A few days ago, things were not going great for the Houston Rockets, but they were probably doing just as well as they are this season. The team had just won the Orlando Magic by 32 points to pull its record to 3-4, and the next day, James Harden – who, in case you missed it, is going through a saga of very public and embarrassing commercial demand this season – at the very least admitted that there were positive aspects about these rockets and, at best, recognized the possibility of a future in Houston.
James Harden: “We have a lot of work to do. I think all the teams think so … We just haven’t had the opportunity to work together very often. As long as we continue to find chemistry, to find rhythm at both ends of the floor, we have had chance to do something special. ” #Rockets
– Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) January 9, 2021
Even after losing his next game to the Lakers, things didn’t look too bad. The team was still close to 0.500, and on the day between games, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported that the board was “getting more confident that Harden will be happy to stay at least until the rest of the season,” even though he also wrote that “sources say Harden still prefers to be negotiated”.
So … Well, then the Lakers happened. Or more precisely, the Lakers at the height of their powers happened. The Rockets never got to lead on Tuesday, and the Lakers increased the deficit to 30 at one point in a game that realistically ended at halftime. Los Angeles basically spent 48 minutes joking around with the team they just pulled out of the playoffs.
After the game, Harden was no longer talking about “a chance to do something special”.
James Harden: “I love this city. I did literally everything I could. This situation is crazy. I don’t think it can be fixed. Thanks.”
He left the podium.
– Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) January 13, 2021
“I love this city. I literally did everything I could. This situation is crazy. It’s something I don’t think can be fixed. Thanks.”
—James Harden on Rockets pic.twitter.com/LcPLn09TgE
– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 13, 2021
So, to recap, the Lakers won their last six games against the Rockets, including four in a row in the playoffs, and now – after defeating a Houston team, people really thought there was such a bad shot against them in the postseason that Harden dropped out of the organization where he won his only MVP award and spent most of his career – they trampled them so much in two games of the regular season that Harden went from saying positive things to coming out at press conferences while his teammates attack in the media.
I asked John Wall how he would evaluate his partnership on the court with James Harden in 9 games:
“I think it’s been a little bit difficult, I can’t lie about it. I don’t think it was the best it could be, to be honest. That’s all I could really say.” #Rockets
– Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) January 13, 2021
John Wall: “As I told everyone tonight, when the 1-15 guys are all on the same page and are committed … you’ll be fine. But when you have certain guys in the mix who don’t want to buy at the same time, it will be difficult to do something special like a basketball team … It hurts. “
– Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) January 13, 2021
John Wall: “If we can all get on the same page, we can be a good thing here. We can’t insist on that because it was just 9 games. Come on, man. Are you going to jump off the cliff of 9 games? There’s still a lot of basketball to play. ” #Rockets
– Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) January 13, 2021
So, in case you’re wondering how exhausting it is to play against a Lakers team with locked versions of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it looks like we have empirical evidence that the answer is “exhaustive enough to make a team implode twice” or ” demoralizing enough to make you go from cautious optimism to rekindling tire fire. ”
I mean, good for the Lakers, but Houston, you officially have a problem. Again. I’m sorry for this.
For more Lakers speak, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed at iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.