Coming off a disappointing 41-41 2015-16 season, Rockets GM Daryl Morey retooled his roster with one goal in mind for the 2016-17 campaign: put up as many 3-pointers as possible.
Offseason acquisitions Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson have fit in perfectly, and with them, the Rockets are averaging a league-high 40.3 3-point attempts per game. The next closest team, Cleveland, is averaging 33.8 3-point attempts per game. The Warriors, who lead the NBA in scoring, are only averaging 31.8 3-point attempts per game.
For Morey, the high volume of long-distance shots is all part of his plan to detrone the Warriors as Western Conference champs.
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SIGN UP HERE "We want to win the title, and obviously, that's probably going through the Warriors at some point. We absolutely figured the only way we're going to beat them is with a barrage of 3-pointers. And it's probably going to be a 124-120 affair if we're going to get past them," Morey said on SiriusXM NBA Radio on Friday.
In the first meeting this season between the two teams on Dec. 1, 2016, Houston went 14-of-44 from behind the 3-point line in a 132-127 double-overtime win in Oakland.
When they met again in Houston on Jan. 20, Houston made just 7-of-35 3-pointers as the Warriors ran away with a 125-108 victory.
The Rockets will get two more chances in the regular season to test their strategy.
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If there's any team best equipped to defuse the Rockets' plan, it's the Warriors, who lead the NBA in holding opponents to 32.6 percent shooting from 3-point distance.
The Warriors have eliminated the Rockets from the postseason each of the last two seasons. Currently, the Warriors hold the top spot in the West, while the Rockets are sitting in the third spot in the conference. If they stay where they are in the standings, the earliest they could meet would be the Western Conference Finals.