After all the 3-pointers the Rockets launched to stay in the game, after the series of late stops they strung together in the final three minutes on the way to the lead, the Rockets and Bucks brought their clash of MVPs to a final, almost inevitable matchup.
The Rockets led by one in the final half minute. Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had called out James Harden’s defense after the All-Star game, saying his team’s strategy was to go to whomever Harden was defending, had been customarily magnificent.
Harden had stripped him a minute earlier, sending the Rockets’ other MVP, Russell Westbrook, on his way to a drive for the lead. But now, the Bucks put the ball and the game in their star’s hands.
Harden locked him up. With nowhere to go and P.J. Tucker closing, Antetokounmpo left his feet, lofting a no-chance pass that Danuel House Jr. easily picked off. House was fouled, and the Rockets pulled away to stun the Bucks 120-116 on Sunday.
Harden, however, refused to laugh last. Asked about Antetokounmpo’s comments and if he had proved his defense is far removed from its dated reputation, Harden said, “I have nothing to prove to anybody. Nothing to say.
“I’m just happy we got the win. I don’t care about … negative energy. I don’t pay attention to it.”
Asked a third time about his defense, Harden moved along with “next question.” But if he was not about to argue the same point again, the Rockets might have proved something to themselves about the potential of their undersized, switching, scrambling defense. They forced 23 Bucks turnovers that led to 30 Rockets points, more than making up for the second-chance points they allowed on the other end.
That had keyed their first-half lead, but it also was a sign of what was to come.
With the Bucks leading by eight heading into the final three minutes, the Rockets outscored them 16-4, holding Milwaukee to 2-of-8 shooting with four turnovers.
“Very, very important,” Harden said of a second consecutive game won with late defense. “I think through the course of the game, we played some really good defense. Obviously, they’re a good offensive team. We got stops when we needed to.”
The contrast between the Bucks bullying the Rockets inside and the swifter Rockets scrambling to force turnovers and counterpunch going the other way, obvious as it was, was not the greatest contrast between the teams.
While the Bucks’ elite defense as always owned the lane and pounded the ball into the paint, the Rockets were happy to drive and kick to open 3s. No matter how often those shots fell, or even through long stretches in which they missed, the Rockets never altered their game plan until they had put up 61 3-pointers, their most this season and matching the most ever attempted in four quarters.
“Our whole thing is just keep playing, keep the faith, do what we do,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, who had said Saturday the Rockets would take 60 3-pointers if the Bucks defended with their usual style. “That’s what we do. We’re not going to waver. If you lose, you lose. But we’re going to play the way we know how to play.
“That’s the only plan we have. We have to stick with it. That’s kind of what we do. We’re going to keep doing it. We feel (good) about where we are right now.”
The Rockets made 21 of those 3-pointers, moving to 44-4 in D’Antoni’s four seasons when they make as many as 20 3-pointers in a game. As with Robert Covington’s overtime 3-pointer on Friday when he had been misfiring all night, Tucker had made 2 of 11 3-pointers (his first two of the second half after going 0 for 6 in the first half) before he sank the Rockets’ final 3-pointer with 2½ minutes left.
“A lot of them were open shots, good shots we normally take,” Harden said. “We give our guys confidence and tell them to keep shooting. They do a really good job of packing the paint. I think they’re No. 1 in the paint defensively. They’re going to give us 3, and we’re going to take them.”
Harden had 24 points, spending most of the night drawing the defense and moving the ball, relying on his step-back 3s to score but making just 3 of 12 from deep. Westbrook, however, had 31 points with eight assists.
Antetokounmpo had 36 points for the Bucks, but just six in the fourth quarter as the Rockets took their second win since the restart by saving their best for last.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” Westbrook said. “We know what we’re capable of as a team. We know what we can do. It just shows we’re able to execute in close games, which is going to be big in the postseason. That’s a big-time thing for us.”
How they won, as much as the strength of the team they beat, made it a big-time win, worthy of a showdown of MVPs.
jonathan.feigen@chron.com
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