NBA Playoffs 2014: Houston Rockets Gone? James Harden Flops Not Working! LaMarcus Aldridge Is Destroying Them!
The Houston Rockets had inflated expectations before the season after they acquired Dwight Howard. In the NBA Playoffs, they realize their regular season game is not good enough as LaMarcus Aldridge destroys them!
La Marcus Aldridge in 2 games on the road: 89 points, 26 rebounds. (stats from ESPN). These are the kind of numbers people like Shaquille O'Neal put up. Despite the presence of defensive centers like Dwight Howard and Omer Asik, Aldridge has destroyed the Houston Rockets.
On the side of the Houston Rockets, one big factor in their losses is the deterioration of James Harden. He's not getting his shots and has often been looking to the refs to bail him out.
ESPN Analyst Tom Haberstroh suggested that the Rockets use more of Dwight Howard on offense instead of Harden.
"Harden might as well not have been on the floor, and it's worth wondering whether catering to Howard in the post is the best thing for the team in the big picture. Harden shot 6-for-19 in the game, and after the loss he called for more actions that have him and Howard working together. The Rockets tend to be better the more Howard gets his touches. Aside from Games 1 and 2, Howard's usage rate has been higher than Harden's in just 10 of the 62 games they've played together this season. So it's very rare that Howard gets more of the scoring load than "The Beard."
Are the Houston Rockets finished? The other ESPN hoop heads weigh in on the question of whether the Rockets season will end this weekend in Portland:
"Danny Nowell, TrueHoop Network: Fact. I don't feel great about this one, but Houston seems ready to fold, and the Portland crowds aren't going to make things any easier. If Game 3 gets sticky, I could see Houston packing it in.
Kevin Pelton, NBA Insider: Fiction. Unless Houston collapses mentally, the previous two games were too close to suggest a likely sweep. The Rockets can play much better than they have, and I think they will do so at some point this weekend."
For most analysts though, even if Portland does not sweep, the Rockets are finished.