HOUSTON — For the doubters, the story behind the Rockets’ unbeaten start is about who Houston hasn’t beaten, rather than the teams they have. There is some logic to that, of course. The Rockets are 6-0, but the Lakers, Jazz, Sixers and Celtics are a combined 3-16 entering Friday. And the Spurs, whom the Rockets romped past in Thursday’s nationally-televised showdown, were missing Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Of the six wins, only the rested Heat in Miami, where the Rockets
James Harden probably would not mind being compared to Babe Ruth. As an avid video game player, he has likely played Madden. I’m not too sure he would welcome a comparison with a billy goat, but since the subject is curses and jinxes, if he knew the humorous history of the Curse of the Billy Goat, he’d probably be OK with the reference. When I first heard the surprising news in October 2012 that the Oklahoma City Thunder had traded a
After months of waiting and a summer full of roster change and player movement, the dawn of the 2014-15 NBA regular season is now upon us. Play begins with three games Tuesday night. The New Orleans Pelicans host the Orlando Magic at 8 p.m. (EST). The game will air the local Fox Sports affiliates — FSNOLA and FS Florida, otherwise, you can find it on NBA League Pass. Meanwhile, the NBA on TNT crew will host a doubleheader, starting with the
Game 1 of TNT‘s season-opening doubleheader on Tuesday is headlined by the businesslike Spurs receiving and celebrating their championship rings in front of Mark Cuban and in-state rival Dallas. Game 2, on the other hand? That one, appropriately for the network, is all about the drama. [Read more…]
Should we really be surprised that the league’s most interesting general manager chose to take the path of higher risk, higher reward? That’s where the Houston Rockets, led by daring and analytically driven GM Daryl Morey, enter the 2014-15 season. When we last saw them, contention didn’t feel far away. In the first year of the Dwight Howard-James Harden foundation, the Rockets went 54-28 in a loaded West and secured home court advantage in the first round. That was in line with preseason
Kevin Durant rolled in on a scooter and spoke with Oklahoma City media on Tuesday for the first time since his surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his right foot, reiterating that he wouldn’t rush his return to the court. [Read more…]
On Thursday, we gave you our All-Breakout Team for the upcoming season for the Eastern Conference. Today, we bring you our Western Conference All-Breakout Team. These are the players we believe are on the verge of breaking out or standing out. We used the same parameters – five players, one at each position, but no rookies. Let’s get right to it. [Read more…]
Could the unique contract structure arranged by the Dallas Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban to pry Chandler Parsons from the Houston Rockets become a template for freeing future restricted free agents? Multiple league GMs think it could, according to a new report from ESPN‘s Marc Stein. The Parsons contract, which is almost-max-level over three years and includes a player option after Year 2 and maximum 15% trade kicker, proved difficult for the Rockets to match on several levels, even though they fully intended