Portland Trail Blazers 96, Houston Rockets 79: Well, that was not fun

Courtesy of Deadspin.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than this video is worth a lot more than that. Because it sums up not only this horrible monstrosity of a game, but the horrible monstrosity of this season. When Red94 gets around to writing a “what the **** went wrong” article at the end of this season, this video should be at the top.

The Rockets were down by 32 points in the third quarter. 32 points. They fell behind thanks to defense like above, and then stayed behind because no one was able to hit a shot tonight. Only four Rockets scored by the end of the fourth quarter, and James Harden had 30 of Houston’s first 53 points.

Some of it was indeed bad luck, as no one seemed able to finish near the rim nor hit a three ( the Rockets aside from Harden went 3-27 from long range). But overall, a Portland team which was supposed to be at the bottom of the conference and had huge changes over the off season is more cohesive than a Houston team which was supposed to be at the top and did not change that much.

It is ironic. Daryl Morey formally took over in 2007. He was brought in to give a team with two superstars a supporting cast, especially after a playoff series against the Utah Jazz which had a game where only four Rockets scored. And almost a full decade later, the Rockets are back here again.

Now, the Rockets did make a run of it towards the end with Harden on the bench. They got within 11 points with about 2:30 left, thanks to Dwight Howard, a lack of attention from the Blazers, and some good hustle work from Montrezl Harrell. Drexler tried to put a positive spin on this game by noting how the Rockets fought to the end, and they did do that.

Not that excuses how the rest of this game went. Credit to Harrell, Howard, and maybe Harden, who did have ten turnovers. Everyone else needs to run laps after tonight.

So toss this game down the memory hole and let us hope the Rockets look forward. Though they may not want to do that either given how bad this February schedule looks.