Rockets, Warriors, Open 2019 with Season’s First Quarrel at Oracle
The Wild West. Off-Kilter. Sudden Impact.
Welcome to A-not-so-Quiet Place. James Harden and the Rockets storm into the loudest part of the West, Oracle Arena in the Bay Area on Thursday night, to take on the ultimate enemy. Yes, inside, Houston’s heated-rivals, and the defending-champion Golden State Warriors await. The Rockets beat Golden State earlier this season, but that was way back on November 15th, almost a month before Harden went into Jordan-Mode. The Warriors have yet to meet this version of James Harden, that is, until sundown this evening. The Beard has been breathing fire: blazing a path of impressive Rocket wins in his trail, as his record-setting season shifts to the Wild West. The best the West has to offer. Houston’s most challenging matchup of the season takes place tonight at “R-oracle”, the nickname given to Golden State’s arena. For the past four seasons, Oracle has notoriously been the loudest arena and toughest building to win in for the NBA’s other twenty-nine teams. The Rockets will aim to silence all the noise and get their most impressive victory of the season as they take on the Warriors tonight in front of a national audience.
Golden State may be under-performing in many peoples’ eyes’, but they’re the back-to-back Champs, gunning for a three-peat. Until someone takes the title from the Bay, the Warriors are still the NBA’s best, no matter where they’re seeded at in the standings come playoff time. They’re still loaded with five-future Hall of Famers (Cousins remains out with an injury). These Warriors are an experienced team who’ve tended to get bored in recent regular seasons due to all their success. This season, they’re not quite the same as they were in years past. They’re a little off-kilter, something’s not right. The Warriors aren’t supposed to have deep chemistry issues that induce teammates to tear their team apart in front of the sports world this year. They’re trying to hide themselves from the rest of the league. Golden State won’t acknowledge it, and they won’t admit it, because they know it’s real. The Warriors can feel their own dynasty slowly falling apart. You’d be hard-pressed to get Golden State to admit this, but study their body language, and other characteristics that give you insight into the mental aspect of the game, and you’ll notice the vast differences. This is not the team you’ve seen make it to four straight NBA Finals. Not anymore. Not when pride gets in the way of sacrifice for the betterment of the team. Homegrown grudges that are currently brewing between two of the Champs’ four all-stars (Draymond Green & Kevin Durant) have Golden State’s ship sailing on rough waters as they try and mend a beef between two of the NBA’s more ego-driven, selfish players. Sometimes the simplest choices are the ones that make the biggest differences. When the Beard was asked what he says to people who are mad at his ability to draw free throws at record-rates, “Stop fouling. It’s simple.” Big ego’s and star-power usually only make things more complicated. Consider the fact that these guys are sick of each other after only two years together, and you realize the sensitivity to their surroundings they share is so contagious, that when they’re around each other, this dreaded sensitivity becomes ominous, and extremely obvious, especially in the locker room (I can only imagine). The KD & Draymond beef is at the heart of the Warriors’ chemistry issues and was started over a simple play: who was going to take the last shot. A selfish play that ended in a loss for the Warriors, and something I hadn’t witnessed in the entire Steve Kerr era: the beginning of the end… for the Golden State Warriors dynasty.
Granted, the Warriors are still the odds-on favorite to win it all this year, but they don’t look the same as they did in prior seasons that ended in Championships for the Bay Area. The Warriors don’t look like they’re having fun anymore. They appear to be easily rattled, distracted by the luxuries abided to them by being considered a “dynasty”, as fans, players, and the media shower the team with constant praise. Maybe the all-stars are tired of sacrificing individual legacies in order to win. This “Kyrie Irving” mindset of wanting to be the guy, instead of wanting to be part of the guys, is why Golden State’s reign as Champions is over this June. Whatever the case may be, this Warriors team is very different from any previous Golden State-team in the Kerr era. It seems like they’ve gone from competing against other teams, to competing against each other. There’s a lot of ego and star power in that locker room. The mental aspect of the NBA is hardly discussed as teams score more and more points, slowly turning the beautiful game of basketball into a video-game, stat-obsessed league, driven by ratings and money. We’re nearing the halfway-point in the season, with plenty of basketball left on the NBA slate. Although the West is wilder this season, wilder ever than before. LeBron James came to the Lakers. The Nuggets currently hold the one seed. The Thunder look as good as they’ve been since Durant left. The parity across the board in the West this season has been downright unbelievable.
And then, there is Houston. “Space City” has also lifted-off, as the Rockets look to get their eleventh win in twelve games, led by the scorching Man with the Beard. The reigning-MVP looked at the standings, and realized that it was time for a change. At 11-14, the Rockets were left for dead. All it took was a Hard-en Awakening for Houston to get back to having the best chance to end Golden State’s reign. On December 8th, the Rockets were put on blast by the Mavs’ rookie sensation, in-state rival Luka Doncic, in a game the Rockets gave away, which resulted in a comeback win for Dallas. Afterwards the Rockets looked like they hit rock bottom, with a record of 11-14, good for fourteenth in a ruthless Western Conference, and looked like they were starting to fade from the crowd. Since that game against Dallas, with the Mavs’ sudden comeback, seemingly out of nowhere, almost single-handedly by Doncic… Houston’s had more sudden impact (due to James Harden) than anyone in the league expected. The Beard’s been a little off-kilter himself, going full-on Jordan-mode to lead the Rockets through a brutal stretch back into the thick of the action in the claustrophobic West. Suddenly, faster than a New York- Minute, James Harden launched the Rockets from fourteenth to fourth in the standings.
Harden only did what he was needed to do. After being asked if he’s hungry for another MVP, the Beard stated, “I need it. I need it for sure. And I’m going to get it.” James will have to earn it, in a crowded MVP-race. Harden’s stellar play is proving that the Beard talks the talk, but also walks the walk. The Rockets are rolling with their “Earned” red jerseys again tonight in Oakland. Houston is undefeated wearing those uniforms. The “Earned” Red brings out another level of play in the Beard, not seen before this season, giving him the ability to have a sudden impact on a game. It doesn’t matter what he wears, good luck guarding him. Harden’s got another chance for a case-making argument for MVP with another stellar performance tonight against the league’s best competition. The spotlight’s on too, and the Beard’s been more attracted to the limelight this season as well, in a positive way that is paying dividends on the court. Maybe all it took was a good day (or a JaVale McGee poster dunk) for Harden and co. to get started on the Rockets’ destined path for success. Houston now sits only three and a half games out of first, and only two behind the Warriors in the loss column. A win would guarantee Houston part of the tiebreaker with Golden State, and would inch them even closer ahead in the standings.
The Beard’s going to need some help from his buddies in Red. “The Menace” James Ennis is expected to finally make his return to the court tonight. With Chris Paul and Eric Gordon out, look for Clint Capela, Danuel House, Austin Rivers, and P.J. Tucker, among other Rockets who will help with Harden’s workload, as he is prepped to put on another shoulder-carrying performance. This will be a perfect test to see how Houston’s younger and less-experienced players react and perform in big game atmosphere. Playing on the road in the loudest arena. It should be quite a challenge. The Rockets have suddenly come together to make an impact as a team around Harden’s dominant play. The Rockets are overcoming any difficulties in their way, meanwhile getting better at approaching their main obstacle, the NBA Championship. Playing on the road in the loudest arena, certainly heckles many (if not, most) players. The greats never let the noise get to them. They embraced it. Jordan. Kobe. Magic. Bird. Isaiah. They loved to silence boos and the raucous crowds. That noise only further motivated them, made their day. Harden is ON a similar level with those legends. Welcoming any incoming threat to the Rockets’ shot at winning the title and his chance at repeating as MVP. Noise doesn’t affect the Beard it simply “fuels” James Harden’s dominant performance on a nightly-basis. Harden’s been talking more than ever this season, an obvious reason how the Rockets have turned the season around. And if you’re in the Bay Area, go ahead and make all the noise you want, it’s not going to affect someone at the peak in the prime of his career. Dirty Harry once said what’s on Harden’s mind best in the aptly titled, Sudden Impact. If you’re at the game tonight don’t be shy. Give the Beard hell, he encourages the motivational tools, the noise, the crowd roars, the heckling… it only makes Harden even better. If you’re lucky, the Beard might even feel the need to tell you what he’s telling himself tonight, amidst a roaring crowd as they try to faze a legend in his prime: “Go ahead, make my day.”
Oracle Arena: Oakland, California
Jersey Colors:
Houston Rockets (21-15): “Earned” Red
Golden State Warriors (25-13): Yellow
TV: 9:30 PM CT TNT