Indiana Outpaces Houston, Rockets Stay Cold in Loss to Pacers, 108-104
Preseason Feel. Pacing for Thunder. Bad News Brodie.
In a game that really didn’t matter in terms of seeding, James Harden and the Rockets’ late rally fell short, as Houston lost to Indiana, 108-104. The Beard’s still playing in a groove, scoring 45 points on hot shooting, and grabbing a career-high 17 boards, to go along with 9 assists. The tough shots were falling for Harden, but other Rockets couldn’t find their rhythm. Ben McLemore continues to cool off from deep. Benny Mac was the bets three-point shooter over the first half of the bubble, but since has noticeable cooled off. Eric Gordon, who will now be needed more than ever in the future (we’ll get to that in a bit), came back and looked spry with nice drives to the basket. EG appears to be healthy, but his shot was rusty from long-range. Houston needs to use their last game, against the Sixers, (which has no playoff implications) to see if they can run plays for Gordon to find a rhythm. Hopefully, Benny Mac can find his touch, and get set for the playoffs. The Rockets are going to desperately need hot perimeter shooting early in their first series.
Wednesday’s result guarantees that Houston’s first round playoff opponent will be the Oklahoma City Thunder. A playoff series that features storylines abound. Houston faces off against Chris Paul, who was only just a Rocket last season, but was traded for Russell Westbrook. Did James Harden and Chris Paul really have beef at the end of last season? With Westbrook out for at least the start of this series, it’s Harden’s chance to prove CP3’s past his time, despite leading a quality Thunder team above expectations. Brodie will also be opposing his the team he represented for a decade. The question is, will he be playing? As of now, the answer remains unknown.
Midway through the first quarter of Wednesday night’s game, news broke that Westbrook, who was missing his second straight game, underwent an MRI, revealing he suffered a strained right quad. At the least, Brodie is expected to miss the start of the first round against OKC. The return of Houston’s much-needed Russ depends on how he responds to treatment and rehabs the injury. That familiar foe, the injury bug, has returned to the Rockets. It was Chris Paul the last two seasons, now it’s Russell Westbrook. From Yao Ming to T-Mac to now, it just seems like Houston has had the most star injuries around playoff time this century. And if the Rockets want to win a championship in this crazy season, they need Russ to return at full strength…something that really matters.