National Basketball Association

3 Takeaways From OKC-HOU – G3

Updated Aug. 22, 2020 9:40 p.m. ET

Oklahoma City scratched and clawed its way to an overtime victory over Houston on Saturday, and the Rockets now lead the first round series, 2-1.

Here are the key takeaways from Saturday's Game 3:

1. CP3 comes up clutch

At the end of regulation, Chris Paul drove baseline and got to the rim, but missed a reverse layup as time expired in regulation. It was a shot that the future Hall of Famer would normally convert.

It didn't matter much, however, because Paul made up for it in overtime, nailing two huge threes, one of which gave the Thunder a 9-point lead with 2:12 to go.

Paul finished the day with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, and he went 4-for-6 from three.

2. Finally – someone who can guard Harden...

...or at least somewhat stay in front of him.

Rookie guard Lugentz Dort has been tasked with guarding legendary scoring dynamo James Harden for a majority of the series, and on Saturday, he probably gave his best effort.

Dort was all over Harden, cutting off his driving lanes and blocking his shot multiple times.

Harden fouled out at the beginning of overtime (attempting to block Dort's shot), but still finished the game with a Harden-like 38 points.

However, the world took notice of Dort's defense on The Beard.

3. The three finally fails

The Rockets attempted an even 50 threes on Saturday, the sixth time they've attempted at least 50 thress in franchise history.

Prior to Saturday, Houston was 5-0 in those games, but its luck ran out on Saturday, as the Rockets were only able to convert on 15 of those attempts.

Houston shot 3-for-12 from three in the fourth quarter and 1-for-5 in overtime.

On the day, the Rockets' starting backcourt of Harden and Eric Gordon shot 5-for-23 from three, and they only made one three between them in the fourth quarter and overtime.