The Houston Rockets lost Wednesday night. They lost despite fouling the crap out of Andre Drummond after halftime. They lost despite a triple-double from their star that we haven’t seen in a regular season NBA game since before the 1985-86 season.
That’s right, James Harden’s 33 points, 17 rebounds and 14 dimes hasn’t been seen in a regular season game since then.
Harden is usually maligned for his defense or an offensive game predicated on drawing fouls with that unusually two-handed extension when he flies toward the cup. But he’s also one of the best facilitators in the game. Watch how he slots this pocket pass to Montrezl Harrell on the high pick-and-roll.
https://media.giphy.com/media/l2JIbsxIda5tBk0zS/giphy.gif
Harden’s overall performance was pretty incredible, and yet adidas’ newest signature athlete couldn’t prevent the Pistons from beating up on his team on the other end.
If you were wondering how awful the Rockets can play sometimes, they tried the ol’ Hack-a-Drummond strategy, which actually worked pretty well (getting them a brief lead in the third quarter), and they got one of the best regular season performances in NBA history from their star. But they still fell at home, 123-114, and the game wasn’t really in doubt for the final five minutes.
It definitely takes a bit of the luster off of if Beard’s remarkable triple-double.
(Via reddit’s r/NBA)
