Notes for Game 5 of Rockets vs OKC Thunder First Round Playoff Series

Updated: August 28, 2020 -- 4:13 p.m. CT

Posted: August 26, 2020 -- 8:13 a.m. CT

Game 5 of the Houston Rockets - Oklahoma City Thunder series has been re-scheduled for Saturday, August 29. Tip-off will be a few minutes after 5:30 p.m. Central Time on AT&T SportsNet SW, Fox Sports Oklahoma, and TNT.

If you ever wondered where the radio / tv personalities get some of the statistical minutiae heard during broadcasts, here's a look behind the curtain (sort of) at a few of the notes, stats, tidbits compiled by the Houston Rockets Media Communications Department for game 5:

Playoff Series Notes
• Houston lost Games 3 & 4 of its best-of-seven series vs. OKC after winning Games 1 & 2… entering the 2020 playoffs, teams that won the first two games of a best-of-7 series went onto win the series 93.2% of the time (288-21).
• The Rockets have lost two straight… Houston has never lost three straight playoff games under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2017)… the last time the Rockets last three straight playoff games was the first three games of the 2015 Western Conference Finals vs. Golden State… the last time Houston lost three straight First Round games was to Oklahoma City in 2012.
• Houston lost Game 4 by 3 points… the Rockets were 4-5 in games decided by three or fewer points during the regular season… Houston is 3-3 in playoff games decided by three or fewer points under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2017).
• Houston lost Game 4 despite leading by as many as 15 points in the third quarter and by one point heading into the fourth… the Rockets were 40-12 when leading by 10+ points during the regular season and 38-6 when leading after three quarters of play (1-2 this series)… Houston is 17-4 when< leading after three quarters of play in the playoffs under head coach Mike D’Antoni (going back to 2017).
• The Rockets lost Game 4 despite scoring 114 points… Houston was 40-13 when scoring 110+ points during the regular season (4-15 below) and is 17-3 when doing so in the playoffs under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2017) and 8-15 when scoring below.
• Houston gave up 117 points in Game 4 after not allowing more than 108 points in regulation to OKC in any of the first three games… the Rockets were 21-3 when holding opponents scored below 110 points in 2019-20 but 23-25 when allowing 110+… the Rockets are 23-5 when holding the opposition below 110 points in the playoffs under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2017) and 2-13 when failing to do so.
• The Rockets lost Game 4 despite shooting 45.1% from the floor… Houston was 29-7 when shooting 45.0% or better during the regular season and 15-21 when shooting below… the Rockets are 14-6 when shooting 45.0% in the playoffs under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2017) and 11-12 when failing to do so.
• OKC shot 48.8% from the floor in Game 4 after shooting below 45.0% in each of the previous three games this series… the Rockets were 20-5 when holding opponents below 45.0% shooting during the regular season and 24-23 when failing to do so… Houston is 17-3 in the playoffs under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2017) when holding opponents below 45.0% shooting and 8-15 when failing to do so.
• Houston has been outshot in each of the past three games… the Rockets were 25-3 when outshooting the opposition this season and 19-25 when failing to do so… Houston is 16-2 when outshooting its opponent in the playoffs under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2017) and 9-16 when failing to do so.
• The Rockets lost Game 4 despite hitting a playoff franchise record 23 3-pointers… Houston was 30-13 when having 15+ threes made per game during the regular season, including 19-2 when having 18+… regular season and playoffs combined, the Rockets are 47-5 when having 20+ threes made per game under head coach Mike D'Antoni (going back to 2016-17)… Houston has hit 20+ threes made per game twice this series and three times in playoff franchise history.
• Houston had 10 free throw attempts in Game 4 (including one over the final 30 minutes of play), tying for its third-lowest total in playoff history… the Rockets are averaging 17.5 free throw attempts this series, down from 26.1 per game in the regular season (second in NBA)… OKC has MADE 13 more free throws than Houston has ATTEMPTED this series and is averaging 9.0 more free throw attempts per game…
• OKC outscored Houston 46-34 in points in the paint in Game 4 after being outscored 124-110 through the first three games… the Rockets outscored their opponent in PIP 23 times during the regular season but just four times post All-Star break… Houston ranked 26th in points in the paint allowed (51.5 per) during the regular season.
• The Rockets bench was outscored by OKC's reserves by 30 points in Game 4 after outscoring the Thunder's bench by 18 points over the first three games of the series… Houston's reserves outscored the opponents bench in 14 of the final 33 games after doing so three times over the first 39 games… the Rockets bench was outscored by an average of 10.4 points per game by opponents reserves during the regular season.
• Houston is only averaging 9.8 fast break points this series, down from a season average of 14.6 but has only allowed an average of 6.3 fast break points and 9.5 points off turnovers… the Rockets ranked 27th in fast break points allowed during the regular season (15.1 per) and 22nd in points off turnovers allowed (17.8 per)… Houston is averaging 17.8 points off turnovers this series (4th in NBA with 18.9 per game during regular season).

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Player Playoff Notes
• James Harden is averaging 32.0 points per game, 8.8 assists per game, 7.8 rebounds per game this series… LeBron James (2017-18) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17) are the only players to have averaged at least 32.0 points per game, 8.0 assists per game and 7.0 rebounds per game in a single postseason… since joining the Rockets in 2012-13, Harden has averaged 28.4 points per game, 7.1 assists per game and 5.8 rebounds per game in the playoffs.
• James Harden has scored 30+ points in three of the four games this series… dating back to the 2017 playoffs (Mike D'Antoni's first season with Houston), Harden has the second-most 30-point playoff games (24; LeBron James first w/28)… Harden has scored 20+ points in 64 of his 77 playoff< games as a Rocket (30+ 36 times), including each of the past 17 games (longest active streak).
• James Harden had a playoff career-high 15 assists in Game 4 but also had 6 turnovers after having a total of 4 through the first three games of the series… he still has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.50 with 2.5 tpg this series (1.43 w/4.6 tpg in 2019 playoffs).
• James Harden is shooting 32.7% from 3-point range this series… he shot 35.0% from behind-the-arc in the 2019 playoffs after shooting 29.3% over the previous three postseasons (2016-2018)… Harden shot 37.8% from downtown during the seeding schedule and 35.5% overall this season.
• James Harden had 5 free throw attempts in Game 4 after averaging 10.7 over the first three games of the series… he averaged a career-high 11.8 free throw attempts in 2019-20.
• James Harden has recorded at least 4 fouls in each of the four games this series and fouled out of Game 3… since the start of the seeding schedule, he has recorded 5+ fouls in 5 of his 11 games played.
• Russell Westbrook will play in Game 5. Westbrook missed the first four games of this series… Houston was 8-7 in games that he missed during the regular season.
• Eric Gordon is averaging 19.3 points this series after averaging 7.5 points per game in two regular season games against the Thunder… he averaged 16.6 points per game in the 21 wins he appeared in this season compared to 1.5 points per game in the 15 losses he played in… Gordon averaged 17.8 points per game in the 2019 playoffs… he is shooting 20.6% from 3-point range this series… Gordon shot 40.0% from behind-the-arc in the 2019 playoffs.
• Eric Gordon has scored 18+ points in three of the four games this series.. after scoring a career-high 50 points at Utah on 1/27, he did not have more than 17 points the rest of the regular season (11.6 points per game in 17 games played over that span).
• P.J. Tucker has scored in double-figures in three of the four games this series and in 17 of his 32 playoff games as a Rocket compared to doing so in 58 of his 236 regular season games with Houston… he is shooting 44.0% from 3-point range this series and 45.9% in three playoffs with the Rockets.
• Jeff Green is averaging 17.3 points on 56.5% shooting this series… including the regular season, he has scored in double-figures in 16 of his 22 games as a Rocket, including 10 straight … Green shot 56.4% from the floor after signing with Houston on 2/18… Green is averaging 3.3 threes made per game on 48.1% shooting this series… he had 3+ threes made per game in six of his 18 regular season games played as a Rocket.
• Jeff Green has scored 20+ points twice this series… he scored 20+ points four times prior in his playoff career, all coming with Boston vs. New York in the First Round of the 2013 playoffs… Green averaged 20.3 points per game in that series for the Celtics.
• Danuel House Jr. is averaging 16.0 points per game (50.0% FGs, 39.3% 3FGs), 6.5 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists per game in 36.9 minutes per game this series after averaging 4.9 points per game (29.7% FGs, 25.8% 3FGs), 3.1 rebounds per game and 0.1 assists per game in 20.1 minutes per game in seven games played for the Rockets in the 2019 playoffs, which marked his playoff debut… he missed the final four games of last postseason due to injury… House averaged 30.4 minutes per game this season, up from 25.1 minutes per game in 2018-19.
• Robert Covington is averaging 1.50 steals and 1.25 blocks this series… he was one of three players in 2019-20 who averaged at least 1.50 steals per game and 1.00 steals per game and ranked 10th in the NBA with 1.64 steals per game… Covington averaged 2.18 blocks per game after joining the Rockets on 2/6… he is averaging 8.0 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game in 27.9 minutes per game this series… Covington averaged 11.6 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game in 33.0 minutes per game in 22 regular season games played with Houston in 2019-20.
• Austin Rivers had 11 points while shooting 3-of-6 from 3-point range in Game 2 but has scored a total of 8 points while shooting 0-of-7 from behind the-arc in the other three games… the Rockets were 18-8 when he scored 10+ points this season… Rivers averaged 1.8 threes made per game on 41.4% shooting over the final 30 games after averaging 1.1 on 30.3% shooting over his first 38 games played.
• Ben McLemore had 14 points while shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range in his playoff debut in Game 1 but had scored a total of 9 points while shooting 3-of-9 from behind-the-arc over the past three games… he had the he had the third-most career games played (439) of any active player in 2019-20 who had yet to appear in the playoffs… McLemore averaged 2.5 threes made per game on 40.0% shooting during the regular season.

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