Rockets Find Offensive Rhythm, Harden Drops Season-High 40, Surge by Pacers 115-103
I saw something familiar on Sunday night at Toyota Center. Something I hadn’t seen in a long time. Kind of like browsing Netflix, coming across an episode you love from one of your favorite shows, and realizing why you love that particular show. James Harden hit a few threes in a row and had the crowd rocking. The squad hustled for plays the way P.J. Tucker does (there’s a reason why he plays the most minutes) on every single play. A new player for Houston finally emerged as a pivotal role player this season (Gary Clark). The Rockets won a home game. Houston actually looked like last season’s Rockets for the first time all season. Especially for the first half and most of this game (despite slowing down to score only 39 second half points). Gary Clark’s hustle and basketball IQ as a rookie, combined with his 3-point shooting ability and defensive tenacity, have cemented him into the rotation for the season. I’ve been impressed with Clark since seeing him in the preseason, and he’s only gotten better with each game in terms of learning on the fly. Most rookies don’t get much playing time, if any at all, on Championship contenders. Clark has earned his minutes and his hustle is comparable to P.J. Tucker’s obsessive commitment to defense and intangibles. Gary Clark was awesome and led the team with 9 rebounds, despite being a rookie guard coming off the bench. The Beard was fantastic with a season-high 40 points to go along with 7 boards and 9 assists. CP3 was great too, supplying 26 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 dimes. The Rockets had their best win of the season last night. Ironically their previous “best win” this year came against this same Pacers team 6 days ago. Houston won’t play Indiana again this season. The Rockets need to use what they’ve done competing against Indiana against the other teams in the league. Now, we’ll address the Elephant in the Room, (Carmelo Anthony). Anthony has not played in Houston’s previous two games due to an “illness”. However, Anthony practiced at full capability on Friday before the weekend’s games and its now been reported that the Rockets and Anthony are on the verge of parting ways. Melo hasn’t been awful. He’s been ok. And like Coach Mike D’Antoni, GM Daryl Morey, and teammates say, he’s doing everything he can to fit in with this team. Carmelo happens to be a piece that just doesn’t fit with the puzzle Houston is trying to reconstruct in order to salvage their early season struggles and get back to Championship form. Maybe his presence just makes the team worse. As bad as that may sound, the Rockets knew of his predicament before the game and played like a team with the weight of the world off its shoulders. Eric Gordon was great last night after his swirling trade rumors died after Houston’s pursuit of Jimmy Butler ended after he was finally traded to another team. Gary Clark, the man who will step in and get the most playing-time upgrade due to Anthony’s absence, has been stellar. Even though, he’s a rookie and has a long way to go, he KNOWS HIS ROLE. Something that was the essential key to getting the Rockets one win from the NBA Finals. Every single player on last year’s Rockets team knew their role on and off the court. This year, with all the new additions and injuries, it’s been a mess. Hopefully, that mess has been cleaned up and the Rockets have wiped a new slate clean for the rest of this season. 70 games is a long way to go, Houston has time to right the ship, and their moving in the right direction. The immediate road ahead lies very tough for the Rockets. Houston travels to Denver on Tuesday night to take on a Nuggets team some think has a chance to make the Western Conference Finals. Then on Thursday night, it’s the best the NBA has to offer, as the Golden State Warriors come to town for the first time since ending the Rockets title hopes last season. Houston has a great chance to turn the season around with impressive victories in these next two matchups. Let’s hope their recent inspired play continues into this week.