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Steven Adams attributes Rockets’ improved playoff offense to faster pace, ball movement
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- Steven Adams attributes Rockets’ improved playoff offense to faster pace, ball movement
Houston 's "double big" lineups featuring Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams are usually bigger than their opponent, but that doesn't mean the Rockets have to play slower.
In Friday's Game 6 victory at Golden State , which tied the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series at three games apiece, Adams played a season-high 31 minutes off the bench.
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And yet, the Rockets had 99 possessions as a team versus the Warriors — a significant increase from a series-long average of 93.9 (including just 89 in a Game 1 loss). After averaging 95.7 points in the first three games of the series (two losses), Houston is scoring at a per-game average of 117.3 points over its last three (two wins).
In an exclusive postgame interview with SportsTalk 790's Matt Thomas , play-by-play radio broadcaster for the Rockets, Adams stressed the importance of pace. When asked what had changed since two losses at Golden State earlier in the series, Adams responded:
We trusted our execution, we trusted our defense, and that's what we're relying on. We're moving the ball. We're not slowing down, and I think that's the main thing. We need to keep the pace up. We've always been a fast-paced team and we can't let teams slow us down.
Adams finished with a season-high 17 points in Game 6, making all four of his field-goal attempts and 9-of-16 from the free-throw line (56.3%). That free-throw percentage was well above Adams' 40.5% clip over his previous two NBA seasons (2022-23 and 2024-25) combined, and he attributed the improvement to the repetition that resulted from Golden State's intentional fouling (or hacking) strategy.
"I just need some reps, bro," Adams told Thomas.
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With Adams in a featured Game 7 role, the Rockets will look to complete their comeback and become just the 14th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a playoff series. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. Central on Sunday night, with televised game broadcasts available on TNT and Space City Home Network. Thomas will have the radio call on SportsTalk 790 and across the team's radio network.
More: Rockets center Steven Adams finishes second for NBA's 2024-25 Teammate of the Year award
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Steven Adams: Rockets' playoff offense needs fast pace, ball movement
