The rivalry between San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets has been relatively dormant for nearly two decades. There were times between the days of David Robinson / Hakeem Olajuwon, like 13 out of 35, but the IH-10 Rivalry hadn’t made it to the playoffs since The Admiral and The Dream clashed.
Everything started to change when a rising opponent from Spurs Drive for Five moved from Oklahoma City to Houston. James Harden’s arrival helped bring the Rockets to their best era since the 1990s, bringing the Texas rivalry back into focus. It was full of classic moments, the most recent being the instant classic from last season that featured Lonnie Walker IV’s career night, but also one of the biggest refereeing mistakes of all time, with the referees missing a blatantly obvious dunk from Harden , and then spoiling the Coach Challenge rules by not reviewing the call at Mike D’Antoni’s request – all leading to my favorite SP episode with JR Wilco when the Rockets tried to protest the outcome of the game.
What made the rivalry seem real again was that playoff series that had been missing for 22 years and finally happened in the second round of 2017, with the Spurs initially being favorites to win, but having to fight to lose Tony Parker for a season- ending the injury and Kawhi Leonard in some points (including the entire game 6) to a sprained ankle. The result was an instant classic in Game 5, followed by a shocking explosion in Game 6, when Harden did not appear, while the short-handed Spurs led a wire-to-wire explosion.
Some of these games mentioned may remind many of the one aspect that may have better defined Harden’s time with the Rockets, at least in the eyes of Spurs fans: his fantastic ability to lock him in the clutch. It happened at least five times, from Tim Duncan in 2015, to Jakob Poeltl (twice) last season. There was also Manu Ginobili somewhere.
So with that, we say goodbye to James Harden, who is now on his way to Brooklyn Nets. Thank you for helping to revive a previously classic rivalry asleep and, most importantly, thanks for all the good memories. I only regret that the Spurs no longer have a chance to say “goodbye” in the next two games, when the Rockets come to town. Those moments will be lost.