The Houston Rockets were all smiles after winning a good game over a good team. James Harden was reclining with is friends and being playful in interviews. It’s something they should try more often. Despite some embarrassing fast breaks and some ugly breakdowns at the rim in the first half, the Rockets turned in one of their best outings of the season, using a combination of effort, talent, and team play to sail past the Miami HEAT. Perhaps they’d forgotten it could be this way. Perhaps the 5-in-7 week they just escaped from had gotten them down. Perhaps life truly is just a series of arbitrary events as we hurtle through space from nothing to nothing. Whatever the cause, they had reason to be happy, and that’s a nice change of pace.
The Rockets were weak at the rim, failed to convert some easy layups, gave up too many free throws (27) and got outrebounded on the offensive glass (3 for Houston vs 13 for Miami). This concludes the list of things the Rockets did badly. That’s hardly perfect, but it’s a postage stamp compared to the James Joyce novels of imperfections they’ve turned in this season. If there’s a game to get you feeling confident, this has to be the game. Let’s look at what went right.
James Harden played well… on both sides of the ball. He shot 10-19 for 26 points alongside his 14 assists, and the worst you can say about his offensive performance was that he only drew 4 free throws. He actually stayed on his man and paid attention on defense, looking a lot more like last year’s James Harden. Perhaps Josh Smith has been yelling at him over games of Destiny. Perhaps he needed a couple days of rest. Perhaps he just loves sour candy. Whatever the cause, he needs to keep it up, because this is what Houston needs from him.
Josh Smith was good! He won’t always be good, but he was hitting shots and making passes and playing defense against the HEAT. He hit 8 of his 13 shots, including 3-5 from three point range. Don’t count on seeing that very often. If he can approximate a decent shooting percentage, the rest of his game will be a help to the team. His passes remain astonishing, and he really seems to have bought into his role.
Speaking of his role, Terrence Jones defended his by playing a respectable game for once. He shot 4-9 from the field, grabbed 7 boards and picked up a surprising 7 assists. This is hardly eye-popping stuff, but it’s a far sight from the duds he’s mailed in lately. With Donatas Motiejunas’ return imminent, Jones has to put more of these together if he plans on keeping his job.
The whole team played well, even without their starting center in Dwight Howard and their backup center in Clint Capela. Beverley was intense, Brewer was fast, guys hit open threes, and they passed the ball. They almost passed the ball too much. This was a much-needed sigh of relief after a very frustrating stretch of games. If head coach JB Bickerstaff’s $10,000 fine helped in any way to bring about this atmosphere for the team, it was well worth it.
Don’t be so afraid to go out there and try, guys. Tonight shows you just might like it.
