The Houston Rockets, who sat at .500 heading into last night’s game, have been largely disappointing this season. However, they pulled off a major upset Christmas night vs. the San Antonio Spurs, who are 25-6 after last night’s loss.
The game was a low-scoring affair, with a final score of 88-84. James Harden and co. aren’t going to be satisfied with one win though. They know that they need to turn this season around before it’s too late. Harden spoke on the team’s deficiencies on the defensive end. From RealGM:
“We’re more than capable,” said James Harden. “So we have to find ourselves. We’ve got to find that energy, that consistent defensive togetherness every single night.”
A couple years back, Harden was well-known for “falling asleep” on defense. He was much better about that last year, but he seems to have fallen back into his old habits this season.
Offensively, Harden has been a force as usual this season. Last night, he scored 20 points, marking his 26th 20+ point performance of the year. He leads the league in that category, and is averaging a career-high 28.5 points per game thus far this season.
However, you can’t play on just one side of the floor in the NBA. Harden needs to set the tone for the rest of his team, and put his full effort in on defense. It sounds like Harden understands this. Hopefully last night’s big win will mark a turning point for this team.
