Should Harden, Rockets Change Approach After No-Calls vs. Warriors in Game 1?

The shot clock was already off. With less than 24 seconds to play, the Golden State Warriors led the Houston Rockets 103-100 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

The typical play would be to intentionally foul, especially after the San Antonio Spurs' late-game snafu the night before. But Chris Paul played for the steal and got one. James Harden proceeded to launch a three on the ensuing possession. He fell on the landing. No foul was called.

Before the final buzzer, Paul was called for his second technical of the night. He was ejected, and the Warriors won 104-100.

The Rockets' frustrations were on the verge of boiling over for most of the game, and they finally did at the end. The conversation between ESPN's Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson immediately following the final no-call was a topic throughout.

"What is a landing zone?"

It was a hot topic on Twitter as well.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic thought the Rockets' complaints were justified:

As did FiveThirtyEight's Chris Herring:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban went the other way:

NBA players Rudy Gobert and Spencer Dinwiddie chimed in as well:

And that's just a small sampling of the conversation. It was all over the timeline throughout and after the game.

On several occasions, a Golden State defender wound up under the feet of a Rockets shooter without being called for a foul.

ESPN's broadcast even asked officiating expert Steve Javie for an explanation of what exactly the landing zone is. He agreed with Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson.

By the letter of the law, a defender getting into that landing zone is a foul.

"Defenders may not move into the landing area of an airborne shooter," the league's video rulebook explains. "... This is a defensive foul as the airborne shooter must be allowed to return to the floor safely."

But what happens if the shooter kicks his feet out, essentially moving that landing zone into the defender? What happens if the defender and the shooter are both jumping forward instead of straight up and down?

It seems like this is the gray area where much of Game 1 was played, as explained by Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com:

"We could have easily gone to the line another 20 times during the game," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters following the game. "So we're OK."

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the officials even agreed with D'Antoni on some of the calls:

And that may be true. You can be sure that this is not the conversation the league wanted following Game 1. New York would most likely rather have fans and media talking about the game. There's a reason coaches and players are often fined for publicly criticizing officials. So an emphasis on these "landing zone" fouls in Game 2 shouldn't surprise anyone.

The balancing act for the NBA, of course, is to avoid going too far in the other direction. If Harden gets a parade of free throws from these plays in Game 2, the conversation will only be stoked further.

And if the officials continue to call the action the way they did Sunday—which shouldn't be out of the question, given the gray area that's been created—the Rockets could be in trouble.

Harden is one of the most gifted scorers in the history of basketball. But one of his skills—drawing fouls—is naturally reliant on outside forces: the refs.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr referred to Harden's ability to draw fouls as "crafty" after the game. He still took 14 free throws Sunday, but he clearly wanted more. If some of those "landing zone" fouls had been called, he may not have been over 10 points shy of his regular-season true shooting percentage.

What Harden and the rest of the Rockets may have to do is simply adapt. We've all heard the cliche plenty of times: The game is called differently in the playoffs.

Over the last two seasons, Harden's free-throw rate of .472 trails only those of Rudy Gobert, DeAndre Jordan, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid (minimum 1,000 field-goal attempts). Over the same span in the playoffs, Harden's free-throw rate of .340 trails those of 17 players (minimum 100 attempts).

What may have been a near-surefire foul in the regular season often goes ignored in the postseason. The rulebook doesn't change, but its practical application does.

So how exactly can the Rockets adapt? That's easier said than done against a locked-in Warriors team that boasts as much talent as any dynasty in NBA history. But maybe slightly less reliance on the isolation is in order.

Over the last two regular seasons, Harden scored 1.15 points per isolation. The No. 1 offense in the league in each of the last two seasons scored fewer than 1.15 points per possession. But over the last two postseasons, Harden is scoring 0.98 points per iso. That's a monumental drop-off. No team in the last two seasons scored fewer than one point per possession.

Golden State is loaded with top-tier isolation defenders. Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant can all make perimeter play more difficult than Harden's used to. The key may be forcing them to move more. Get them rotating, switching, etc. Few defenders can handle Harden's 20-second isos, but the Warriors have players who occasionally can. That's more than most teams can say.

And if even an occasional departure from the usual onslaught of isolations generates a few more looks without Warriors nearby, Houston may find itself at the mercy of the officials less often.

Now, this could be an overreaction. Again, Harden is one of the best scorers we've ever seen, so a breakout may be right around the corner. But if the Rockets don't make any adjustments, they risk having a short series highlighted more by arguments with the officials than four-point plays.

*Unless otherwise stated, all advanced statistics are courtesy of NBA.com/stats.