Are the Houston Rockets a terrible team that puts it together sometimes, or a great team that can’t seem to figure it out? Tonight’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers didn’t answer that question. In fact, after watching two wholly disparate halves, this quandary is more pressing and frustrating than ever. The Rockets fell 21 points behind the Blazers in the first half, looking like a complete laughingstock in the process. The ability to storm back to win by 14 is amazing, but also more than a little confusing and frustrating.
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably had to answer the question, “why don’t they just dunk it every time?” We know the flaws with this sort of reasoning. You don’t just hit every shot because you can’t unless your name is Wardell Stephen Curry Jr. There are caps to human ability, and there are defenses in the way. If a team could just win every game, they would, for the most part. Players and teams don’t just read the right book or hear the right lecture and suddenly succeed by changing one habit or action. That’s not how this works.
Except when that’s exactly how this works.
The Houston Rockets flipped a switch at halftime, going from a defensive sieve to a strangling presence. James Harden suddenly came alive at both ends of the ball, torching the Blazers for 35 in the second half alone. His 46 point, 8 assist awakening would have been amazing, and in many ways was amazing, except for a few troubling issues. Perhaps the least of these is that he had to play 46 minutes to get there. He won’t do this often, and the worry is more that the team needs him that much. No, there are more frustrating concerns.
If a player suddenly erupts to a new level, this is euphoric. Harden, however, is no stranger to this level of play. He’s shown the world that he can be a legitimate MVP candidate in the right situation. This outburst was necessary and powerful, but not new. Neither were the doldrums he began the night in. We’ve seen this Harden, the version who isn’t a plus defender in the least, the version who dribbles too long, turns the ball over, and seems disinterested. This Harden showed up in the first half, and the only surprise was that the other Harden took over for him in the locker room.
This is the nightmare combination that makes the Rockets’ 2015-2016 season so puzzling and miserable. Even an amazing comeback win is poisoned by the reality that they can and should be playing well the entire time. One embarrassing half is a blip, especially when followed by a dominant finish on both sides of the ball. The Rockets have built a season of them. This win isn’t as much fun in the context of an entire season of folly.
To look at the final tallies doesn’t tell the story of the game. Josh Smith was the only starter with a stinker of a line (4 points, 9 shots, woof). Trevor Ariza couldn’t hit a three to save his life (1-8), but made up for it with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and a 5 (FIVE!) steals. Beverley hit 6 of 9 and was a defensive flamethrower. Dwight Howard cleaned up the glass, caught lobs, and generally asserted himself to the tune of 19 points on 8-10 shooting to go with 13 rebounds. James Harden led the charge with 46 points on 16-26 shooting, including 4-9 from deep. These are all half-truths.
The other half of the truth is the first half, in which the team couldn’t hit shots and couldn’t be asked to run an NBA defense. The Blazers continued their streak of hot shooting, only letting up halfway through. The Rockets let things get bad, falling behind by over 20 points before turning things around. The Blazers are a much better team than expected, but it’s no stretch to say that the Rockets are much more talented and experienced and absolutely should not have lost two and a half games to them in the span of two weeks.
Watching the Rockets finally put it together, if even for a half, is a beacon of hope for a team badly in need of them. The problem is that this beacon just highlights the grim situation the Rockets find themselves in, and the reality that they don’t need to be in this situation at all. The Rockets are a brilliant student who never does the homework, and then wows the teacher with a fantastic paper that they wrote the night before. Are they actually better than those with fewer gifts if they don’t put them to use? This season might not answer that, but it keeps posing the question. Maybe we’ll have the resolve to figure it out ourselves.
