Golden State Grinchmas: Warriors Rally in Second Half, Shock Rockets, 116-104
Pick ‘Em Season. 51 Questions. Par for the Course.
’Tis the season for giving, and the Rockets gave their fans a lump of coal on Christmas Day. Houston ended their West Coast trip with their worst loss of the season, a 116-104 Christmas defeat at the hands of the Warriors, the worst team in the conference. The gameplay was evident from the opening tip. Harden was double-teamed the second he crossed half court, not unusual given it’s become an increasing trend teams try and throw at the Beard. Houston’s MVP didn’t get a lot of great looks, but Harden still shot 50% from the floor, and finished with 24 points and 11 dimes. He just didn’t get any help. Russell Westbrook scored 30 points, but on a rancid 11-for-32 shooting night. Golden State dared Russ to shoot threes, and Brodie fell for the bait, going a miserable 0-for-8 from downtown. Danuel House had 18 points, and Clint Capela posted a double-double, but the Rockets were outplayed by the Warriors Three D’s: Draymond Green, D’Angelo Russell, and Damion Lee. Golden State’s triple threat scored 62 points on 50% shooting, roasting the Rockets, as Houston’s open shooters couldn’t find the rim. After scoring 39 points in the second quarter, and taking a four-point lead into halftime, the Rockets scored only 36 points the rest of the way. Hopefully, Houston’s minds were on the holidays, a possible excuse for a departure of their usual focus, and an extreme decrease in their ability to hit shots. All the squad can do is move forward and hope they can stop the “losing to bad teams trend” trend before too many losses pile up.
It’s pick ‘em season this year for the Houston Rockets. Or so it seems. Right when the Rockets seem destined to win a game, they pull the chair out from under everyone’s exceptions. The Christmas Day loss in the Bay Area is the fourth loss this month for Houston against teams at least 5 games below .500. Every team has bad losses. But the elite teams show consistency in the regular season en route to a high seed in the playoffs. If the Rockets continue to treat each game as a toss-up, they’ll likely finish somewhere in the range of the fourth, fifth, or sixth seed. Houston currently sits in the fourth spot. If the squad could have finished off the road trip with a win on Christmas, the Rockets would be sitting pretty in the second slot. It’s that close in the West. And seeding is too important this season for Houston to play around with the regular season. Fortunately the Lakers have lost four in a row, but they’ve had a tough schedule of late. LeBron and co. will get it together. Brodie and the Beard need to realize what’s at stake, or their wishes for a top seed won’t be granted this season.
Plenty of questions remain this season for the Rockets. 51, to be exact. That’s the amount of games that remain, and the way Houston is currently operating, the remaining matchups on the schedule are all toss-ups. The Rockets could win or lose on any given night, no matter the place, or opponent. Sure, this is true with every NBA team, but this applies to no team more than Houston. After the Christmas loss, the squad finished 3-1 on their four-game road-trip. Pretty much what was predicted before the trip began, par for the course. Although many picked the Rockets to lose against the Clippers, not the Warriors. But, ’tis how the season’s gone for Harden and company. They generally square-off best against elite teams, but it’s a coin-toss when they play inferior competition. Plenty of time remains to right the season’s ship. Houston can still give fans the ultimate present. They’ll be in the mix for the top playoff spots throughout the NBA’s regular season journey …. just expect plenty of lumps of coal along the way.