The Houston Rockets defeated one of their future rivals for the Larry O’Brien trophy this morning in Honolulu, the Los Angeles Clippers. The final result of this preseason show was 109-96 for the Rockets, who played very good and were ahead right from the beginning up until the end.
However, it needs to be said that the Clippers played without their leading duo, which arrived this summer, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Things would definitely be different if the reigning NBA Finals MVP and one of the MVP candidates for the previous season showed up on the court of Stan Sheriff Center.
Yet, Houston didn’t have their superstar addition at disposal as Russell Westbrook couldn’t play as he still recovers from surgery. But that didn’t matter to James Harden, who showcased that although it is still early, he reached his usual form.
The Beard scored 37 points and had 7 boards and assists apiece, and was harassing the Clippers’ defense. Though, Doc Rivers didn’t want to use all the options on stopping Harden, and he preferred to see his players playing some one-on-one defense with one of the best if not the best attacker in the league.
“A couple of times we clearly could have trapped and I just said, ‘No. Just guard him.’ He’s going to be James Harden at times, and that’s fine,” Rivers said.
Harden stated that he deliberately played with his full strength, as he always does. Every game presents an opportunity to improve certain aspects of his performance.
“I always want to go out there and play well,” Harden said. “It is another opportunity for us the get better as a unit, work on certain things of practice.”
That is what his head coach Mike D’Antoni said, explaining that Harden’s mindset is a bit different than with the majority of other players in the league.
“You know that is a good thing about James; he loves to play basketball. It’s tough to get him off the court,” D’Antoni said, telling everyone that there is no difference for the Beard between the preseason and the season matches.
The Rockets had a jump start, and were ahead at the end of the first sequence, 31-22. At the beginning of the second period, the Clippers had a brief surge, which was them taking the lead at 34-32, but that was just temporary. The Rockets replied immediately and got things under control again. They wouldn’t experience similar problems until the end, and their biggest lead would extend up to 25 points at the start of the fourth, 91-65.
Besides Harden, Clint Capela posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards, while Chris Clemons added 15 buckets.
On the other side, Montrezl Harrell delivered 17 points and got 6 boards, Lou Williams scored 13, Rodney McGruder 12.
The Clippers will play against the Denver Nuggets their next preseason match. It is expected to see Kawhi in that one. On the other hand, the Rockets are playing against the Toronto Raptors this Tuesday in Japan, at Saitama Stadium.
