The Houston Rockets are shooting out all the lights against the Phoenix Suns. James Harden scored 48 points against the attacking superiority of the Rockets, and the hosts are without any chance of success. Meanwhile, Chris Paul is making a gratifying comeback.
After Celtics and Warriors delivered a true defensive thriller in their first match of the evening, the Suns and Rockets obviously didn’t feel like defending at all. Want proof? Houston scored more points in the first half than the Dubs in the entire game against Boston! With 90 points in 24 minutes James Harden and Co. just barely equalled the franchise record (94) of 1991.
Houston was not able to maintain this pace in the second half of the game, but it was still enough to loosely beat the Suns. The game was already decided after the first quarter (45:23 for Houston). The hosts had absolutely nothing to oppose the overwhelming and incredibly hot rockets from the beginning. Harden and Ryan Anderson hammered the Suns one by one.
The Beard “had a strong 48 points at the end of the evening, and the Guard also had 7 assists (at 5 turnovers). Harden presented himself quite efficiently from the field (12/22 FG) as well as from downtown (6/11 threesomes) and from the free-throw line (18/18 FT). Anderson contributed 24 points and 6 threes to the blowout. Clint Capela played a solid double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds).
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Meanwhile, Chris Paul celebrated his comeback on the court. After a long injury break (knee problems) the Point Guard was on the floor for 21 minutes and scored 11 points, 10 assists and 4 rebounds. After the match, CP3 said that they felt “great”. In view of the easy victory and the fact that he obviously played painlessly, this is no wonder.
He was also able to admire the block festival of Zhou Qi. The Chinese came in the garbage time on 3 blocks, all of which were frenetically celebrated by the small Chinese fan community in the arena. The rockets scuttled a total of 21 of their 44 attempts at downtown (47.7 percent).
Troy Daniels was still the best player in the overtaxed Suns. The 26-year-old scored 23 points (7/13 threesomes), his personal best of the season. Greg Monroe also showed a solid performance (20 points, 11 rebounds, 10/14 FG), Rookie Josh Jackson scored 16 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. But they couldn’t change the superiority of the rockets.