Capela’s Career-Night, Harden, Cross Up Murray, Nuggets, 125-113
Why So Serious? Don’t Fall, Jamal! Hustle and Flow.
Houston returned home to Toyota Center to face a top-seeded Denver Nuggets team as they enter the final mini-stretch of the season’s first half. The Rockets had no problem with the Nuggets, doing some serious work on Denver and a man’s ankles, Capela and Harden led Houston past Denver, 125-113, on Monday night. Nikola Jokic “the Joker” might be regarded as the better player in the duel between the big men, however, it was Clint Capela who had the last laugh. Capela finished with a career-high 31 points to go along with 9 boards. Clint outplayed another All-Star center, something that’s becoming as nightly as the MVP scoring dropping 30 on the opponent. The Rockets’ force in the middle proved he’s worthy of being an All-Star this season. If he doesn’t make the team, it’s not for lack of talent. The game is a popularity contest, at the moment Derrick Rose has more votes than James Harden. That pretty much sums up how ridiculously biased the voting is, when it comes to the fan portion of the vote. But the All-Star game doesn’t mean anything. Capela’s doing work in games that mean something to help the Rockets climb back up the West standings, and he’s been having the season of his career, some guy with a beard just takes more of the spotlight.
Speaking of beards, James Harden’s streak of 10 straight games with 35+ points and 5+ assists came to an end. The Beard finished with 32 points and played distributor for much of the night as the rest of the team got rolling, finishing with 14 dimes. For the first time in twelve games, Harden lowered his scoring average. By scoring 32 points. That’s how insanely amazing the Beard’s play has been. Harden did match his jersey number with his 13th straight game with at least 30 points. For a moment, he taught Jamal Murray how to skate, or he tried. Murray couldn’t keep up, and fell victim to another deadly Harden crossover, arguably the Beard’s best of the season (comparable to the Wesley Johnson Memorial, held last season at Staples in L.A.). Harden didn’t need as much help tonight, as the Rockets as a team were in a groove.
P.J. Tucker got out of his shooting slump to hit a career-high 7 three-pointers for 21 points. Gerald Green had another solid game off the bench, finishing with 21 points, and Houston was just too much for a Denver team they’ve now beaten 10 times in a row. If the Rockets can keep their shooting flow in a nice rhythm and continue to hustle, they can beat any team on any given night. They will have to continue to hustle and flow on the court, as some beasts from the East come to Houston next, on Wednesday. The Rockets will host The Greek Freak and the #1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in what should be another tough test for Houston during this difficult stretch in the schedule. The Rockets don’t match up as well with the Bucks, and the Freak is a whole separate issue altogether. If Houston plays serious, and as a team, like they did Monday against the Nuggets, the Rockets should pose serious problems for a Bucks team that’s been near the top of the East all season.