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HOUSTON — Now, if the question ever comes up and you have a chance to win a bar bet, you’ll know.
How many 3-pointers in a single NBA game does it take to make an insult?
The answer, evidently, is 23.
That’s the NBA record-tying number poured in by the Rockets on Tuesday night that finally got under the Warriors’ skin.
Not 17, 18 or 19. Not 20, 21 or 22.
23.
It wasn’t until there were just under four minutes left in a 140-109 thumping and 7-footer Donatas Motiejunas slung one in from the right corner that it seemed to occur to anyone wearing a Golden State jersey that this was just a bit embarrassing.
So with the Toyota Center crowd on its feet and chanting: “One more three! One more three!” the Warriors decided it was time to play with whatever pride — if any — they had left.
Which then resulted in the final three minutes more closely resembling recess at an elementary school. The Rockets kept running their offense and shooting 3s. Houston reserve Patrick Beverley hammered home a dunk, then taunted the Warrior bench and drew a technical foul.
Golden State’s Draymond Green was flagged for a Flagrant Foul 2 and ejected when Beverley tried to let fly with a corner jumper in front of the Warriors’ bench. Houston’s Marcus Morris was hit with a technical and tossed out on the same play.
In the final two minutes, the Warriors would not let the Rockets even attempt a 3 in order to break the record. Warriors coach Mark Jackson ordered his players to foul the Rockets intentionally on each possession.
“We’re not going to lay down,” said Jackson, ignoring the fact that his team already had. “I’m an old-school basketball player and an old-school coach. If you can’t appreciate that, that’s on you.
“We’re not going to lay down. If you’re going to get the record, we’re going to stop it. There is a way to do it, that’s all. Understand it, appreciate it and I would expect nothing less if I was on the other side.”
Rockets coach Kevin McHale just happens to be an old-school guy himself. You can tell from his limp. And also from searching on YouTube for a clip of him clotheslining the Lakers’ Kurt Rambis in Game 4 of the 1984 NBA Finals.
“We just had to keep playing,” McHale said. “I really didn’t even know we had a chance to break the record until late in the game. We shoot a lot of 3s, that’s just what we do. If we were to get them in the flow, we get going to get them. Mark didn’t want it to happen and fouled and I didn’t have no problem with how they played. Mark’s got to coach his team. I have no problem with that.”
For 44 minutes, the Warriors didn’t seem to have a problem with anything the Rockets did either. Otherwise you’d think they might have played just a little bit of defense.
“At the end of the day, we just continued to play,” Morris said. “… And we were just taking the shots the defense was giving.”
Until the Warriors decided they’d had enough.
How many 3-pointers does it take to make an insult?
If you’re asked, remember to shout: “23!”
Then duck.
Old School Rules or New Age Touchy Feely?
Round Two is Tuesday night in Oakland.
hey! it is still a record you know?!
Never mind the 23 3′s.
How about the fact that they beat you by 31 points.
How about allowing a reserve dunked on you.
Intentional fouling is not old school,hard honest defense is.
It’s like accepting that your team cannot play defense.Got that!
Proud of my Dubs regardless. Coach Jackson and this team in general have real heart and show that they’re willing to fight for each other and the Golden State name. Tough day at the office but just gotta keep going. We’ll get ‘em next time.
Being “old school” has nothing to do with it… If that’s the case, then an orchestra of whistles for flagrant fouls against Lin and Harden would’ve sounded when the Rockets lead got to 20… That’s not a display of “old school”…That’s just being a sore sore loser.
It’s actually sadder they had to intentionally foul to stop the record than Houston actually getting the record on them.
wow way to tamper with the GSW D
awesome shooting from Houston.
Respects to Mark Jackson, he would never give up. Not the game, nor any record. He did the right thing.
Respect to Mark Jackson, he wouldn’t let his team give up. Not the game, nor the record. He did the right thing.
I watched that game! What a joke and what a disgraceful display of sportsmanship from the Warriors. Dirty tactics from the overrated weak a#$% Warriors. Stop them from getting a three without intentionally fouling them…or can’t the Warriors play actual defense? GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!!!!! Also, Bogut = Donut! Asik is a monster and destroyed him!
its wasnt dirty it was smart. noob
D-Mo is good guy he has to play more…
welcome to Shaq’tin a fool mark jackson
lol i fu#$%&* love mark jackson
mama, there goes that man!!!!
they were just scared of andrew in the paint so they jacked up a gutless amount of threes and got lucky. do it again? doubt it
loser talk
They were open on practically every shot… The Warriors bent over for the Rockets and then had to go to their last resort “strategy” to stop the Rockets from breaking the record.
JACKSON IS A BITTER COACH HAHAHA
23 is a legendary number in basketball
haha the warriors are bad loosers!
thats surprisingly since they should have learned how to loose in the last years :p
i really loved the succes they have this year with marc jackson but honestly – such behaviour is a shame.
hope houston drops 25 on tuesday *.*
Who cares……
agreed!
Would be better if they traded Harden and Jeremy for Carmelo and Novak!. In this case, 50 threes is possible.
NOVAK FOR THREE!
the writer seems more hurt than Mark Jackson. The game was already over and Rockets tried to style on the Warriors who didn’t let them do it, whats wrong with that?
hands down, men down
Wow you sure are a huge Novak fan! 50 3 pointers seems almost impossible already. But Troy State once did 51 3 pointers in a game.
Who rains on someone when they already have the win? Bad sportsmanship, in this case, belongs to the Rockets.
Feb 12th….
pay back time…
Destroy Rockets..,GO warriors
It’s true. Poor sportsmanship is “old school”. Been around forever.
mark jackson is just a sore loser. how can you call it an insult when the other team is just playing better even with it’s bench players. the warriors are the one insulting themselves for not playing better defense. so would you also call wilt chambelain’s record of a 100 points an insult?
We’ll see what happens back in Oak town. Rockets played well, but Tuesday night will be a different story.
I only wish that Rockets stay this consistent every game. Luck or not, they played superb beyond the 3-point line. Talk about being dead eye.
nothing wrong, both teams did their jobs…..
Rockets intentionally fouled Howard to beat LA, Rockets fans should be happy with 23.
Mark jackson’s “toughness” was fake toughness. “We’re not going to lay down.” Yet you had no problem “laying” down for most of the game, like a lamb to slaughter. You got beat bad and you resorted to petty actions to hide your pathetic play.
The Rockets put on a shooting display from three…23 times. I haven’t seen anything like it since the Orlando Magic did it in 2009. The Warriors already lost…and they will come out with a lot of energy the next time they see each other…you can count on that. Still I give Mark Jackson credit, he didn’t want the Rockets to break that three-point record.
Thats how they played defense in the 80′s and 90′s before we had all these lil girly rules we have now.
So most of the roster fouled out by halftime? I must’ve been sleeping through those games then.
stupid warriors. >: (
Coach Jackson — Tell your team to play better defense next time, and then maybe then you won’t have to deal with something like this again……
sorry man. i dont think u play ball. no defense can stop an nba team that makes that many 3s. not even the best defensive teams. some games r just like that. they shot 14-18 at one point.
I personally have no problem with what Mark Jackson did. The rockets were already up by 30 in the closing minutes. There really isn’t any reason for Houston to run up the court taking 3′s just for breaking the record. I mean there isn’t anything wrong with it but if they wanna go for the record they should not expect the warriors to give it to them. Mark Jackson just said “if you wanna go for the record were gonna try to stop you”. There isn’t really anything wrong with that
Warriors were just mad Houston’s 12th man was clowning on them. If you don’t want to give up the record for 3′s in a game then play some D…
I understand they were pissed that the game was basically over already, and Houston was just jacking up shots, but at the same time, the game was NOT over. What are the Rockets supposed to do, just get 24 shot clock violations to not hurt your feelings? If you have a problem with them making three’s, play some perimeter D.
With all the shooters the Warriors have, it’s not far-fetched to imagine them making 23 three’s. But I doubt if they did it they would have a problem with it.
I seem to remember Jackson taking it personally when Clippers rubbed it in when they blew out the Warriors in LA…seems to have a problem with the team beating them and not with his team getting beat…doesn’t seem to mind when it’s his team inflicting the pain and doing the dance.
That was just poor defense of the Warriors. Those were open 3′s.
Old school would mean actually playing decent defense, as some have said above me, having to foul them to stop them, is sad. Golden state is going to the playoffs? Lol, good luck.
At 30-18 and 2/3 of the remaining schedule at home, yeah I’m sure they have a better chance at the playoffs than the Rockets.
Nice to see Jeremy making his shots, I hope that guy stays healthy and complements The Beard the rest of the season.
if you say its poor sportsmanship, the rockets had a comfortable lead and wanted to pile on more, why not let your bench run? rockets intentionally fouled D12 when they played the laker so rocket fans cant complain and sportsmanship. now you just know how its feels. get over it lol
Mark Jackson is just a hypocrite… Remember the 3 wins against LAC?! The Golden State bench was dancing and cheering around like monkeys… Tonight our Rockets taught these monkeys a lesson, GO ROCKETS!!!
Let’s not forget that after making the 22nd or 23rd 3, the Rocket player went over and taunted/screamed at the Warrior bench. No need to rub it in their face.