2017/8 Houston Rockets Season

[eagle eye]

Here we are at Christmas and the NBA season is nearly half over and the Rox are leading the Western Conference. No misprint here folks, Houston has a 1/2 game lead on the mighty Golden State Warriors and a 4.5 game lead over the Spurs. A lot of that is due to the recent 14 game winning streak that just ended on Wednesday in a 6 point loss to the Lakers. I don't like the Lakers much largely because a certain player's father is a world class douche bag. Be that as it may it seems like a little fatigue and a couple of injuries combined to slow the team down. They still scored 116 and the addition of a stud player in Chris Paul to compliment James Hardin has made the Rockets more than an afterthought.

Right now CP3 is on the sidelines with a pulled groin and we likely won't see him again until after the first of the year. Eric Gordon is back from an injury of his own to step into the starting lineup for Paul. Houston has been getting really good minutes from Clint Cepela but he's been in and out of the lineup with a heel contusion. He is out of the lineup tonight against the LA Clippers who are leading late in the game. Nene has been a beast on the boards tonight hauling down 17 rebounds. The Beard is heading for another 50 point game you just hope Houston gets a couple of stops down the stretch. I'm watching the last minutes of the game and the Rox are definitely getting screwed on calls. The Clippers are in full flop mode and it's costing the Rockets big time. I think with just 1:31 left in the game and down nine Houston will be suffering their 2nd straight loss.

Win or lose tonight the Rox are showing they are a team to be reckoned with. BTW, James Hardin just fouled out of the game but he stopped to give a ref a piece of his mind and was ejected for his trouble. It's incredible to think that Hardin has had back-to-back 51 point games and Houston lost both games.

The game is mercifully over now and the Clips beat Houston 128 to 118.

 

Before the game the Rockets, in a real classy move IMO, showed a tribute video to honor former Rocket and current Clipper Patrick Beverly. Beverly earned his way into the NBA by coming up through the D leagues and he was a major contributor for 5 seasons for Houston. This past summer Beverly was traded to the Clippers as part of the Chris Paul deal but Houston decided to honor Patrick for his time as a Rocket. Beverly was honored despite the fact that he is out for the season and likely not even going to be at the game. I like Darrell Morey and the Rockets for this tribute. A very nice and classy thing to do.

[eagle eye]

This year is ending in typical fashion concerning the sports teams I follow. The Cowboys and Texans have sunk to new lows and Lamar is on a losing streak and now the Rockets can't seem to win either. They travelled to OKC yesterday and lost by 5 to the Thunder 112-107 making it 3 losses in a row. Damn, man. I guess I am finally understanding holiday depression. It's hard to count your blessings when every one of your teams are down for the count. It's been nearly 3 months since the Astros put a smile on my face now I can't wait for baseball season again. I know the Rockets are less than half way through the season but I'll bet they are wishing 2017 would end as badly as I do. Enough of this, I'm out.

[eagle eye]

The Rockets ended up losing 5 straight after winning 14 in a row. They broke that losing streak on New Year's Eve with a wild shootout against the LA Lakers by a score of 148-142 in double overtime. Happy New Year Rox! The team got a much needed 3 day break before hitting the court again tomorrow night in Orlando. James Hardin is making 40+ point games a habit as he scored 40 with 11 assists on Sunday. That 5 game skid cost the Rox 1st place in the Western Conference as they now trail the Golden State Warriors by 2 games and they have just a game and a half cushion over San Antonio. It's still early yet as Houston is 6 game shy of being half way through their schedule. Lots of basketball to go and it's nice to have both LU and the Rox to root for as both teams are doing well so far.

[eagle eye]

The Rockets are riding high after beating the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night by 8 in a 116-108 victory that had a couple of Rockets players talking smack about how they are better than the Dubs. Clint Capela, for one, saying that the Rockets are better than the Warriors. PJ Tucker is a little more subdued than Capela saying Houston has the perfect team to challenge the Warriors. Houston has upped its record to 32-12 and they are just 3.5 games behind the 37-10 1st place Warriors. Houston leads the T-Wolves and Spurs by two games. Houston has won 5 of their last 6 games as Chris Paul has come back from his injury problems and has taken up the slack left with James Hardin’s pulled quad injury that cost him 7 games. He returned to action last Thursday and by his own admission, “felt like trash” in the win over the T-Wolves. He played better Saturday against the Dubs but it was CP3 that led the team with 33 points and 11 rebounds and 7 assists.

The Rockets are benefitting from really good play by their supporting cast. G Eric Gordon has been special as has Capela and Tucker. It seems like everyone has been contributing on the boards. Despite the fact that Houston doesn’t play great defense this team hustles and the up tempo style of play in Mike D’Antoni’s offense suits the team as it is made up. The addition of Chris Paul was a big deal and if the Rox hadn’t run into some injury issues in December and earlier this month that gap between Houston and Golden State might be even closer. Houston has won the season series against GS 2 games to 1. That doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things but for the fact that that Coach D’Antoni can use that as a confidence booster when and if the two teams should meet in the playoffs. At 44 games in, just over the half way point in the season, Houston is on a pace to win 64 games and that is not too shabby. As long as injuries don’t creep up at the wrong time this Houston Rockets team is pretty darn good and they have a legit shot at representing the Western Conference in the NBA finals. Still a long way to go to start talking that kind of smack but this team is no longer an after thought behind Golden State and San Antonio.

Houston is back in action tonight as they host the Miami Heat in the Toyota Center. 7 PM folks, be there or be square.

[eagle eye]

So, how ‘bout them Rockets! The finished up their pre-All Star Game schedule last night with a 100-91 win over the Sacramento Kings last night. That win coupled with a Golden State loss to Portland gives Houston the best record in the Western Conference by ½ game over Golden State and it also means they have the best record in basketball.

An interesting stat that I heard on Golic and Wingo this morning is that Houston is 29-3 when Chris Paul and James Hardin play in a game together. That is a pretty nice stat and the fact that Hardin and Paul have both missed time this season due to injury the Rockets could have an even better record at this point.

The Rockets kicked around in the offseason trying to land another star player, Carmello Anthony was a name that many people threw out but it didn’t happen and Houston seemed to lose out on attaining a “Big 3” for their team. Or did they? It seems Clint Capela has become the 3rd member of the trio giving Houston a Big 3 after all. How much impact has Capela made? The Rox are 28-1 when Hardin, CP3 and Capela are all in the lineup together. Capela has also missed some time due to injuries but this is a very dynamic group that is beginning to garner attention from the National Media. The Rox have supplanted San Antonio as the major rival in the Western Conference.

Could the Rockets be riding on the wings of the Astros championship? It’s too early to tell obviously but there is no denying the fact they are definitely a legit part of that conversation!

[eagle eye]

I haven’t checked in on the Houston Rockets lately here so it’s worth a look. Last Wednesday Houston pushed its current win streak to 17 straight with a 110-99 win over Minnesota. That streak ended last Friday when the Toronto Raptors topped Houston by a score of 108-105 in Toronto. It was the first loss for the Rox since January 26th. Houston went the entire month of February without a loss. Pretty impressive streak for the back half of the season.

The Rockets got back on the winning track last night when they beat Dallas 105-82. James Hardin continues to march along with his MVP caliber season. So far, this season, he’s averaging 31.1 points, 8.8 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game. Against the Mavs, last night, he sat out due to a sore knee. It didn’t matter as Chris Paul led the Rox charge with a double-double (24 pts, 12 assists) and Erik Gordon poured in 26 to lead all scorers in the game.

Houston is still atop the Western Conference standings with a 52-14 record which is also tops in all of the NBA. They now hold a 1-1/2 lead over Golden State with just 16 games left in the season. The Rox will be back on the floor tonight against San Antonio in Houston. Tipoff is at 7 PM.

[eagle eye]

Since the Rockets lost to Eastern Conference leading Toronto on March 9 Houston has won 5 straight and they have extended their Western Conference lead to 3 games over Golden State and they are cruising along through their schedule. Their next game is scheduled for Tomorrow night in Portland against the Trail Blazers. West coast game west coast tip-off - 9:30 PM.

The Rox are now 56-14 on the season and they now have just 12 games left in the regular season. As the NCAA tournament rolls along the end of the NBA season will be ending soon and the NBA playoffs will begin. If that tournament were to begin today Houston would be the #1 seed overall and they would play the Minnesota Timerwolves in the first round.

Go Rockets!!!

[eagle eye]

It's been over a week since Houston clinched the Western Conference title and with 2 games left in the regular season they own a 7 game lead over 2nd place Golden State. The Rockets also own the best record in the NBA. Clearly they are the class of the NBA they only thing left to prove is that they can continue that dominance into the post season. The recent appearances in the playoffs have not been anything to write home about including the collapse vs the San Antonio Spurs last year. This is, as they say, a brand new year and there is no reason to believe that anyone in the Western Conference can hang with the Rox in a multi game series, even the 5 game series in the first round. If the season ended today Houston's first round opponent would be the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Rox are 4-0 against the T-Wolves this season.

The final two games are on Tuesday and Wednesday this coming week as Houston will face the Lakers in LA on Tuesday and Sacramento on Wednesday. By next weekend the NBA will start getting interesting again. Given how the NCAA tournament went with upset after upset it would be best not to take anything for granted. This was the first year ever a 16 seed beat a 1 seed so nothing is for certain but those upsets are much harder if you have to accomplish the feat in a series rather than a one-off game.

It's very cool that Houston 3 major sports franchises have legit superstars leading their team. Of course the Astros have several superstars but none more important than Jose Altuve. The Texans have JJ Watt and we all hope he can stay healthy for the first time in 3 seasons. Desean Watson is a superstar in the making but he also needs to find a way to stay on the field. The irony is Watson didn't get hurt during a game, he tore is ACL in practice. Last but not least is the Rockets unquestioned leader James Hardin. "The Beard" should have been MVP last season and it would be hard to justify not handing him that award after yet another stellar season.

Go Rockets!

[eagle eye]

The Rockets cruised thru the 1st round of the playoffs beating the T-Wolves 4 games to 1 and they have taken a 1-0 lead in the Conference Semi-finals by beating Utah 110-96 in a game that wasn’t really that close. James Hardin led the way for the Rox pouring in 41 points while Chris Paul, Clint Cepela and PJ Tucker each contributed double figures scoring. The Rox seem to be on cruise control and it appears that they will have no trouble dispatching the Jazz and moving into the Conference Finals. Who knows if Golden State will be there waiting but they waded through San Antonio in the opening round and they took a 1-0 lead in the Semi’s beating the Pelicans 123-101. Game 2 is scheduled for tonight. Steph Curry is slated to come back off his sprained MCL tonight but he probably won’t play many minutes but the Warriors look to be getting back to full strength.

On the Eastern Conference side the Cavs got by Indiana in 7 games while Toronto beat Washington 4-2 their opening round series. Philly and Boston both advanced and Boston has taken a 1-0 lead over Philly in the semi’s. Cleveland with play Toronto to open the other semi matchup tonight.

[eagle eye]

The Rox are up 2-1 after beating the Jazz on Friday night by 21, 113-92. They are playing tonight and late in the 3rd quarter the Rox are leading by 15, 72-57. The Jazz are staying halfway close because Houston is cold from 3 point land. If they can hold on they will take a commanding 3-1 lead back to Houston on Tuesday.

 

The Cavs are just taking the Toronto Raptors to school in their series. After a win on Saturday back in Cleveland 105-103. Game 4 will be Monday and I would not be surprised if Cleveland closes out the series. The Raptors were the best team in the East this season but the Cavs own the Raptors in the playoffs and there has to be a lot of head scratching north of the border.

 

The Warriors are killing the Pelicans. NOLA did win one game but that was just a gift to a hot Pelicans team but it doesn't seem like they Boys from the Bayou have much going for them in this series. The W's beat NOLA earlier today by a score of 118-92 in another lesson in basketball acumen by Steff and the fellas.

 

The Celtics seem to be on a collision course with Cleveland as they beat the 76ers last night by 3, 101-98. Both Eastern Conference series are at least interesting in that the games are close.

 

The 3rd quarter is over with Houston up by 14, 79-65. Go Rockets!!!

[eagle eye]

Houston polished off the Utah Jazz to advance to the Western Conference final beginning tomorrow. They will face off against the Golden State Warriors and that is how it should be, the best two teams playing each other. In all likelihood, the winning of the West will win it all because neither Cleveland or Boston seem to have a team capable of hanging with the Rox or the Dubs.

 

It sucks that Houston, who had the best record in the NBA this past season, can't get any love from the pundits as almost everyone believes GS will beat Houston in 6 games or less. Houston lapped the Dubs during the regular season but it's likely in part due to the fact that Golden State dealt with a lot of injuries with key players missing extensive playing time but people forget Houston beat GS in the regular season series 2-1 winning in both Houston and in San Francisco. I think I'll hang with the Rockets. I refuse to say that if Houston wins this series it will be an upset. How can it be an upset when the Rockets have the best record in basketball and own home court advantage?

[eagle eye]

The pundits have been saying all week that Boston was going to fall to the Cleveland Cavaliers but in Game 1 in Boston the Celtics showed that they will not go quietly into that good night by stomping the Cavs by 25 points in a 108-83 come to Jesus meeting. The Cavs had an extra couple of days of rest but it didn't matter as it looked like the Celtics were the team who had the energy and want-to this afternoon. Game two is on Tuesday night.

 

The Rockets will begin their showdown with Golden State tomorrow night. This is expected to be the real NBA final as the Rockets and Warriors are seen as the best two teams in the NBA but after the Celtics beatdown of the Cavs tonight I wouldn't count out the teams from the East just yet.

[eagle eye]

It's pretty nice to see Houston play sometimes but you can't be faint of heart. Down 12 in the 4th quarter on Thursday night the Rox come storming back to pretty much steal a home victory beating the Dubs 98-94 to take a 3 games to 2 lead in the Western Conference Finals. I really believe that if the Rockets had lost this series would have, for all intents and purposes, been over. Going back to San Fran for Game 6 I really believe that you could stick in a fork in the team because they would have been done. Now, Houston has rebounded after a big loss in Game 1 to win Game 2 to split their home series and they bounded back after a record setting loss to GS in Game 3 to split the series in San Francisco in Game 4 to tie the series at 2 games apiece. Then came Thursday's pivotal Game 5. It looked like it was all Golden State and the tennis match between the two teams was going to go to the Warriors. Houston broke the lose one-win one string with their come from behind victory. It came at a cost though as Chris Paul strained his right hamstring on play late in the game. He has been officially ruled out of Game 6 tomorrow night. It will up to the rest of the Rockets lineup, James Hardin in particular, to step up and take care of business back in San Francisco. When you're in a heavy weight fight and you have your opponent on the ropes you have to deliver that knockout blow because you don't want to let your opponent off the hook. Can Houston win without CP3 in the playoffs? I guess we'll find out tomorrow night.

 

As for the Eastern Conference Final it's a real head scratcher. The Celtics looked unbeatable in Games 1 and 2 in Boston. They made Cleveland look old and tired and despite the best efforts by LeBron those games weren't even close. Back in Cleveland it was a complete 180 as the Cavs scored at will on Boston and evened the series at 2 games apiece as LeBron actually got some help from the Sweathogs (his team mates) in easily beating the Celts 2 straight. On Wednesday back in Boston is was the Celtics who came alive. Home court is really a big advantage in this series and if it plays out the it has so far the Celtics will win in 7. The thing is Cleveland has to hold serve back at home and early in the 1st quarter Boston leads 14-13 but there is still a long way to go. I am rooting for Cleveland just because I have come to appreciate the greatness of LeBron James. It will be sad to see if the series ends with Cleveland winning because I am also rooting for Houston to beat Golden State and I will definitely be rooting for the Rox in any scenario that has them in the NBA Finals.

[eagle eye]

The NBA owners have to be elated. Why? They get two Game 7's in the conference finals. Cleveland came back to their home court down 3-2 and beat Boston to send the Eastern Conference Finals to Game 7 and the same thing happened in the West. Houston took their 3-2 lead into Oakland hoping to drive the final nail into the Dub's coffin but, instead, they got smoked by 29 points in a 115-86 ass-whuppin last night. What was a good night for Houston sports on Thursday it was an about face on Saturday as Houston lost both of it's professional sports games. The Astros fell 8-6 to Cleveland and of course the Rockets were sent home licking their wounds after last night's drubbing.

 

Game 7 in the East will be tonight in Boston and the West Game 7 will be in Houston tomorrow night. The good thing about the big loss suffered by the Rockets is after the previous two beat downs Houston has come back to win the next game. Houston will have to do without Chris Paul again as he is nursing that pulled muscle in his leg. It's weird to think that both Game 7's will feature underdogs who should not be underdogs. Cleveland will go to Boston a decided underdog even though they have the best player in the NBA in LeBron James. Houston had the best record in the whole of the NBA and they have home court advantage but they will be 'dogs to the Warriors who most people think are the real best team in the NBA. Houston won't be favored until they actually beat the pre-fab five from the Bay Area.

 

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend and please, don't forget why this is a holiday weekend. Remember the fallen soldiers and emergency response heroes who gave their lives for us. And remember the soldiers and ER men and women who are protecting us every single day.

[eagle eye]

Memorial Day ended with a big ol' "Clang" as Houston Rockets became the Houston Brick Layers" as they lost Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to Golden State 101-92. After getting beat by 29 last Thursday the Rox seemed to salvage a moral victory of sorts with just a 9 point loss but I'd have to say that being -38 in points in the final two games of the series disqualifies any moral victory. I think Colin Cowherd was right last Friday morning when he said that Houston was in big trouble because of the loss of Chris Paul who suffered a pulled hamstring or quad in the waning minutes of Houston's Game 5 win over the Dubs last Thursday. It was Cowherd's assertion that Chris Paul is the real MVP of the Rockets and I'm not sure I disagreed when he said it Friday and I really believe it now after Houston laid a king sized egg on Saturday and last night. Cowherd said CP3 is the real leader of the Rockets on the floor. He's the one who give the team its attitude and direction. CP3 is the heart and soul of the team and losing him was a death blow for Golden State. Much more so than KD, Steph or Draymon. Houston lost the catalyst for the team when CP3 went down and the end results are there to see. It was a really great season except for the last two games. Sometimes when you win you do so because your good AND you are lucky enough to stay healthy. I hate that Golden State won because I'm really sick of them. This was supposed to be Houston's year but I guess it just wasn't in the cards. Now I'm about to jinx the Cavs because I will be rooting like heck for Cleveland to beat the buh-jeezus out of the foo birds from Cali.