- And Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski writes about Harden’s mindset two superb games into his Rockets career: “As the charter flight carried James Harden and three players out of Oklahoma City, out of championship contention, there resonated no nostalgia within him. No hesitation. No regret. For all the insistence that Harden had been devastated over the deal to the Houston Rockets, Cole Aldrich witnessed something else on the private jet whisking them into a Texas sky: a stony, steely resolve. Before that jet ever touched down in Houston, Harden made a vow to Aldrich: ‘We’re going to change this city.’ Harden’s time with the Thunder conditioned him to say “we” in the presence of his teammates, but Aldrich and everyone else knows the truth: Harden, most of all, is going to transform the Rockets. His team, his time.”
- Meanwhile, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman looks at how Kevin Martin is fitting in as Harden’s de facto replacement as the Thunder’s sixth man: ” ‘I’ve been the man the past eight years on my team,’ Martin said. ‘I’m coming into a system where I don’t have to play that role anymore, which I’m very OK with. First and foremost, I just didn’t want them thinking I was coming in here trying to be that guy. It’s just about doing whatever I can do to win, and I think they respect that.’ While former Thunder sixth man James Harden is averaging a league-leading 41 points through two games, the veteran Oklahoma City acquired from Houston in exchanged for him just wants to fit in. Through two games, Martin has done just that. Martin has stepped in and immediately supplied similar instant offense off the bench as Harden did. Going into Sunday’s game against Atlanta, Martin is third on the Thunder in scoring, averaging 17 points while ranking third in assists with 3.5 per game.”
Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com has this update from Mike Brown on Steve Nash’s leg injury: “Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike Brown thinks it’s possible Steve Nash will only be out a week because of the fracture to his left leg but said the team isn’t putting pressure on him to rush back. ‘You obviously hope he’s back as soon as possible,’ Brown said Sunday after the team’s shootaround. ‘But the one thing you don’t want to do, you don’t want to compromise his long-term health for him coming back quicker than he should. So, (trainer) Gary Vitti and the staff are on top of it. We’ll just wait and play it out from there.’ “- Prigioni said to me after Heat game he was nervous & still not in great shape. He said he's been reducing his milk intake to get more lean.
@JaredZwerlingJared Zwerling - Monty Williams isn’t happy with the NBA’s concussion policy after it kept #1 pick Anthony Davis from playing for the Hornets against his hometown Bulls, writes Steve Aschburner of NBA.com: “It was teammate Austin Rivers‘ inadvertent elbow that clipped Davis in the side of the head, putting him out of what became an 88-86 loss. But it was the NBA’s precautionary concussions policy that prevented Davis from flying with the team to his hometown — his only scheduled appearance of 2012-13 in Chicago — and will sideline him until he satisfies the requirements of physical testing and a neurological exam. Now, please know that Williams was mindful of the NBA’s fining power when he spoke with reporters before the game. But as he spoke, he revved up a little and he didn’t mince words.
