Houston Rockets star James Harden had a surprising comment after their season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, per The Athletic‘s Kelly Iko.
Even after missing five players from their roster, Harden and the rest of the Rockets still held their ground against the Blazers with the help of newcomer Christian Wood who came out with an impressive debut for the team.
Harden on Christian Wood’s performance:
He made me look good tonight. We’ll see how far that goes, as far as chemistry.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) December 27, 2020
Despite all the turmoil escalating within the Rockets locker room as of late, Harden still managed to come out with a monster performance in their first game of the season. The 2018 NBA MVP buckled down and generated a double-double output of 44 points and 17 assists along with four rebounds in 43 minutes of action.
Meanwhile, Wood impressed with a double-double performance of his own with tallies of 31 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists including a block through 43 minutes played in his first game of donning the Rockets jersey.
The game went back-and-forth and down to the wire which was eventually decided by a last-gasp three-point shot by Blazers guard C.J. McCollum to snag the 128-126 overtime victory for his team.
After a timeout, Harden still had a chance to answer back and win the game with six seconds left on the clock but the play ultimately ended on a bad pass which was stolen by a former Rockets player in Robert Covington who is now with the Blazers.
Despite the loss, the Rockets proved that they can hang around and compete with potential playoff teams even with the absence of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins amid the whole Harden debacle.
Once the Rockets get to sustain consistency throughout their campaign, they can still hope for a long-shot bid to convince James Harden to change his mind and recommit back to the team for the remainder of the season.
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