Double-Up
04-26-2014, 07:26 AM
PORTLAND, Ore. — They call it "three bullets."
It's not the most politically correct nickname for a basketball ritual, but it's innocent enough and universally recognized among all the Rio Grande Valley Vipers-types as the way Troy Daniels celebrates a made three-point shot. The swish, the smile and the three fingers banging against the temple three times as he runs back down the floor.
If you know Troy Daniels — you probably didn't until last Friday night's Game 3 thriller of a 121-116 overtime win by the Houston Rockets against the Portland Trail Blazers — then you're well aware that "three bullets" was a way of his long-range life during his one season in the humble border town of Hidalgo, Texas.
But Troy Daniels forgot to do 'three bullets' on Friday night.
GAME 3: Harden finds groove for Rockets (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2014/04/26/daniels-3-sends-rockets-over-blazers-121-116/8191131/)
PLAYOFFS: First-round schedule, TV info (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/playoffs/2014/04/26/troy-daniels-houston-rockets-vs-portland-trail-blazers-game-3-rio-grande-valley-vipers-d-league/8192593/)
The Rockets rookie, who went undrafted out of Virginia Commonwealth in June and was one of hundreds in the NBA Development League until his March 3 call-up, was too caught up in his game-winning moment, saving the season of his star teammates, to remember his ritual. Alas, Vipers coach Nevada Smith made up for it.
When Daniels' three-pointer fell through with 11.9 seconds left in overtime — after James Harden and Dwight Howard tried and failed three times on a high-screen situation and after Harden lost the ball that was picked up by Jeremy Lin and tossed hook-shot style to Daniels on the left wing — Smith turned his girlfriend's New York City apartment into a postgame party all his own. It was Daniels' third three-pointer in six attempts, the shots proving so pivotal in a win that cut Houston's first-round series deficit to 2-1 at the Moda Center and saved the Harden-Howard indictment for another day.
"I was doing 'three bullets' when he hit (the shot)," Smith told USA TODAY Sports via text message. "I do it every time he hits one. He has worked so hard for this. He knew he was an NBA player all year. His confidence in those situations is special."
It's not the most politically correct nickname for a basketball ritual, but it's innocent enough and universally recognized among all the Rio Grande Valley Vipers-types as the way Troy Daniels celebrates a made three-point shot. The swish, the smile and the three fingers banging against the temple three times as he runs back down the floor.
If you know Troy Daniels — you probably didn't until last Friday night's Game 3 thriller of a 121-116 overtime win by the Houston Rockets against the Portland Trail Blazers — then you're well aware that "three bullets" was a way of his long-range life during his one season in the humble border town of Hidalgo, Texas.
But Troy Daniels forgot to do 'three bullets' on Friday night.
GAME 3: Harden finds groove for Rockets (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2014/04/26/daniels-3-sends-rockets-over-blazers-121-116/8191131/)
PLAYOFFS: First-round schedule, TV info (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/playoffs/2014/04/26/troy-daniels-houston-rockets-vs-portland-trail-blazers-game-3-rio-grande-valley-vipers-d-league/8192593/)
The Rockets rookie, who went undrafted out of Virginia Commonwealth in June and was one of hundreds in the NBA Development League until his March 3 call-up, was too caught up in his game-winning moment, saving the season of his star teammates, to remember his ritual. Alas, Vipers coach Nevada Smith made up for it.
When Daniels' three-pointer fell through with 11.9 seconds left in overtime — after James Harden and Dwight Howard tried and failed three times on a high-screen situation and after Harden lost the ball that was picked up by Jeremy Lin and tossed hook-shot style to Daniels on the left wing — Smith turned his girlfriend's New York City apartment into a postgame party all his own. It was Daniels' third three-pointer in six attempts, the shots proving so pivotal in a win that cut Houston's first-round series deficit to 2-1 at the Moda Center and saved the Harden-Howard indictment for another day.
"I was doing 'three bullets' when he hit (the shot)," Smith told USA TODAY Sports via text message. "I do it every time he hits one. He has worked so hard for this. He knew he was an NBA player all year. His confidence in those situations is special."