Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas addressed the huge elephant in the room — James Harden of the Nets — after his team registered an impressive 109-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.
While their former superstar James Harden is no longer with the team and now a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Silas understood that he must talk about the aftermath of that blockbuster trade for the franchise to truly move forward.
Per Tim McMahon of ESPN, the 48-year-old tactician admitted that this was not the same Rockets team he agreed to coach in the offseason, but is still quite happy with how things turned out.
“It was very different on the press conference day as opposed to today. Being ready for this position and prepared to tackle problems and solve them or figure out ways around them, that's what a head coach does. Obviously, things weren't perfect, but here we are.”
“The fact that everything kind went down the way it did was a surprise, but it's up to me to regroup and reset and move forward. It was a crazy 48 hours for sure, but we're out of it.”
The Rockets are indeed in a peculiar position at the moment, losing their two superstars, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, to blockbuster trades this season. The writing was on the wall the moment Harden claimed that the situation in Houston was unfixable. As much as Stephen Silas tried to patch things up and build a relationship with the disgruntled superstar, The Beard already had one foot out the door even before the season started.
Silas and the Rockets' post-Harden era, meanwhile, is off to a good start following that gritty win over a tough Spurs team. Christian Wood proved he is ready to fill in the big shoes left by Harden, leading the team with 27 points, 15 boards, and three blocks. As far as Silas is concerned, those dark times are now behind them and the Rockets are now ready to turn the page.
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