ClutchFans Game Thread: Warriors @ Rockets 1/20/2018

Harden wont let that happen

 

I thought it started at 7:30pm...

 

That undefeated stat with Harden, CP3, and Capela will face the ultimate test in this game.

 

Too many moms...

MDA couldn't resist playing Harden an extra minute over his limit last night, lol.

 

A really tough game for us, when you lose one of your main defense guy and one of very important offense power from the team. We lost too much versatility. Freaking NBA, can't ban our players at a better time. Hope we got the W.

 

GO ROCKETS!!!

 

Growing speculation that Klay is planning on leaving after his contract to seek a max contract / #1 option. Warriors may even trade him next year so they aren't left empty handed. That's probably better for our title chances than any trade we could pull off.

 

Whoa! @ch44 bomb! I like.

 

FYI, "day after" and Harden is feeling good. That's a good sign!

 

Rockets' James Harden hopes rust wears off in next game

With the Rockets willing to increase guard James Harden's playing time to roughly 30 minutes in his second game back from his hamstring injury, Harden said he had no issues on the day after his first game back other than with his rustiness from the seven-game layoff.

"I feel good," said Harden, who made 3 of 15 shots in 26 minutes against the Timberwolves on Thursday. "Yesterday was actually my first time being competitive, playing against somebody, physicality. Was a little rusty, as you could tell. I felt good. I was happy we won of course.


"The physicality of the game will come back, whether it's tomorrow, whether it's Monday, whether it is the third game from now. I'm not worried about that. I was happy to be out on the court and feel the atmosphere again."


Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said Harden's playing time could depend on his fitness as he works his way back to game shape.

"I think he can get up to about 30. A little bit of that is he's a little bit out of shape. A little bit of 25 is right for a lot or reasons. But he will. That's a natural thing. He's going to be a little rusty. We expect every game to be a little better."

 

say, here's a thought . . . maybe they should clear James to play 30 minutes this game

 

That boy channel forty fooeeee

 

What is interesting about this @ch44 bomb is everything I have read in the public paints Klay being happy in his current role. So it is interesting to me that perhaps he wants to spread his wings to take on more responsibility. Kudos to him if that is indeed the case.

The only thing I ask, no trades of Klay to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis.

 

A superhuman effort will be necessary for the Rockets to win without all hands on deck. Ryno will have to awake from his slumber and everybody else play lights out. It would be a big middle finger to the NBA if the Rockets can pull it out.

 

Spoiler

Hmm ... about those Thompson/Green for AD rumors.




Klay Thompson
2017-18: $17,826,150
2018-19: $18,988,725

Draymond Green
2017-18: $16,400,000
2018-19: $17,469,565
2019-20: $18,539,130

Anthony Davis
2017-18: $23,775,506
2018-19: $25,434,262
2019-20: $27,093,018
2020-21: $28,751,774 (Player Option)

 

The Warriors won’t do that.

 

Maybe not right now. Let's check back in a year or two.

Spoiler

https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2...rs-anthony-davis-klay-thompson-draymond-green

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/1/10/16873286/trade-deadline-rumors-deandre-jordan-anthony-davis

Perhaps the most salacious trade rumor of the season is a deal that has absolutely zero chance of happening right now. It might not be a trade at all. I am referring to the rumor in Tim Kawakami’s column in The Athletic suggesting that Davis could be the next big target for the Golden State Warriors. Just the fact that it’s out there is worth noting.

According to Kawakami, the Brow is the “prime object of hope and desire.” Putting aside whether Prime Object of Hope and Desire is my favorite Nabokov novel, Davis’s deal with New Orleans runs through 2021, though he has an opt-out for the summer of 2020. If, for some reason, the Pelicans decide to trade the best player in franchise history not named Chris Paul, and they opt to deal him to the Bay Area Basketball Empire, they could, as Kawakami notes, ask for Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in return.

This story is not a story, except it’s a story. Here’s why:

One, it’s the first time since the proposed 2014 Kevin Love deal that I’ve seen Thompson’s name in a trade rumor, and the very first time I’ve seen Draymond’s in one. This was bound to happen at some point, but it’s still worth noting. It’s hard to imagine the Warriors without these guys, but it’s probably going to happen at some point.

Two, this is very Real Madrid of Golden State. Picking up Davis would be quite a Galácticos move, and starting the drum beat, seasons before Davis is technically available, through the media, is a classic soccer transfer gambit. Major soccer clubs look at their rosters in terms of cycles or projects—you always hear them described this way by executives and managers at Barcelona or Bayern Munich. While it might be unfathomable to think of a Warriors team without Green and Thompson, it may, at some point down the line, be exactly what the Warriors need to refresh the mix, to start another cycle, as it were.

Maybe this Kawakami nugget comes from inside the Warriors franchise, maybe it doesn’t, but it’s out there now, and people are digging up quotes of Davis saying he has a fondness for the Warriors’ colors and arena. Last month, Woj wrote about Davis asking Pelicans GM Dell Demps about the Celtics calling for him. It’s going to be a fun two years.