We are trying to create a place to share posts and have intriguing and fun conversations about all things related to the Oklahoma City Thunder! Once you sign up, feel free to post as you'd like.

With more than 20 years of experience hosting local and national radio shows, Erik Gee is a fixture of Oklahoma sports media. He has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for the past six seasons. He is also the co-host of the Pat Jones show on 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.