Basketball is a game of “give and take”.

Any player has his/her own strength, and any set has its own options. All we can do is just take out the top one and see.

In the Rockets-Jazz series, we have seen how Jazz force James Harden to right side by switching on any Pistol (“21”) sets in G1.

In G2, Quin Snyder tries to force James Harden going right in every situation.

Jazz put Dante Exum on James Harden most of time, and he attaches to James Harden’s left hand as soon as he catching the ball and starting to use his pivot and do jab step.

And if he goes up to shoot, he can make him uncomfortable without moving, but the most important thing is to show your hand to the referees to prevent a 3pt shooting call.

If he drives hard and still wants to go to the left side, his defender will steps side and take the bump to stop him.

Although it costs 5 fouls on both Dante Exum and Donovan Mitchell, James Harden gets 5 fouls also, including a couple of offensive fouls for the same kind of bump.

And Jazz steals a game in Houston successfully.

But in G3, Mike D’antoni’s Rockets come to Utah with different plans.

Similar plays all from the Pistol (“21”) series, but this time Chris Paul may have the ball in his hand.

James Harden’s defender angles himself to force him back to the sideline as usual for taking out the left side, and calls “help” to Rudy Gobert if necessary.

The Rockets doesn’t try too hard to get to left side this time, but just take what Jazz gives.

James Harden cuts backdoor on right side and forces Rudy Gobert to help on him. At the same time Clint Capela follows toward the basket.

And an easy bounce leads to an easy dunk.

Alright, finish the sets part, now it is the iso part.

Unlike the spacing in G2, the Rockets clears out all smalls to the left side and leaves Clint Capela on the right duncker spot.

That means no one can help from the right side as James Harden penetrating with his defender angling himself like that.

Therefore, if any player goes helping from the left side, James Harden can find at least one shooter or cutter to get an easy bucket.

And if not, then Rudy Gobert has to leave his man, so what Dante Exum can do is to cost another foul on Nene Hilario.

But the Jazz encounters another difficultiy.

Donovan Mitchell has the same weakness: he is not good at left hand drive and finish.

He is a player that likes to penetrate more than to shoot from outside. And most of Jazz’s offense leans on his penetration as a kick after Ricky Rubio’s injury.

The worst part of it is that to force Donovan Mitchell going left is easier than to force James Harden going right because of their shooting abilities.

Jazz’s player needs to attach James Harden, which triggers the rotation, is the reason why Mike D’antoni can still leverage from his right hand drive.

But even Clint Capela can drop one step deeper, take out Donovan Mitchell’s right hand drive, force him to crossover to left side, and keep his own feet to block the shot in G3.

So, coach Quin Snyder, what you can take from this in the next game?