Ugly, but a win is a win
The Rockets report, brought to you by APG&E: Rockets escape with narrow victory over Wizards 159-158
Oct 30, 2019, 10:52 pm
Ugly, but a win is a win
In a game that made the history books for several different reasons, the Houston Rockets held on to barely defeat the Washington Wizards 159-158. The game will go down in the record books for having the third-most points scored in regulation in NBA history. From the start of this helter-skelter matchup, it became apparent that defense was optional and scoring was not. Neither team could seemingly string together two stops in a row which made for some exciting, but chaotic basketball.
For the Rockets, it was James Harden leading the charge, 59 points in all. Harden had struggled with his shooting through the first three games, but caught his rhythm tonight, hitting 6 of his 14 attempted three-pointers. For the Wizards, Bradley Beal could not seem to buy a miss even after Houston threw multiple looks and bodies at him. Beal managed to finish the game with 46 points on a staggering 91.0% true shooting.
The Rockets have a lot to clean up defensively, but through 4 games, it's clear they have an offensive identity that has works. For the fourth straight game, Houston also outrebounded their opponent - something they struggled mightily to do last season. This was ugly, but as the Rockets learned last season, a win is a win and this one counts just as much. Houston will be grateful they got this one later in the season as they joky for positioning in the unforgiving Western Conference.
Star of the game: James Harden seemed to shake away his shooting struggles Wednesday night with a 59-point performance on a scorching 73.9% true shooting. Though his defense left much to be desired, Harden refused to let the game get out of reach for Houston and ultimately won it by getting fouled on the last possession. He also seemingly intentionally missed his last free throw of the game in order to let the clock run out and secure the victory for the Rockets.
James Harden just dropped Isaac Bonga. https://t.co/OMxKoiHllo— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1572486334.0
Honorable mention: Russell Westbrook. Westbrook started the game dishing the ball to his teammates at a ridiculous rate, snagging 10 assists through the first quarter and a half of basketball. His consistent rim penetration was also a huge factor in the Rockets reclaiming the lead in the 4th quarter. Westbrook ended the game with 17 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds 2 steals, and 2 block. He was forceful, consistent, and has thus far proved to be every bit the valued addition he was lauded to be this offseason.
Westbrook ties the game up 155-155. https://t.co/aFiCj2Pk8v— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1572489253.0
Key moment: While it may have been a play brushed off by many, Russell Westbrook finding James Harden cutting backdoor for the dunk is a sign of significant progress for the two. Harden, not known for cutting baseline, did so willingly in this instant and a few other instances this season and the same has been true for Westbrook. The glimmers of chemistry between Harden and Westbrook are becoming smoother and more frequent and for many who worried about Houston's floor spacing this summer, this is an encouraging sign.
Russell Westbrook finds James Harden cutting baseline for the dunk. https://t.co/QFRqkGOuzi— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1572484274.0
Up next: Houston travels to Brooklyn on Friday, November 1st at 6:00 p.m. to face off against the Nets.
There was a conversation Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell had during training camp, the topic being all the teams that were generating the most preseason buzz in the Eastern Conference. Boston was coming off an NBA championship. New York got Karl-Anthony Towns. Philadelphia added Paul George.
The Cavs? Not a big topic in early October. And Mitchell fully understood why.
“What have we done?” Mitchell asked. “They don't talk about us. That's fine. We'll just hold ourselves to our standard.”
That approach seems to be working.
For the first time in 36 seasons — yes, even before the LeBron James eras in Cleveland — the Cavaliers are atop the NBA at the 25-game mark. They're 21-4, having come back to earth a bit following a 15-0 start but still better than anyone in the league at this point.
“We've kept our standards pretty high,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “And we keep it going.”
The Cavs are just one of the surprise stories that have emerged as the season nears the one-third-done mark. Orlando — the only team still unbeaten at home — is off to its best start in 16 years at 17-9 and having done most of that without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero. And Houston is 16-8, behind only the Cavs, Boston, Oklahoma City and Memphis so far in the race for the league's best record.
Cleveland was a playoff team a year ago, as was Orlando. And the Rockets planted seeds for improvement last year as well; an 11-game winning streak late in the season fueled a push where they finished 41-41 in a major step forward after a few years of rebuilding.
“We kind of set that foundation last year to compete with everybody,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Obviously, we had some ups and downs with winning and losing streaks at times, but to finish the season the way we did, getting to .500, 11-game winning streak and some close losses against high-level playoff teams, I think we kind of proved that to ourselves last year that that's who we're going to be.”
A sign of the respect the Rockets are getting: Oddsmakers at BetMGM Scorebook have made them a favorite in 17 of 24 games so far this season, after favoring them only 30 times in 82 games last season.
“Based on coaches, players, GMs, people that we all know what they're saying, it seems like everybody else is taking notice as well,” Udoka said.
They're taking notice of Orlando as well. The Magic lost their best player and haven't skipped a beat.
Banchero's injury after five games figured to doom Orlando for a while, and the Magic went 0-4 immediately after he tore his oblique. Entering Tuesday, they're 14-3 since — and now have to regroup yet again. Franz Wagner stepped into the best-player-on-team role when Banchero got hurt, and now Wagner is going to miss several weeks with the exact same injury.
Ask Magic coach Jamahl Mosley how the team has persevered, and he'll quickly credit everyone but himself. Around the league, it's Mosley getting a ton of the credit — and rightly so — for what Orlando is doing.
“I think that has to do a lot with Mose. ... I have known him a long time,” Phoenix guard Bradley Beal said. “A huge fan of his and what he is doing. It is a testament to him and the way they’ve built this team.”
The Magic know better than most how good Cleveland is, and vice versa. The teams went seven games in an Eastern Conference first-round series last spring, the Cavs winning the finale at home to advance to Round 2.
Atkinson was brought in by Cleveland to try and turn good into great. The job isn't anywhere near finished — nobody is raising any banners for “best record after 25 games” — but Atkinson realized fairly early that this Cavs team has serious potential.
“We’re so caught up in like the process of improve, improve, improve each game, improve each practice," Atkinson said. “That’s kind of my philosophy. But then you hit 10-0, and obviously the media starts talking and all that, and you’re like, ‘Man, this could be something special brewing here.’”