James Harden's Monstrous Night Fuels Ferocious Rockets and Monday NBA Takeaways
James Harden only needed three quarters to drive the point home: Nobody in today's NBA is tougher to stop.
In piling up 42 points through the first three periods, The Beard allowed his Houston Rockets to cruise home in a 110-95 win over a Portland Trail Blazers squad missing LaMarcus Aldridge because of an upper-respiratory illness.
Harden started out blazing, scoring 19 points on nine shots in the first period. He set the tone with six free-throw attempts in that opening stanza, drawing contact with his patented off-time attacks and swing-through arm motions.
It got better from there.
All told, he finished with 44 points in just 32 minutes, needing only 26 shots. For good measure, Harden added seven assists, five steals and three rebounds.
If the contest had been at all close, Harden would have logged enough time in the fourth to surpass his career high of 46 points, set against his old running mates, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on Feb. 20, 2013. In that game, Harden needed just 19 shots to accumulate his ridiculous total.
It would seem revenge is a strong motivator for Houston's shooting guard.
Appropriate then, that he brought the pain against the Blazers, who eliminated Harden's Rockets in the first round of last year's playoffs.
Houston coach Kevin McHale certainly took notice of his superstar's performance, via ClutchFans:
Whether Harden's into righting wrongs or is just generally unstoppable, the Rockets needed a course correction against the Blazers. Having lost two straight, Houston knew it had road games against the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs coming up on Dec. 26 and Dec. 28. A slip in Portland could have easily become part of a disastrous five-game slide.
Now, the Rockets will hit the road with confidence, armed with Harden in the midst of a career year.
And, of course, they've also got new addition Corey Brewer, who debuted in Houston with 12 points and five steals in 23 minutes. Harden talked about Brewer's positive impact after the game, per ClutchFans:
The West isn't getting any easier, but the Rockets seem to have an advantage nobody else does: Harden is rapidly becoming impossible to slow down.
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You're Never Really Out of it in the East
The Charlotte Hornets were among the early front-runners for Most Disappointing Team of the Year, but three straight wins have them sniffing a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Whether that fact speaks to Charlotte's grit or the conference's much-discussed weakness is up for debate.
The Hornets smoked the Denver Nuggets by a final score of 110-82, as Al Jefferson led the way with 22 points on just 13 shots. The biggest shot of all came from a Bismack Biyombo elbow, which connected messily with Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov.
The Hornets are alive, trailing the Brooklyn Nets by a mere three games after their modest season-best streak. Worth mentioning: Lance Stephenson has been sidelined for all three of Charlotte's recent wins.
Though it seems no team in the soft East is ever out of it, the Hornets' improved play without Lance indicates he could soon be out of Charlotte.
Manu Ginobili Is An Inspiration
You can pretend there were other reasons for the San Antonio Spurs' blistering efficiency against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. You could argue their 125-118 victory, which featured the best offensive first half by anyone this season, was a product of a very suspect Clippers defense, which ranks 17th in the league, per NBA.com.
You might also cite San Antonio's surgical precision or even Tony Parker's return to the lineup.
Deep down, we all know the Spurs went on an offensive tear because Manu Ginobili made them believe anything was possible.
How?
By doing this:
Case closed. Highlight of the year (craftiness division) sewn up. No further questions.
Late-breaking bonus: Ginobili had another delightfully sneaky play later in the game:
Never change, Manu—you magical genius, you.
It's Not All Good News for the Spurs
Kawhi Leonard has missed the Spurs' last four games with a torn ligament in his hand, and according to Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News, Leonard's road to recovery is unclear:
"Popovich said full recovery from the injury may require surgery in the offseason. Leonard received an injection in the hand Sunday in hopes of reducing swelling around the injury. Popovich could not put a timetable on Leonard’s return and described the injury as so rare, it has been difficult to determine the best course of action.
"
Not ideal. The Spurs may need more Manu magic than expected.
Vince Carter: Destroying Franco-American Relations Since 2000
Rudy Gobert was eight years old when Vince Carter famously hurdled France's Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympics. Fourteen years later, Vinsanity put the 22-year-old, 7'1" Gobert on his own poster.
Despite Carter's aerial anachronism, the Memphis Grizzlies fell to the Utah Jazz. Gobert finished with 16 rebounds and a pair of blocks, impacting the game in a huge way despite scoring only a single basket.
Memphis was without its grit (Tony Allen) and grind (Zach Randolph), so it'd be unwise to read too deeply into this defeat. Instead, let's just marvel at the way, 14 years later, Carter is still seeking out 7-foot Frenchmen to posterize.
We Need More Derrick Rose Throwbacks
Maybe it's the challenge of facing Kyle Lowry. Or perhaps the rust is finally coming off.
Whatever the cause, we need more vintage Derrick Rose nights like the one we got on Monday.
D-Rose led his Chicago Bulls to a 129-120 win against the East-leading Toronto Raptors, completely taking over down the stretch with a flurry of pull-up jumpers, drives to the hole and, more importantly, an attacking mentality.
He finished with 29 points, including 15 in a record-setting fourth quarter.
It's hard for a team or player to say anything important on Dec. 22, with four months left in the regular season. But this was a statement game.
Rose spoke after the game about his attacking mentality, via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
Rose carried the Bulls home against a strong opponent. And he looked like Rose, which is the most encouraging sign of all.
Nobody's saying Rose is suddenly back, or that this is what we'll get going forward. But with him playing at his peak, we might have seen our first real glimpse of how dangerous the Bulls could be.
Conclusion: very dangerous.
Hawks Keep Rolling, Mavs Need Time
Behind 22 points and six assists from Dennis Schroder, the Atlanta Hawks took care of the Dallas Mavericks, 105-102, on the road.
The Hawks' list of victims in their current four-game streak? How about the Bulls, at the Cleveland Cavaliers, at the Rockets and at Dallas?
Not bad at all, especially considering leading scorer Jeff Teague has been out of the lineup for the last three.
Things aren't going quite as smoothly in Dallas, where Rajon Rondo's space-sucking perimeter inaccuracy (he was routinely left alone and converted just 6-of-15 from the field Monday) has already become an issue.
There's a lot of season left for head coach Rick Carlisle to engineer a workaround, but when the problem everybody saw coming shows up exactly as advertised, that's not a great sign.
