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[USAToday] Chris Paul and James Harden are ridiculous together in the clutch

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Shaq2Yao, Dec 10, 2017.

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  1. Shaq2Yao

    Shaq2Yao Member

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    PORTLAND, Ore. —In the nine games they’ve played together, the Rockets haven’t seen much of Chris Paul and James Harden together in crunch time — because there hasn’t been much crunch time to speak of.

    After a run of blowouts that led to an eight-game winning streak, the Rockets finally got a close one in Portland on Saturday, holding on to beat the Trail Blazers 124-117.

    As it turns out, Harden and Paul are just as good together in the clutch as they are normally.

    Rockets scored on first seven clutch possessions with James Harden or CP3 scoring or assisting on every bucket.

    As much as they’d prefer to keep blowing teams out, they were excited to finally get tested in a close game.

    “We needed it,” Harden said after the game. “We’ve been beating teams by 15-plus, so it was good to lock down when we needed to, get stops when we needed to and just give ourselves the best chance of winning and that’s what we did.”

    The Rockets’ closing lineup of Paul, Harden, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza and P.J. Tucker shot a ridiculous 83.3 percent from the field down the stretch, and Paul and Harden combined for 25 of their 40 fourth-quarter points.

    If there were any doubts about how the Rockets will perform when a team plays up to their level and they can’t blow them out, Saturday’s performance went a long way toward answering them. Even Rockets general manager Daryl Morey acknowledged how much tougher the game was than their recent cakewalks.

    “It keeps us engaged for sure,” Ariza said of winning a close game. “It gives us a different look at things we can face, and it’s fun.”

    http://rocketswire.usatoday.com/201...win-chris-paul-james-harden-portland-blazers/
     
    #1 Shaq2Yao, Dec 10, 2017
    Roxs-Redemption, D-rock, Patience and 9 others like this.
  2. riko

    riko Member

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    After the 016 season fiasco who would have thought in just 18 months we would be like this? What a turnaround.
     
    #2 riko, Dec 10, 2017
    D-rock, Patience, Jake Tower and 9 others like this.
  3. tmacfor35

    tmacfor35 Contributing Member

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    All related to the Beard.

    Last two years you have witnessed the maturation of our superstar.
     
    #3 tmacfor35, Dec 10, 2017
    Patience, elmotsangtt, Invisible Fan and 8 others like this.
  4. tmacfor35

    tmacfor35 Contributing Member

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    James Harden recorded a 90.0 QBR score last night to surpass Deshaun Watson on the season.
     
    #4 tmacfor35, Dec 10, 2017
    DonKnock likes this.
  5. riko

    riko Member

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    All related to Dwight Howard and his cancer like attitude.Left Orlando on bad terms, lakers on bad terms, Houston the same and after he got booted out of Atlanta his teammates were cheering out loud according to Zach Lowe
     
    #5 riko, Dec 10, 2017
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2017
    topfive, Patience, CCity Zero and 6 others like this.
  6. Pen15clubber

    Pen15clubber Member

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    [​IMG]
     
    #6 Pen15clubber, Dec 10, 2017
    BonziWellsGOAT and DonKnock like this.
  7. riko

    riko Member

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    The drunk
     
    #7 riko, Dec 10, 2017
    Pen15clubber likes this.
  8. Pen15clubber

    Pen15clubber Member

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    "Harden can't play with a playmaking point guard". Nope. Ty Lawson just sucks butt
     
    #8 Pen15clubber, Dec 10, 2017
    D-rock, Patience, CCity Zero and 8 others like this.
  9. saleem

    saleem Contributing Member

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    Ty failed badly, and let us down shockingly, but there is no reason to address him like that. I just hope he can overcome his problems, and lead a good life.
     
    #9 saleem, Dec 10, 2017
    Patience, Hakeemtheking, TheMystery008 and 4 others like this.
  10. Os Trigonum

    Os Trigonum Contributing Member
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    media conspiracy
     
    #10 Os Trigonum, Dec 10, 2017
    DonKnock and J.R. like this.
  11. vince

    vince Member

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    If only Dwight Howard had listened to the Rockets, the team could have won a title last year. But his refusal to accept the obvious led the Rockets to move on, and groom Clint Capela as the replacement a season early. I think had Howard bought in, Capela would have been traded for additional reinforcements.

    But the Rockets knew what they envisioned works on the models; and would translate into the court results. Capela accepted the challenge and he is now at least a top 8 center in the league.

    And the Harden / Paul experiences is proving to be more synergy than lack of balls. Experts kept saying how are Paul and Harden going to share the Rock?
     
    #11 vince, Dec 10, 2017
    D-rock, topfive, DonKnock and 1 other person like this.
  12. Fantasma Negro

    Fantasma Negro Member

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    Eat my ass Kellerman!!!
     
    #12 Fantasma Negro, Dec 10, 2017
    D-rock, topfive, saleem and 1 other person like this.
  13. hakeem94

    hakeem94 Member

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    Look at the media crawling back!
     
    #13 hakeem94, Dec 10, 2017
    DonKnock and Os Trigonum like this.
  14. vince

    vince Member

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    Media’s job is to paint hero’s and villains. And once they have their storyboard, sell it with all their resources so the public buys into it. Hype sells!

    With the Rockets willfully instilling their will upon their NBA opponents night in and night out, the media now is being forced to recalculate their narrative; at least for now.

    With Morey and Tad Calling them out on it on social media, they are already backtracking.

    I think the NBA for marketing purposes was glad having Cleveland vs Golden State headlining the NBA for the next 3-5 years. They’ve accepted that the Spurs are magnificently coaches and will always play spoiler. And that’s been built into the story.
     
    #14 vince, Dec 10, 2017
    D-rock, CCity Zero, DonKnock and 1 other person like this.
  15. Classic

    Classic Member

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    I'd spend my money to watch James Harden.
     
    #15 Classic, Dec 10, 2017
    D-rock, CCity Zero and DonKnock like this.
  16. ipaman

    ipaman Contributing Member

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    But can they beat the Warios 4 times in a week tho?
     
    #16 ipaman, Dec 10, 2017
  17. Roc Paint

    Roc Paint Contributing Member

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    Sorry if this has been posted already. James Harden could've been the first player to score 50 points in Portland.
     
    #17 Roc Paint, Dec 10, 2017
    vlaurelio likes this.
  18. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    He said it. It's been fun and frankly not boring.
     
    #18 daywalker02, Dec 10, 2017
  19. DontArgue4

    DontArgue4 Member

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    huh?

    beal did it like 2 days beforehand
     
    #19 DontArgue4, Dec 10, 2017
  20. elmotsangtt

    elmotsangtt Member

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    Last year MVP brooks struggles with their big3, u can see how stong oladipo after leaving west brooks. It shows harden is real mvp
     
    #20 elmotsangtt, Dec 10, 2017
    D-rock likes this.
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