ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Raptors 3/6/2016

The narrative of ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=14917848

 

Wow. I thought maybe you did the wrong query, since you have a typo above -- "17" instead of "14". But it's works for 14 assists.

fwiw--bballreference only goes back to 1983.

so, was that 20 pts in the 4th? Harden is the #1 scorer in the 4th Q this year. Back to is normal cooking self from last year.

 

Just watched the game... Harden is a beast. Nuff said.

And to think some of you want to trade him? Get real Harden is here to stay as long as he wants to be a rocket and im happy about that.

He's unreal he's back to his top 5 player in the game status imo and since the Allstar him and curry are head and shoulders playing better than everyone else.

Just like last year.

There the two best offensive weapons in the game imo with KD in there tier.

LeBron is still goat but he's slowing down and Westbrook is overrated as I have said many a times.

 

Yeah, they had 40 and 17, so it stuck...my bad.

I'm trying to think of guys before 83 that would be a threat to do this...Magic would be my #1 choice...maybe the Big O?

Quite a feat...

Also, couldn't agree more about Beard being back to form.

 

Harden will never shake the no defense tag.

 

Capela was HUGE down the stretch tonight, his defense was stunning. Two blocks and a great shot contest against DeRozan, that's 6 saved points, Howard him self couldn't have done a better job.

 

Brewer plays well once every 10 games. I'm glad it was this game. If we got that Brewer every night we wouldn't have the worst bench in the league this year. Sadly Brew is fools gold but his play tonight will convince JB to play him more vs give KJ a shot, probably too late for that anyway.

Some other takeaways:

-Dwight actually set real picks tonight which is why he was able to score more.
-Same terrible offense one on one and three but Harden was indeed brilliant and guys actually made their shots.
-JB Finally realized he can't play Smith either. I would only play Smith again if he had a signed contract not to take threes. If he would just relentlessly attack the basket and make passes we all know he could make, he would be a great help.
-I defend Harden a lot but never on his defense. His defense has always been subpar but we still won. The narrative is that everything is his fault. If you look at last year's team he played the same way, the difference is other guys made shots which made us so lethal. We are losing because we went from having one of the best benches to the worst bench in the league this year. I hope some of you guys finally realize that now.

 

its nice to see James Harden show up. Wish it happens every game

 

Last time the Rockets won in Toronto was in 2007. That is crazy.

 

The Rockets should be prepared to start the Capela era next year as the starting C. I don't know why Morey decided not to get any value for Dwight before losing him for nothing, but he should not be here next year. Way overrated, overpaid, and the team plays better without him. Another negative +/- game today.

 

When he went on the baseball break, Bulls went 102-62 combined in two seasons. Both times they reached conferense semi-finals.

I wish people would check their facts before spitting nonsense...

 

Apologies for quoting a long post but ^^^ THIS!!! Our current backup guards are JET, Brewer, and now lol Beasley. Our starting 4 is an out of shape DMo who hasn't played the entire season basically. I don't think the Rockets have a prayer of getting out of the first round unless they get the 6th seed, but without a bench upgrade there isn't much more you can expect Harden to do alone.

 

Harden pouring A1 all over the Raptors

 

Beasley ain't a guard though ...but agree, bench has been a major issue this year. Nobody playing up to their potential.

 

This was clearly one of the best wins of the season. I have much respect for the Raptors, they didn't start no hacking nonsense (Biyombo is bad too ), Casey was passionate about the game and only Lowry cried a bit, but he learned that in Houston hahaha

Seriously though, this one was a gutsy win and let's hope finally it's a turning point. Dwight got involved early, Ariza & Brew played that great defense and the latter turned into Vernon Maxwell. Harrell brought the energy for a while, Capela was big and Harden was just amazing. Beverley was a pest, but he needs to just play defense. It didn't faze Kyle at all & he got a technical.

I'm a bit worried though, mainly about D-Mo & Dwight and how they are being used. Dwight demands post ups at the expense of the speed of the game and also D-Mo. D-Mo is expected to be at the 3pt line or high post to hand it off a lot and with no real structure you saw that D-Mo took it upon himself to create something. This is why I think Beasley will never work here, sorry wishful thinkers Too much freedom and not enough structure.

All in all, very good win, but it was just one of those games. We had a poor start, bad effort, people not boxing out, pointing and looking at each other and only when our shots started falling we gave more effort and it always help to have Harden and one of our other guys to go nuts.

 

It was really cool to see H and H combining well for the alley-oops. The long range 3 pointer from Harden, left my mouth WIDE OPEN!

Great to see us rally, and win against a good opponent on the road.

GO HOUSTON ROCKETS!

 

HOLY SH**!!!!! Wow, just wow!! I knew it was bad, but daaaamnnn....

 

That is quite an amazing stat.....impossible to find a difference that big anywhere else in the league or maybe in history, thats on Morey.

Although in his defense i dont think a single player took a step forward this year, its like everyone regressed. Makes me question if they are working as hard as they should, fundamentals aside you have to have that workmen like mentality to compete and i dont know if this team possesses that.
A playoff appearance could be what lights a fire under their asses and gets them to focus, but its still sad when players need extra motivation to play harder.

 

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Would be nice if this wasn't a fluke.

 

He's been incredible for a while now....but if the definition of "showing up" is 40 points and 14 assists, that's not going to happen very often...for anyone...ever.