ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Warriors 1/21/2015

But Harden did perform.

 

Harden was performing though. McHale should have got him back in the ball game.

 

Harden's issue is simple: he can either be a scorer or the point guard. I feel he'd be much more effective if they had a bonafide PG running the show which would free Harden up to attack the other team relentlessly. It would also help to have some semblance of an offensive strategy other than "Hustle and Flow". BTW, last night Harden WAS passing the ball early - it's just that everyone else was getting their collective asses whipped by a superior team that knew how to exploit this team's weaknesses.

 

From the ft line he did. I'll admit he had those two 3s in the 3rd but he turned the ball over so much that game

 

are you watching the right game? when did 2 to's become "so much"

 

Harden turned it on in the third quarter.

He can be so explosive sometimes.

I think all last night did was prove that Curry isn't the MVP. His team is SOOOOOO GOOD!

Harden put up 33 points efficiently and his team still got blown out.

If you switched Harden and Curry, the warriors might have won by 50 points last night.

 

and 23 total points from his starting unit. so helpful

 

Best part of the game last night? It wasn't close, so I didn't stay up late watching it till the end.....

I hate those late start games....

 

All this angst about the Warriors "owning" the Rockets, and therefore we are doomed when we reach the playoffs, reminds me of another Texas team, just last season. San Antonio, swept by the Rockets during the regular season, should have been doomed, right? Wrong. They managed to win a championship, surviving the beatdowns Houston laid on them all year handily, thank you very much. While I don't enjoy watching the Rockets get clobbered by a very good team, it isn't the end of the world. The Spurs survived Houston, went to the playoffs and won a trophy. We shouldn't dismiss out of hand the possibility that we can do the same, or at least have a respectable showing in the post-season.

What has me freaked out isn't the Warriors and yet another broadcasting crew clearly chewing on Golden State's collective jock straps. What has me freaked out is the health of Dwight Howard. Our chemistry is out of whack due to yet another large turnover in personel by our genius GM, a turnover that may not have ended. That can be fixed before season's end or heads will roll, in my opinion. I'm freaked out about Dwight.

 

Turned this game off for the 4th quarter, but nicely surprised we cut the lead down to 13. Did our bench guys play well? Hopefully Papa gets back into the rotation

 

Again San Antonio was in first place when this happened. If we got owned by Golden State and we were first place I would be mad at the loss but just brush it off because we would still have the best record in the league. You can't say that for the Rockets. Who are now in danger of slipping to 7th place and facing the Blazers again in the first round.

 

Nba Twitter is tough to read today. Media is killing us - the people that hate the rockets are loving todsy. 'Swag champs' gave them a ton of ammo as did 'they're not that good'

 

They cut the lead down to 8 at one point.

They shot a 3 and if it had gone in it would have been a 5 point game.

Yes, the bench guys were playing hard.

The Warriors called timeout and put their starters back in when they were only up like 8 or 9 with like 3 minutes left.

 

While I sure as hell hope we end up as one of the top 4 teams out of the West, with home court for the first round. If we can't beat Portland in a series, they deserve to advance and we don't, simple as that. If everyone is healthy, a big if right now, I like our chances against them. I like those chances a lot. We're going to play someone in the 1st round. I'd prefer having home court when we do. As for SA, I still think my point is a good one. After I posted that, I saw a thread in the GARM about the topic saying much the same thing. I'm far from being in panic mode, certainly right now. Dwight may end up giving me an ulcer, though.

 

As I mentioned before, our starting lineup is flawed. In this new guard driven NBA, you cannot consistently win when only 1 of your 5 players can handle the ball. It will remain broken until Morey fixes it by acquiring the much discussed pg that can create for himself and others.

The burden is on Morey to do something now before it gets worse.

 

They cut the lead down to 8 at one point.

They shot a 3 and if it had gone in it would have been a 5 point game.

Yes, the bench guys were playing hard.

The Warriors called timeout and put their starters back in when they were only up like 8 or 9 with like 3 minutes left...

 

I agree that Bev should be coming off the bench (which I saw implied in your post), not starting at the one. That would be the ideal role for him, unless we have to move Pat in a deal at the deadline. I think averaging 31 minutes a game is too much for the guy, at least since his injury last season. Bev hasn't been quite the same since. Maybe if he was playing closer to 20 minutes a game, he'd be more effective. I think so.

 

Excellent post, why I am not surprised? You bring up an issue that I have been pointing to for some time: the tendancy of our GM to keep shuffling the deck, almost endlessly, which prevents any kind of continuity. As to Dwight, he looks like the best center in the league, but he is clearly performing like one of the worst centers in the league. Injury or attitude, who knows. Team chemistry is really out of wack.

 

I understand what you're saying. I hope we do get to top 4. But we need look objectively at the reality at hand. The two teams behind us are San Antonio and The Clippers. The Rockets will have to play really good ball to stay in from of them, then they will have to hope Dallas loses a couple just to get back in the top four. I would rather have Dallas first round. I'm not sure how we stop Portland unless Josh Smith defends LMA really well. I feel like we have until trade deadline to get a good pg. If we don't do that I cant honestly say we get out of first unless we face Dallas or Memphis. I don't see us matching up well against Portland, Clippers or the Spurs.

 

It's true. GSW can be beaten. Media seems to want to crown them NBA champs already.

"GSW is not that good." Problem is we're not good at all. We have regressed because teams have figures us out, and we have nothing to surprise them with.