Rockets Silence Thunder, 113-109, Behind Harden & Capela
Clutch Debut. MVP Form. Rising All-Star.
For all the Houston Rockets have been through this season, Christmas always brings the possibility for improvement and positivity towards the future. That cheery holiday spirit. This Christmas, Houston’s gift arrived just in time, and was unwrapped for the entire league to see. On the biggest day of the regular season, the atmosphere at Toyota Center resembled that of a playoff game. And the Rockets prevailed, 113-109, outplaying the Thunder in the 2nd half en route to their most impressive win of the season. No Chris Paul. In a contested game. One that was close, and went down to the final minute. Featuring a new addition his first game with his new team, holding a former MVP to one point in the 4th quarter. I don’t care if you look at it as just a great win and some happenstance of luck, but that’s more than just an impressive victory in my eyes. The Rockets look like they’re back, even as Chris Paul will remain sidelined for a few weeks. Most expected Houston to lose one if not two of their previous games against legitimate competition, but the Rockets came out on top. In both instances being close games, that were hard-fought, and won as team efforts (despite Harden’s historic season, he can’t do everything himself). A few weeks ago, if you told me on this date, the Rockets would be only 3 games in the loss column behind the titanic Golden State Warriors, I would have questioned your sobriety. Look at the standings, and you’ll see Houston is slowly making a climb in the crowded West. Against Oklahoma City, the Rockets unveiled their latest present and newest addition to the squad, Austin Rivers. The former Clipper and secret tunnel expert was clutch down the stretch on both ends of the floor, which I’ll discuss in depth later. The first Christmas Day game in Houston proved that, if the Rockets aren’t back yet, they’re certainly far from dead. Led by (who else) James Harden, with 41 points, 7 dimes, 6 boards, and 2 steals, the Rockets trailed for much of the first half, and won only their second game this season when trailing entering the final quarter. They gathered themselves at the break, and outplayed OKC in the second half to storm past the Thunder for a huge victory that propels them further up the standings. Harden continues playing even better than his MVP campaign last year, and set a Rockets record for points on Christmas Day with 41, gifting another win for the Rockets in a slate full of dominant performances. This was the Beard’s 7th straight 30-point game, as he continues to display one of the greatest individual seasons in NBA history. Is he in the MVP conversation? Keep watching, listening, and reading, and you’ll see, he’s slowly becoming THE conversation. Clint Capela had another beastly contribution, outplaying yet another opponent’s big man, this time Steven Adams, with another dominant performance in the paint. Capela became the first Rocket since Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon to record back-to-back 20 rebound games, scoring 16 points, while grabbing 23 boards, a new career-high for Houston’s big fella. If Clint Capela isn’t named to the All-Star team it’ll be the biggest snub in NBA All-Star history, proving even more the All-Star game is just a popularity contest. Popularity doesn’t win titles, great basketball does. And Clint Capela has been playing out-of-his-mind while being overshadowed by the MVP’s play. James Harden’s once-in-a-lifetime season, and Capela’s emergence as a true All-Star in the NBA, combined with an uptick in defensive intensity and attention to detail, have kept the Rockets afloat in Chris Paul’s absence. If Eric Gordon, who had 17 points on his birthday but struggled with his shot, can regain his form, the Rockets will start blowing teams out like last season. However, Houston would have NOT won this game without Austin Rivers, who became a Rocket just the day before Tuesday’s holiday tilt. Rivers was sensational in his debut. Look at the box score, and you might not be too impressed. Watch the game-tape, and you’ll see the immediate defensive pressure and veteran presence he brings to a Rockets backcourt that desperately needed to add some depth. Houston found the right piece to their backcourt puzzle. Rivers didn’t play like a guy in his first game with a new team, especially considering the situations he was put in. He had 10 points in his debut, including two clutch 3-pointers that helped the Rockets secure the victory in crunch time, but it was his defense that made the most difference. He was assigned to guard Russell Westbrook and all that quickness just couldn’t run through Rivers. The Rockets newest addition kept the former MVP at bay, holding him to only one point in the fourth quarter. That’s right, one point. Paul George had another excellent game for the Thunder with 28 points and 14 rebounds, but the Thunder needed Westbrook, their heart and soul in the fourth quarter, when the game mattered most. Unfortunately for OKC, Westbrook drowned in Rivers’ smothering defense, and was nowhere to be found, providing little assistance to teammates George and Adams. Since starting the season 0-4 at Toyota Center, Houston is 11-1 in their past 12 home games. They’ve won 7 of 8 games overall with the lone loss coming in the game CP3 got injured in Miami, which also happened to be the second night of a back-to-back, and the Rockets’ 3rd game in 4 nights (the Heat have been red-hot of late as well). The Beard arrived at Toyota Center in a Grinch-themed lime-green suit, and stole any hopes the Thunder had of getting a Christmas gift in Houston. Up next on the brutal winter schedule for the Rockets, an enemy in green comes to town on Thursday night. The Boston Celtics, like Houston, got off to a slow start, but are rapidly coming back to life as the title threat in the East many expected before the season began. Boston will prove to be just as big test, if not more than OKC was, for a CP3- less Rockets team in the midst of facing the league’s best point guards, as their own future HOF point guard tries to get healthy. Boston boasts an arsenal of weapons on both ends of the floor, and will be the one of most versatile teams Houston faces all season. Despite all the coverage Harden is getting (and deservedly so), Houston’s slowly getting better at playing as a team. That’s what it means to “Run As One”, and they’ll need to apply their motto to its fullest extent and if they want to beat a very good Celtics team on Thursday night.