He did excellent in this game. We needed that punch. I still think he is a low BBIQ guy, but this kind of open slashing style fits what he knows how to do well. The surprising part was his passing. Normally when he gets stuck he just chucks up some crap shot because gotta-score, but in this game he made some really nice passes. I think what others have said is right, it is about exploiting match-ups and for how fast the Rockets normally play they don't have many that can go toe-to-toe with AB...or even Neto for that matter. Their hustle, energy, speed and grit made a real difference in this game.
Gotta give Crowder some credit too. He finally broke out of whatever weird shooting funk he was in and hit some huge shots. Let's hope this is closer to the norm than a full-on aberration.
The strength of this team really is the team. Mitchell adapted his game to what the defense gave him and came up huge on assist, yet still turned it on in the 4th to score when needed. Favors and Gobert took turns abusing the Rocket's interior defense. They all came together to play a great defensive game as a whole. So they win despite so many stupid, throw-the-ball-straight-to-the-opposing-player turnovers. If they can keep up the full team play, maintain pressure on D, and cut their turnovers even by 1/3 (which would bring them down to about their season average), then we go well beyond just being a tough out.