Josh Smith recounts Rockets epic comeback vs. Clippers

my back still hurts from carrying harden smh

 

@vlaurelio

 

I give kudos to both mchale and harden ( depending of course on the details behind mchales actual firing ) for Harden's benching

It is my opinion that had Harden really wanted back in that game he could have gotten in , or he could have thrown a fit right then and there.... instead he took his benching well , was cheering his team on , and balled out next game.

one of the bigger recent "what ifs" is that season and the season after it. DMO and beverley hurt for the playoffs , dwight hurt MCL in wcf game 1 . then we bring in lawson for like free next year and the chemistry just fell apart/ continued falling apart. Mchale fired like 10 games in ... just a massive disaster. Dwight maybe declined too much , harden not yet bought in on D , dmo hurt , lawson drunk , JBB **** his pants.

I loved the style we played from 12-15 . Aesthetically speaking that is . 12-13 was fun with ball movement and parsons and Lin , 13-14 less fun but we were alot better , 14-15 harden emerged as MVP talent on offense and dmo /smith/ prigioni/ ariza ... we just had alot of great "team" guys on that squad ... we had a great unselfishness at times.

Right now it feels like unselfishness and getting everyone involved has taken a step back to expected value and maximization. It may be the right move , but its not as fun to watch.

Theres an alternate reality where things break our way in those years and Mchale becomes a rockets fixture. I believe he is a good coach, but things just didnt work out. Too bad he and james couldnt make it work because i liked how he could bring out james' old man game.

 

Morey wasn't in the crowd that game. "In 2015, he did not witness the miracle of Josh Smith raining 3s to mount a comeback win over the Clippers in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. Instead, Morey circled the block on foot around the Staples Center and followed the game on his phone." - https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...a-game-is-agony-until-it-is-over-12826771.php

 

Hard to imagine that this is Morey he's referring to. Morey is notorious for not watching big games from the stands. He says he gets so nervous it makes him nauseous, so he usually watches from the locker room.

Edit: @foggy94's post above confirms this.

 

our roster wasn't perfect at the time, but man that game 6 was epic! my heart was beating so fast..one of the greatest come back of all time!
we definitely took clippers soul in game 6. game 7 was just a walk in the park.

 

Had we beat the Warriors then and there it would have had a huge positive effect. Harden and Dwight likely have more belief in each other and we'd get a bunch of ring chasing vets. McHale gets more clout and respect from his team and the Warriors dynasty, maybe it never happens.

Instead the Warriors go on to win, they become the ring-chasing destination, and they move forward through the years with the confidence of a champion.

It could have been the Rockets, in fact, I sure thought it would have been. Dwight didn't show up that series when he needed to man. Harden BALLED THE F OUT those first two games in Oracle. BALLED OUT. No one really came to help. Dwight should have absolutely mopped the floor with who the Warriors had at center but he got punked around a lot.

After that, I thinkHarden had to see that Dwight partnership was not going to work out. Then they come back the next year and have that terrible start? Confidence had to be at an all time low.

 

Well, he mostly had it that game.

 

@JayGoogle , I believe Dwight suffered an MCL tear or sprain in game 1 . He was clearly negatively impacted tho

 

I'll never forget game 1 of that series, Harden almost carried the team to a win. It's too bad he ended the series on the note he ended, because it's not fair that Harden gets shitted on over those playoffs, even though he did have a few bad games.

 

Howard didn't sit out the wcf?!?

Howard still averaged double digit rebounds for the 2015 wcf.

Even with the injury Howard got his fair share of rebounds.

 

...is he a good leader now? I love Harden, but sadly it seems to be something that eludes him.

 

That next year when harden came in out of shape and the locker room divided in two, we know which side Josh chose...

 

oh there was never any doubt that Josh was on Team Dwight... i hear they were teammates at AAU... lol

 

love Josh Smith and obviously that game was legendary, but I still think McHale is a bad coach lol

 

Uhh...you know bro, I'm just gonna say I disagree and move on.

 

I think it came out later that the season went down the drain mostly because Dwight and Harden weren't seeing eye to eye. McHale wasn't able to resolve the chemistry issue.

I never liked the McHale hiring. But the firing after 13 games was a worse decision than hiring him in the first place. Firing McHale without any plan other than JJ Bickerstaff was just a kneejerk move. What they should have done was trade Dwight and restore the lockroom. They could get rid of Mchale after the season if they really didn't think he was a good coach. What looked even worse was that McHale was extended just before the 14-15 season and he got them to the conference finals.

 

Nice find! Wonder who he was talking about then?