Rockets Dethrone Kings Behind Harden’s 50-Point Triple-Double, 119-108
Too Close for Comfort. Make It Five. Moving Up.
It was closer than expected, but the game turned out in Houston’s favor. The Rockets went back and forth with the Kings for most of the night at Toyota Center. Until Houston’s defense clamped down in the fourth quarter, holding Sacramento to 15 points. Games like these are ones Houston needs to win to try and secure the third seed. More importantly, these victories boost the squad’s confidence for the playoffs. Every playoff game is important in the overall aspect of the big picture. A sweep in every series would be ideal, but that’s not likely, for any team. Games in the vein of Saturday night’s are ones Houston will find early in the playoffs that they’ll need to win to boost their chances later in the postseason. Clint Capela was huge for the Rockets against the Kings young frontline. Capela led the way with 42 minutes, and posted 24 points and 15 rebounds in another stellar outing as Houston’s big man is back to playing at an All-Star caliber level. Eric Gordon continues to bring consistency, scoring 17 points. EG’s been in double-figures in every game since the All-Star break. Chris Paul’s midrange was deadly, and the Point God finished with 22 points as he guided Houston’s offensive arsenal.
James Harden had another 50-point triple-double, the fifth of his career. They’ve become common enough to where this stat-line isn’t even headline news anymore. A stat-line no other player in the entire league has produced all season. But what about Harden’s usage rate? The Rockets need the Beard to score in order to win on many nights, especially when his teammates aren’t hitting their shots. On Saturday night, Harden scored 50 points, and grabbed 11 boards while dishing out 10 dimes. And the game was close enough to where Houston needed every single point Harden could muster. There was no stat-padding here. Just another night at the office for the Beard. If he doesn’t win MVP, Harden’s season will go down as the best to not be bestowed with the honor.
The Rockets moved back into the third seed out West courtesy of a Blazers loss in Detroit. Houston still needs Portland to lose one more game in order to avoid being in a tiebreak situation. The Blazers own the tiebreaker, so if the teams finish with the same record, Portland gets the higher seed. Although, the Blazers still have two games left against the Nuggets, one of the top teams in the West. They’re bound to lose at least one more game, if not two. Five games remain for Houston. They’re good enough to win out. But the Rockets shouldn’t go worse than 4-1, 3-2 in a worst-case scenario situation. They’ll head to Sacramento next to face the Kings again, on the first night of a back-to-back, before playing the toughest game left on the schedule: the Clippers in Los Angeles. It’s going to be close, but if all the pieces fall into place, the entire season can turn out in Houston’s favor.