Record Rainfall: Houston’s Long-Range Storm Drenches OKC, as Rockets Dominate Thunder, 136-106, for Sixth Straight Win
First Quarter “Whoas.” Deep Barrage. Wall-Star.
“Whatever I’ve lost you’ve found,” Sly Stallone tells Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010’s The Expendables, when asked about his weight loss. Outsiders looking in may think Houston lost a lot of “weight” when the team shipped James Harden to Brooklyn. And the Rockets did, but what they’ve found outweighs anything they lost in the past. I’ve never seen a Rockets team have so much fun on the floor. And like the expendables in the film, these guys are having a blast, all bringing something to the table, playing their heart out with a chip on their shoulder… blasting opponents out of arenas in the process. Oklahoma City was Houston’s latest victim, as the Rockets used a barrage of threes (a franchise record 28) to blow past the Thunder on Monday night, 136-106. Unlike their previous games, which saw Houston staring at early double-digit deficits, the Rockets pounced on the Thunder right after the opening tip and never looked back. Houston put this game away in the first quarter. Those first quarter woes turned into first quarter “whoas” on Monday night, as the Rockets connected on 11 of their 14 attempts from distance, an insanely accurate percentage. Houston doubled OKC’s output, leading 48-24 after one quarter. It’s the Rockets second 48-point quarter in as many games, as the squad was firing on all cylinders on Monday night.
OKC simply had no answer for a talented, deeper Houston team. The Rockets had 7 players score in double figures, with Eric Gordon leading the charge off the bench with 25 points. DeMarcus Cousins quietly scored 17 points and 8 boards. Victor Oladipo chipped in 15, and John Wall and Christian Wood each had 18, as the Rockets overpowered a lottery-bound Thunder team on Monday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 19 points, but simply didn’t have enough help to get anything going for the home team. Houston will try and repeat their Monday night explosion on Wednesday night, as these two teams face-off in the same place, at the same time.
By now, everyone’s heard of Houston’s WOW (Wall, Oladipo, Wood) Factor. And the three have led the Rockets on this current six-game winning streak. But the leader of this team, is unquestionably John Wall. He’s the leader in the locker room. Houston is 8-4 when Wall plays, and only 2-5 when he doesn’t. Wall may not put up the most points each night, but these Rockets are going as far their “Wall-Star” will take them. After missing two seasons, and several games after an injury, Wall has looked very impressive. After struggling from distance to start the season, Wall’s three-point shot has improved over the last few games. He’s starting to find his rhythm again, and if Wall can stay healthy for the long run, these Rockets are going to be dark horses of an unprecedented kind. They may have lost James Harden, and all the headlines that came with the NBA’s most-famous beard. But the Rockets realize this newfound chemistry they’ve found is better than anything the Beard brought to Houston. There’s no “I” in team. And this team has found each other. Something the Rockets could never do with James Harden. It only took losing the Beard for Houston to realize what they always needed to find, and never could until they could lose Harden: chemistry.