It was a rather wild conclusion to Game 4 of the Rockets-Thunder on Sunday, which ended with Houston taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Rockets were ultimately able to overcome a 14-point deficit in the second half to get the 113-109 win, and they were able in part to accomplish that by putting Andre Roberson – a career 49.3 percent free-throw shooter – at the line multiple times down the stretch.
With just over four minutes remaining, the Rockets started their Hack-a-Roberson routine, sending him to the charity stripe on several consecutive possessions, where he converted just two of his 12 attempts overall. He also got no mercy from Houston’s bench as they taunted him relentlessly throughout the whole ordeal.
https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/856266560587149312
He was considerably better from the field, where he shot 5-for-9 for 13 points, and he also made an impact defensively, as is standard operating procedure with him, with five blocks to go along with a pair of steals. After the game, Roberson was so distraught about his struggles from the line that he outright refused to answer any questions about it.
Andre Roberson didn't want a single thing to do with answering questions about the Hack-a-Dre strategy. pic.twitter.com/h26dbNRCAy
— Matt Ravis (@mattravis) April 23, 2017
The Thunder got yet another historic triple-double from Russell Westbrook (35 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists), but it just wasn’t enough to withstand the Rockets, despite James Harden’s struggles as he finished with just 16 points on 5-for-16 from the field. It was Nene who led the way with 28 points on perfect 12-of-12 shooting.
The series now shifts back to Houston for a potentially deciding Game 5.
