Game of the Night: An Offensive Explosion as Blazers Cool Off the Rockets in OT.
By: Marcus M.
Tags: Offense Culture, Basketball, NBA, Stats, Analysis

Game of the Night: An Offensive Explosion as Blazers Cool Off the Rockets in OT.

When players get in “the zone” there is nothing more easy to watch, like a surfer taking on wave after wave. But when multiple players get hot, like what took place tonight between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers, it’s as prime-time as ABC’s Dancing With The Stars.

With the circus James Harden had this off-season, he still managed to put up 44 pts along with 17 assist. Just another day in the office as he went score for score with CJ McCollum who had a career night of 44 pts and 9 career high 3’s with the last one being the game winner.

The back and forth between those two were literally identical this game. Step back 3’s, in n out dribbles with a pull up jumper and having that basketball on a yoyo all night made it seem like this game was never gonna end. But it did with CJ hitting a 3 to go up 2 with less than 6 seconds left on the clock and James Harden on the next play with time running out, easily beating his defender off the dribble but instead of kicking it out to the wide open shooter he tried to thread the needle to the slashing PJ Tucker which was deflected in traffic.

Harden, visibly upset, couldn’t win his first game even with those astronomical numbers and the scrutiny of the media and Houston-faithful watching his every move. This of course coming after his trade demands and off-season antics that totally disregarded NBA COVID-protocol leading up to this game.

Harden was fined $50,000 by the NBA and after multiple players held out for health reasons game 1, including newly acquired former all-stars John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, they had to postpone the Rockets first game of the season making this game tonight against the Trailblazers they’re debut.

This article wasn’t aimed to be about James Harden. Honestly, he just picked up from what he was doing these past couple seasons as being one of the best offensive threats the NBA has ever seen. I was more so enthralled by the up and down ebb and flow of this game as CJ was hitting tough step backs,,, from 3! It’s clear he added more range to his shot which is more of a high release, stiffer jumpshot suited for mid range jumpers and floaters down the lane. He only shot 37% from 3 pts range to 49% from inside the 3-point line last season. But boy did he showcase what he worked on this off-season setting a career-high night. 9 makes from behind the arc would definitely help you reach more points faster.

Another thing that caught my attention was the effectiveness of Jusuf Nurkic against the Rockets front court. Staying out of foul trouble while logging in 35 min. shows his value on the court as the Blazers are a +10 with him out there. I hate the plus/minus player efficiency stat because, first and foremost I don’t understand it, and lastly it doesn’t prove why and how specifically each player is valued as such. But Nurkic solid but subtle double-double of 12 points 11 rebounds didn’t measure the tough baskets and physical play he had to get in order for CJ and Dame to do their thing tonight.

More importantly, those 12 points and 11 rebounds were as important as Dame Lillard’s 32 pts 9 ast & CJ Mcollum’s 44 pts 8 ast. because Houston Rocket’s 4 yr undrafted forward Christian Wood from UNLV had a monster night with 31 pts and 13 rebounds. This guy might be the savior of the Rockets season. He just signed a 3-yr/$41 million dollar contract just as Harden wants out. I don’t know if a performance like this from Woods in a Rockets loss proves enough for the James Harden saga to simmer down, but regardless if Harden stays or not, adding pieces to a Houston Rockets core of John Wall, Christian Wood and a recovering Boogie Cousins, the Houston Rockets and coach Stephen Silas should be optimistic on what they can build off of this drama filled start of a new Rockets chapter.

But lastly, if either of these teams are thinking of coming out of the West against what the rest of the conference has in store, they both have to play identical to tonight. An offensive onslaught with physical play in the painted area will keep these Rockets and Blazers teams in the mix with the rest of the conference. Tall task to ask, but hey that’s why you play the games and try to win championships.