GSW vs HOU - Game 5 was Highest Rated NBA Game on ESPN in 3 Years

Great. So now 8.887 million people think James Harden sucks.

 

8.887 million people know nothing!

 

That probably had more to do with Steph Curry and the Warriors

 

Almost 9 million people saw James Harden forget how to play basketball? Sadly, this means that Harden will have to work doubly hard to win MVP next year, most casual voters will still just refer to this game as proof that he's not good enough.

 

Even though Harden had a bad game (his worst) I think if the team gels more and gets an upgrade at pg (well a PG..) houston can do something special next year... It's not like curry was lighting it up in every playoff game, I mean his team is so loaded that if he has an off game it can be masked a lot easier (obviously not 13 tos or whatever but I know curry turned the ball over just look at the turnover totals per game and overall total this postseason... Harden had his historically bad game and even with playing more games than curry/lebron wasn't exactly in some different ranking from the other 2). With the amount of time Harden has to playmake for the team it's amazing how little he has turned the ball over (other than game 5...).

Tl;dr Harden will grow from this and the Rockets will get a lot more TV time (or at least no less). I also think if houston improves as expected could still be easily MVP candidate. With the media it's all about best player on best team.

 

with durant and anthony davis on display next season, i'm not so sure james will even be in the running anyways

 

With the Rockets winning 60 plus games if healthy...he surely will be.

 

I guarantee the narrative changes from best player on best team to most valuable to team

 

Yeah it could... I could see that for AD, but as long as OKC doesn't do something crazy I think Harden could still be in conversation and have a legitimate shot.

 

This means there will be more National telecasts for us next season.

 

Arguably, the most beloved vs the most hated.

 

There goes Harden marketing appeal.

 

I think the narrative of MVP vs MVP had more to do with it.

Also that people hate the Rockets for whatever reason, people love a good heel and love to see said heel get beat. It's why Floyd Mayweather makes so much money because people are actually paying to see him get beat up.

 

Good. Will the good ratings mean we have more nationally televised games next season?

 

I concur.

I only wished that James would have played up to it.

 

Probably it was GSW playing in the WCF in a game which would allow them to advance to the Finals that brought the ratings.

 

This.

And people hate the Rockets because our GM keeps going in on twitter. And Our superstar player's game is revolved around fouls. Plus I think Dwight is still on heel mode.

 

I think it's multiple things. A lot of them mentioned already. But don't discount the idea that the Rocket might pull off another upset as making for compelling TV. Game 2 was nearly another fantastic finish that would have left people drooling. I mean, credit our never quit attitude a bit here!

A lot of people hate the Rockets. But I also think a lot of people secretly root for them because so many people hate them.

 

Almost 9 million people will always remember where they were were when James Harden made history.