The Houston Rockets allowed young Donovan Mitchell a measure of redemption in Game 4 as the Jazz finally took a game in the series. But Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal think the Rockets really gave it away, as much as Utah won it. All the TNT commentators properly praised Ricky Rubio, Jae Crowder and the other Jazz stars for playing great, but still the Rockets failed to capitalize on their opportunities. Shaq doesn’t like the way the Rockets play, it seems, much as he disapproves of the OKC Thunder’s play of late. Here is the exchange between Barkley and O’Neal on the Rockets hero ball style.
Barkley: “The Rockets had a lead and they missed like 5 shots in a row.”
O’Neal: “They could take higher percentage shots.”
Barkley: “Oh no they gonna live or die [with the crazy shot choices]. Look at this shot — man, that’s ridiculous.”
The ridiculous shot? James Harden nearly loses his dribble at the arc, slides to the right, gets Crowder to dive for the ball, then he steps back with two defenders charging at him and shoots a three. Oh yeah: it goes in to give the Rockets at 72-67 lead. The Rockets missed 13 of 13 3-point attempts in the 4th quarter. Check out the “ridiculous” shot below:
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