HOUSTON — This was easy. Maybe too easy. The Houston Rockets rolled past the Phoenix Suns 133-102 on Saturday night, leading wire to wire, the third time all season that’s happened.
And when you think about just where this Rockets team is right now, 40 wins with one game remaining before the All-Star break, it’s been a strong turnaround. The 40 victories through 57 games is the second-highest total in franchise history.
“It’s good for us,” said James Harden, who scored 40 points on 17 shots. “We got one more game before the break, and we want to finish up strong. We get a couple of days of rest and ready for the last push and the postseason.”
Last season, the Rockets headed into the break with a 27-28 mark, and interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said his team was broken.
Nothing is broken now. These Rockets are doing just fine, moving smoothly through the Western Conference and achieving coach Mike D’Antoni’s goal of gaining home-court advantage in the postseason.
Through Saturday, the Rockets hold the third seed in the West.
“We’re in a good place, I like our defensive effort,” Harden said. “I think that’s really important. We score, we can score the ball at a high level. Defensively, we’re locked in, and we’re helping each other out. We’re communicating, and we’ve gotten better and we’ll continue to grow and get better. And ultimately, if we want to get to where we want to go, that’s going to have to be at a high level.”
On Saturday night, Harden was, well, James Harden. He scored 40 points in three quarters, absorbing a scare when he tweaked his left ankle in the first.
No problem; Harden continued to take care of business in his quest to be league MVP.
As he has acknowledged most of the season, Harden isn’t doing this alone.
Patrick Beverley, who is playing so well right now in averaging 13.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in his past five games, added 19 points against the Suns, while making his first three shots.
Ryan Anderson contributed 16 points, and Sam Dekker came off the bench to score 14, including a nasty one-handed dunk off a Harden pass near the end of the third quarter. D’Antoni pointed out that, despite not scoring in the first half, Trevor Ariza was plus-34 in the box score. Ariza would finish with nine points, nine rebounds, three steals and a plus-44.
Finding another ball handler off the bench could be in the Rockets’ plans. You can never have enough depth, particularly with Eric Gordon nursing a sore lower back. The shooting guard missed his second consecutive game on Saturday but told ESPN he is improving and hopes to play Wednesday.
Check out the team site for more game coverage
Check out the team site for more game coverage
Acquiring a stretch-4 might bolster the bench too, given how difficult some of the Rockets’ matchups could be in the postseason.
Harden said he likes the team as is, and general manager Daryl Morey said he would only seek depth.
Yet it’s nice to just see where the Rockets are with their 40 wins.
“It means we’re looking for 41,” D’Antoni said. “It’s good, we’re happy, but the schedule sets up to where if we take advantage, then we’ll have a nice season. We have another 25 to 30 games left, but we got to make a push.”
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
