Five months ago Warriors-Rockets was a budding rivalry featuring a pair of teams with championship aspirations led by two of the best players in the game. These days, however, with Stephen Curry’s game ascending a level and James Harden’s taking a (Euro) step back, that rivalry has quickly dissipated, rendering games versus the Rockets as mere padding for the Warriors’ gaudy record. Golden State outscored Houston by 13 points in the final quarter to defeat the Rockets for the eighth straight time in the regular season. With the victory, the Warriors now own the best 51-game record in NBA history at 47-4.
1) I don’t think Steph gets enough credit for his competitive nature. He knows what James Harden said at the beginning of the season and he knew this game was on national TV. So what does the MVP do to back up his Best Player in the Game status? He drops a cool 19 points in the first quarter on 7-of-8 shooting. You could tell Steph had a little extra motivation for this game because each time he had Harden on him, he aggressively looked for his own shot (35 points total). They call him the Baby-Faced Assassin for a reason.
2) Andrew Bogut was a beast roaming in the paint (6 blocks, many more shots altered). His defense down low led to multiple transition buckets in the fourth when the Warriors were finally able to get some easy looks and break away from the Rockets. The Aussie always seems to play well against Dwight. He finished with 13 points, 11 boards, and 3 steals to go with all those blocks. It was about as well as Bogut has played all season.
3) The Warriors had a well-balanced attack with 6 players in double-figures scoring and Draymond Green at 8 points. The bench had a fantastic run, especially in the fourth quarter when they broke open a 93-93 game for a 12-point lead. Andre Iguodala led the second unit with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
4) With Festus out at least 6 weeks following knee surgery, Mo Speights is going to get extended run at the backup center position, the spot where he excelled last year. Mo won’t ever be mistaken for Bill Russell on defense, but he doesn’t have to be. As long as he can score enough to balance out the less-than-stellar D (15 points, 5-of-9 shooting) the Warriors should be able to ride out Ezeli’s absence.
5) Odd occurrence: Steph dropped 35 points while Harden had 37. Steph went scoreless in the fourth, Harden didn’t register a point in the first.
6) Houston’s defense is abysmal. Guys not communicating, defenders in no man’s land, slow in transition, and straight forgetting who to guard at times. It’s hard to believe this is the same team that was in the Western Conference Finals last season.
7) I really dislike watching the Rockets’ brand of basketball. On top of Dwight Howard’s grating antics and James Harden continuous march to the free throw line, we now also have JB Bickerstaff habitually employing the hack-a strategy. I’m glad Steve Kerr retaliated with the Hack-a-Dwight after Bickerstaff purposely fouled Bogut. Maybe that’ll catch the eyes of the league’s higher-ups that something needs to be done.
8) I was surprised Kevin McHale was fired earlier this season after getting the Rockets past the Clippers in the playoffs last year. But on a positive note, that means viewers get the former Celtic back on TV. His comedic timing is good and his stories of the old NBA are fantastic. Even listening to him talk about getting fired is interesting.
9) I mean, just watch this break. Save for one dribble to avoid traveling, the ball never hits the ground.
10) According to the Chinese zodiac, the monkey is characterized as clever, playful, lively and quick. That pretty much sums up how these Warriors play basketball. Happy Year of the Monkey, everyone!