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James Harden & Kevin McHale Ruined it for Jeremy Lin & the Houston Rockets
There was only one game in the six games the Houston Rockets managed to drag out of the Oklahoma City Thunder in which James Harden had an impressive night. One of the biggest superstars in the NBA, but a head coach that doesn’t know how to limit him and make the most of him, while their once chance of playing the kind of basketball an injured Thunder team wouldn’t be able to handle, Jeremy Lin, got injured and made things worse by trying to play instead of watching from the side.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin & James Harden Fail When it Matters the Most
Young teams need to go through growing pains, and losing in the first round of a postseason series qualifies as just that. Jeremy Lin shouldn’t have played but did, becoming possibly the least valuable player of the series, while James Harden refused to learn from the lessons of a previous game, trying to shoot his way out of trouble instead of slow down, stop and think, which might have led to better results.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin is Out But James Harden & Omer Asik are Thriving
No Jeremy Lin, where are thou coming from the Houston Rockets, making the most of their rivals missing their second best player and using quite unintelligent tactics to try and make up for it. Meanwhile, James Harden finally played the kind of game he’s supposed to, while Omer Asik made the most of being the focus of intentional fouls in an attempt to send him to the line.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin Needs to Find Himself Another Team
There’s nothing wrong with being a bench player who gives about 15-20 minutes a night, but Jeremy Lin wants to be and can be a starting point guard in the NBA, but it’s getting clearer and clearer that playing for the Houston Rockets under Kevin McHale and next to James Harden isn’t that beneficial for him, and probably for the team.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin & James Harden Forgotten by Chandler Parsons
With no Jeremy Lin, the stage was set for James Harden to do whatever he wants, only to be thwarted again and again by a prepared Oklahoma City Thunder defense. Luckily for the Houston Rockets, there’s a bit more to them, especially coming from Chandler Parsons in a huge performance, and some big plays from less involved players like Carlos Delfino, including one huge and shocking dunk over Kevin Durant.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin Should Never Have Played in Game 3
For the second straight game, the Houston Rockets lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder by 3 points. Jeremy Lin had another one that he won’t be too proud of, but there’s a good chance that without him the team would have done better – Lin played injured, leaving the game quite early looking quite limited (At best) during the time he did spend on the floor.
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Houston Rockets – James Harden Almost Gets it Done Without Jeremy Lin
All the theories in the world about Jeremy Lin being the one thing that the Houston Rockets need in order to turn their series against the Oklahoma City Thunder into a more even one went out the window as James Harden had another impressive scoring output while shooting terribly, this time actually getting some help from his head coach, who didn’t too bad with his small lineup idea.
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Houston Rockets – Jeremy Lin Needs to Take the Game From James Harden
A second loss and a fall to 0-2 in the series for the Houston Rockets will mean the end of it. Yes, they can win and draw it out a little longer at home, but the difference between them and the Oklahoma City Thunder seems to be too big, especially when they play the kind of basketball that lets James Harden do whatever he wants, while Jeremy Lin and the rest of his teammates are relegated to mere pawns on the court.
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Houston Rockets – James Harden Forgets About Jeremy Lin & Teammates
If anyone needed more proof that the Houston Rockets are playing the wrong kind of basketball to succeed or even stand a chance in the NBA playoffs, came Game 1 of their series vs the Thunder, and the continuing approval from Kevin McHale for James Harden to do whatever he wants on the court while forgetting about Jeremy Lin or any other of his teammates is making this look like a clean, cold, painful sweep in the making.
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Oklahoma City Thunder Show Houston Rockets What a Playoff Juggernaut Is
It’s nice to fantasize about how James Harden can be incredibly good for 6-7 games in one series and make a fight out of the clash between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets, but in reality, it’s not even close to being a fair fight, with Kevin Durant leading Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka to an explosive and dominant start to yet another chase after the NBA championship, running all over a team that doesn’t seem to belong in the same league.