OAKLAND, Calif. — Before it become a rallying cry for the Bay Area community, the “Strength in Numbers” slogan on the yellow T-shirts handed out to fans at playoff games in Oracle Arena was originally coined by coach Steve Kerr to emphasize the importance of the star-studded Golden State Warriors‘ depth.
For Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, the phrase has a completely different meaning. The Rockets’ version of strength in numbers is launching as many 3-pointers as possible and hitting enough to win a heck of a lot more often than not.
But it’s hard to beat the Warriors in a shooting contest, particularly when Chris Paul is wearing warm-ups and nursing a strained right hamstring on the bench.
The Rockets, hoping to knock out the defending champs, roared out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter and led by 10 at halftime, draining 11 of their 22 3-point attempts in the first 24 minutes. Then the Splash Brothers started sizzling.