No NBA franchise has been as closely aligned with the rise of advanced statistical analysis as the Houston Rockets, a thoroughly modern organization built on the precepts promoted by Sloan Sports Analytics Conference co-founder and general manager Daryl Morey, and embodied in the layup/free-throw/3-pointers-generating offensive exploits of MVP runner-up James Harden.
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But while the Rockets' futuristic approach to victory was on full display during Monday's Game 4 — which saw Harden score a playoff-career-high 45 points, the Rockets take three-quarters of their field-goal attempts either at the rim or beyond the arc, and Houston attempt 43 free throws — there was no such advanced strategy featured during a between-quarters game of tic-tac-toe between two fans on the Toyota Center court:
Reasonable people can disagree as to whether "Rocketsball" is the best way to build a winning team in the NBA, but there's not much dissension about how to win at tic-tac-toe.