Too Much Beard: Harden’s 47 Sails Rockets Past Clips, 102-93
Realest Rivalry. Family Frenzy. Best Player?
“He was incredible tonight, especially against a defensively sound team like they are… Superman sometimes has to put on his cape,” Austin Rivers said about the latest episode of The James Harden Show on Wednesday night. Houston’s biggest game of the season (so far) ended up being an odd yet entertaining affair. If anything’s certain. Highly questionable officiating gave Russell Westbrook four fouls in the first quarter alone. But, against the daunted Clippers, the Rockets managed to hold a lead with Brodie on the pine. Houston led by 16 points after the first quarter, and 12 at halftime. The Rockets had the opportunity to step on LA’s throat, but the Clips quietly got back in the game. Los Angeles held a 4-point lead with about 5 minutes left in the game, but Harden had his most clutch performance when the the squad needed it most. The Beard had 17 of his 47 points in the final 5 minutes, as the Rockets came back to beat the Clippers, 102-93, for their best win of the season. Houston outscored L.A. by 10 in clutch time to get their fifth consecutive win, and improve to 6-0 against the West.
Harden connected on 7-of-13 from downtown, including several clutch shots down the stretch. Westbrook had 17 points in a limited 30 minutes due to foul trouble. Clint Capela had another dominant performance, grabbing 20 rebounds to go along with 12 points and 2 blocks. Houston’s big man became the first Rocket since Moses Malone to record 3 consecutive 20-rebound games in a season. Unfortunately, Capela suffered a concussion after he took a dirty charge from JayMichael Green with about 5 minutes left in the game. The Big Swiss went to the locker room after suffering the concussion and never returned to the game. At this point the Clippers led by 1 point, with momentum on their side. Fortunately for Houston, Tyson Chandler stepped up in Capela’s absence, and had his best game of the year. The season vet played the rest of the game after checking in for Capela. Getting his most playing time as a Rocket, Chandler had 5 points and 9 rebounds in 16 minutes. He even made the highlight reel, catching a deep Harden lob for a backwards jam late in the contest to seal the victory for Houston.
If there’s any question as to who’s the best player in the league, and I know there are still people in the LeBron and Kawhi camps, Harden made quite the MVP-like statement on Wednesday night. Not only did 17 of of his 47 points come in the final five minutes of the game (clutch-time), the Beard did this against the best defense in the NBA. Without three teammates (Clint Capela, Eric Gordon, Danuel House) who often close games for Houston. Harden also outplayed Leonard on both ends of the floor. The Beard stripped the Claw before throwing Chandler the dagger lob that basically ensured a Rockets win. Many people claim Kawhi as the NBA’s best “two-way” player, but the Claw certainly got outplayed in Houston. Harden had 47 points and 3 steals, including the late crucial snag on Kawhi that sealed the victory. Leonard had 26 points and 1 steal, against a Rockets team that supposedly doesn’t play defense. Unfortunately for L.A., Houston was dominant defensively. The Rockets held the Clippers to 93 points. It’s the lowest amount the Clips have scored this season. It was also the least amount of points Houston’s allowed all season. Harden and P.J. Tucker were exceptional defensively late on Leonard to contain the reigning Finals-MVP. Austin Rivers’ defense on the usually-clutch Lou Williams in the fourth quarter was phenomenal. And Montrezl Harrell, who usually feasts when he’s back in Houston, had one his worst games of his career. Trez usually goes for 20-10 against the Rockets, but Capela and Houston’s interior defense was suffocating. Trez went 2-for-12 from the floor, and finished with only 4 points. It’s the first time in Harrell’s career he shot under 30% with at least 9 attempts. During this current 5-game winning streak, the Rockets boast the NBA’s top defense. Houston is allowing 98.5 points per 100 possessions during this stretch, best in the league. The entire squad has shown a leap in improvement in the hustle and effort departments.
A matchup simmering as a rivalry for the last two years, officially became one on Wednesday night. Patrick Beverly was ejected, after being too much of a pest. After the game, Westbrook said Bev doesn’t play any defense. This is partially biased, as the two have a history of bad blood, and hate each other. Also, Beverly held Harden to 0/6 shooting when he guarded the Beard. But, basketball being a team sport, defense is a group exercise. If your team lets one guy drop 47 points, everyone’s responsible. In this season’s most entertaining moment, Austin Rivers urged the refs to eject his father, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. Austin was only feet away from a heated Doc, as he perusaded officials to toss his dad for arguing a call. The refs inclined, and Austin even made the “call me” sign with his hands to his dad, as Doc headed to the locker room. Given the level of competition, history, and familiarity between these two squads, the Rockets and Clippers are then league’s most honest, heated rivalry. The Clippers might share a building with the Lakers, but the Clips have more bad blood with Houston than any team in the league. It’ll be fun when these two meet again. Expect each match to get chippier in the future. We’ve got a real rivalry on our hands between the Rockets and the Clips.
Houston needs to ride their momentum of this 5-game winning streak, and hope they can get a victory on the weekend. Starting with their win over the Clippers on Wednesday, the Rockets are in the midst of one of their most difficult stretches of the season. Up next is a back-to-back this weekend for Houston. They host Indiana on Friday and then head to Minnesota on Saturday. The Rockets will be without Capela, Gordon, House, and Westbrook on Friday. The Pacers are on a 4-game winning-streak of their own, and are one of the hardest playing teams in the league. Houston is now 6-0 against the West, but only 2-3 against the East. Can they survive the weekend? The Rockets might be without 4 rotational players, but they still have the Beard. And this weekend… Houston needs Superman to put on his cape.