ONE good outcome today out of FOUR possibilities. Rockets winning and Harden scoring 40+ is the best single ONE, so there's that.
In the last three weeks, the Orlando Magic beat the Bucks, Warriors, Pacers, and Raptors. In that same timeframe, they lost to the Knicks, Cavs, Bulls, and Hawks
As soon as Memphis went up 13 I was like damn okc looks sad. Then I immediately knew that thought would jinx it and it did. Memphis's offense might have been better the last 6 minutes if they just dribbled out the shotclock and threw it in the stands instead of all the early turnovers and bricks that led to fastbreaks . Parsons checking in about 30 pounds over weight was about as sad as it gets.
I love how Westbrook shooting 7 for 20 and 4 for 13 for 3 makes him player of the game and means he found his shot and had a great game . until the last minute he was basically shooting them out of the game .
I realize Memphis has no Talent and that even having the lead was surprising, but credit to jbb for the masterfully crappy coaching job down the stretch. Also for using both of their final time outs before 30 seconds were left . Having to watch Chandler Parsons and Joakim Noah be coached by jbb has got to be a tough job for a fan.
Their next 4 games are @min, @POR, @LAC, and @UTAH, followed by a home game vs BRK, then @IND and vs GSW. All this while only 1.5 games ahead of us. People said our shot at the 3 seed died with the OKC loss, only for them to go 2-5 over their last 7, bringing them back within striking distance with the hardest remaining schedule in the NBA, just in time for PG to end his 2 month hot streak of an MVP campaign.
Not with regard to finishing ahead of OKC. That should be a cinch if the Rockets take care of business against inferior opponents. The Thunder's remaining schedule is brutal. Where that loss(and others) could bite us in the behind is with the Blazers and Jazz who each have easy schedules. They could wind up finishing ahead of us thanks to those bad losses.
Yeah I'm not worried about Thunder, but it makes it slightly harder to cheer for Thunder when they play the Blazers and Jazz down the road. That last OKC is key for houston though, and in my opinion a must win assuming OKC beats those teams. OKC does play the Bucks in their last game but I don't expect Milwaukee to play their starters much if they've locked up the #1 seed. Just another reason for us to cheer for Raptors to overtake them. Rockets schedule by record may look much easier but the other teams fighting for 3 play the pacers who shouldn't be as threatening without Oladipo.
that memphis lineup to finish the game was one of the worst i've ever seen for any nba team. they had the completely clueless & clumsy caboclo out there! and disasterous scrub avery bradley should NEVER EVER be your go-to guy. the cherry on top was JB bickerstaff directing things from the sideline -- failure in a cheap suit