Victory Pains: Rockets Top Pelicans, 122-116, As a Familiar Bug Returns
Dents in the Machine. The Case for 2. Late to the Party.
“You can change what you do, but you can’t change what you want” proclaims Tommy Shelby, in Peaky Blinders, one of Netflix’s best offerings. Despite bumping their winning streak to four games, the Rockets are going to have to change what they like to do… if they still want a legit chance at the title. Houston escaped the Big Easy with a win over the Pelicans, 122-116, on Monday night. James Harden had 19 of his 39 points in the final quarter. Clint Capela continued his domination on the glass with 20 rebounds. Westbrook put on the best mid-range show from a Rocket since… I can’t remember. As a result, the Rockets won their fourth consecutive game, and improved to 5-0 against the West (albeit against non-playoff teams). Although, this victory came at a high price. Danuel House Jr. took a hard fall on his back late in the first half. House didn’t play in the second half. Tuesday, news broke that the Houstonian has a back contusion. House has no timetable yet for a return, and will miss at least the the next game. More bad news came later in the day. After having his best game of the season, with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, Eric Gordon is due to have knee surgery. Houston’s sixth man, who finally seemed to find his groove during Monday night’s win, will miss the next six weeks of the season.
Hence, the injury bug is officially back in Houston. This is nothing new for the Rockets. Time and time again, Houston has dealt with losses to key players, especially durning the Harden-P.J. Era (the last two seasons). Only ten games into this season, and the injury bug is buzzing around for a new year of pestering. House was in the midst of a breakout season for Houston, with his name even in contention for the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Gordon, after having the worst start to a season in his career, finally appeared to shake out of his funk on Monday night. House and Gordon are huge losses for the Rockets. Both are a heavy-minute players in Coach Mike D’Antoni’s rotation. House had been the most consistent Rocket, and Splash Gordon was molding back into the guy who’s won the NBA Sixth Man Award (at least in the latest game). Guys like Ben McLemore and Thabo Sefolosha will receive more playing time due to the injuries to House and Gordon. They’ll be seeing the most increase in minutes, but each Rocket needs to bring more to the table.
Fortunately for Houston, Harden and Westbrook had their best collective shooting game of the season in New Orleans. The superstar duo continues to make progress with each game. In Monday’s win, the Beard and Brodie collectively shot 24-for-46 from the floor. That’s an astounding 52.2%. If Harden and Westbrook keep that up, the rest of the league’s in trouble. However, it was the shot selection in this game that made all the difference. The Beard shoots more three’s than anyone in the NBA. Harden’s not going to stop shooting from long range, and neither are the Rockets. However, a serious case needs to be made for the old-fashioned 2-point field goal. As witnessed in the Big Easy, the trigger-happy Beard needs to step-back a little less, and drive a little more. If Houston can follow suit as a team, the differences in potential game outcomes will be astounding.
Let’s look at Monday’s win for instance. Harden finished with 39 points, on 13-for-25 shooting. Westbrook went 11-of-21 from the floor, for 26 points. Taking a closer peek at the shot selection reveals why Houston won the game. The Beard and Brodie were horrendous from 3-point land. Combined, they shot a dismal 4-for-19 (21%) from deep, resulting in only 12 points. However, Harden and Westbrook were unstoppable when they refused to settle for three. The star backcourt duo shot an astounding 20-for-27 from inside the arc. That’s equivalent to 74%. NBA players don’t even shoot free throws with such ease. I don’t know if Harden finally realized he needs to drive the ball more, but the Beard attempted more shots from inside the arc than beyond (14 to 11). That almost never happens in this day-and-age for for Harden. The Beard has patented his style of play around his step-back three. He loves to shoot from downtown as much as anyone in the NBA. If Harden truly wants a championship, he needs to change what he likes to do most: isolate and step-back from three (as open driving lanes scream at him from the paint). The Beard needs to listen to these lanes, and drive it more to the hoop, as seen in the Rockets latest win. Hopefully, Harden’s learned how tweaking elements of his game vastly improves Houston’s chances of winning games. Ironically, just as the injury bug arrives, the schedule happens to get tougher over the next few weeks. Beginning with a potential preview of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night, as the Clippers come to town for the biggest game of the young season. The Rockets need Monday night’s version of the Beard to avoid falling in the West standings. The playoffs are in the distant future… but Harden will need to play drive-style of ball in the postseason for Houston to win it all.
The Beard was late to the party on Monday night in New Orleans. Harden scored 28 of his 39 points in the second half, including 19 in the final frame. Houston’s schedule toughens over the next few weeks. Harden can’t afford to show up late to party as playoff-caliber competition approaches. The squad needs MVP-caliber Beard for four quarters a night, especially with the newfound injuries. Speaking of MVPs, Harden passed Michael Jordan on Monday for the most points scored over the first 10 games of a season in NBA-history. After leading the league in scoring the past two seasons, the Beard is the NBA’s scoring leader once again this season, averaging 37.3 points a game. We all know he can score. Harden seems to pass a Jordan scoring record every month. Harden has to realize what’s best for the Rockets as a team. It might require less step-back threes. More drives to the basket to open up shooters. More easy layups. Some necessary change to the way they usually operate. But if the Beard and the Rockets want to win a championship in this era… it’s time to change the way they do things… just a little bit. Who knows… maybe they’ll be rewarded with what they want most: a championship.