By: Forrest Walker
The Howard and Harden era Houston Rockets are dominant in overtime. Through some unknown combination of factors, Dwight's Rockets are nigh-unbeatable when the game is tied and the clock runs out. Much like with the team at large, their dominance in overtime is both reason for praise and cause for concern. Tonight, however, it was a welcome change to see the Rockets play with energy and hustle on the way to an exciting win.
The last time the Rockets lost in overtime was in February of 2014, in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. That was almost two years ago. Since the arrival of Dwight Howard, the Rockets have won eleven of their thirteen overtime games, and the last ten in a row. Dwight Howard and James Harden have merged together to form some sort of kraken which is only truly awakened after regulation. Perhaps they're always unbeatable after 48 minutes of basketball have been played, but unfortunately most basketball games end at that point. We may never know, but that absolutely won't stop us from speculating.
Everyone has been harping on and on about Houston's effort all year, and the conventional wisdom is that they just don't seem to get up for most games. Unfortunately for the city of Houston, the conventional wisdom is apparently right on the money. Let's consider what a team with effort and chemistry problems would look like:
- They would do better against teams around their level and have embarrassing losses to lesser squads.
- They would look fine when their plan works overall, but would be easy to fluster and would fall apart after a moderately bad run.
- They would be able to defeat a surprising array of teams when their hackles get raised, such as after a show of disrespect or during a high energy situation like overtime.
- Oh, and their postgame interviews would sound like Trevor Ariza may resent James Harden for trying to do the whole offense thing by himself.
Well, let's go ahead and check off all four of those for the Rockets, shall we? Since their latest series of horribly embarrassing losses, the Rockets have looked better, almost decent. Then again, they've done the same thing before in this season, and have had shades of it in previous years. They have a series of personal revelations, only to fall back on old habits, like the fallible humans we all wish we weren't. Remember that turning point after the Sixers game? Or after the Spurs game? If only they could end every playoff game tied. They'd care enough to win the whole thing.
Tonight was good, though, and the most exciting game of Houston's season. The Indiana Pacers are a good team (somehow) and there's no shame in going to overtime with them. The team looked gritty in spurts and they were thoroughly impressive in the fourth quarter and overtime, coming back from a twelve point deficit to snag the win. James Harden and Dwight Howard were the stars of the show, with Trevor Ariza getting a nod for best supporting actor.
Harden didn't score all the points, and that's probably good. It turns out that the rest of the team is pretty good and he can actually trust them to finish after he masterfully slices up the defense and drops pinpoint passes. He scored 21 on 8-20 shooting (bleh) and went 2-9 from three point range (ugh), but dropped off 9 dimes and grabbed 9 boards. He can be a triple double threat any night of the week when he's playing engaged, unselfish ball (except on the boards, he'll have to be selfish there to get 10), and is clearly a top five player when chooses to be.
Dwight Howard, on the other hand, always chooses to be excellent. He's just not in a place where it's always possible. He's a little older and a lot banged up, and he's starting to do that thing where a player on the down slope of their career has random awful or excellent nights instead of just being one thing all the time. Tonight was, thankfully, a good night. 21 points on 9-15 shooting is awesome for him in any universe and that includes a halfcourt heave that was relegated to him for reasons I'm still not clear on. He had 17 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals for a grand total of +16 in +/-, a game high. Dwight is all in. When he hurts the team, it's not for lack of effort. Tonight, that effort was a godsend.
Trevor Ariza chipped in 24 points on 5-9 shooting from three point range, including a fantastic game-tying shot to force overtime. If he can keep his game within himself, he's a huge boon to the team, and honestly critical to any winning lineup. Also of note was the absence of Ty Lawson, who continues to serve his three game suspension. Next game, against the Memphis Grizzlies, will be the final game he will miss as a league sanction for his second DUI offense during last season.
The Rockets are showing signs of life, but still have a lot to prove. They've shown they can dominate in overtime, the clutchest of clutch times. Now the new Clutch City just has to prove they can get it in gear for regulation.
