James Harden first suffered the scorn in his highly anticipated return to Houston. Then he drank from the cheers. And by the end he enjoyed the victory.
Harden’s triple-double led his new team past his old one, as the Nets cruised to a 132-114 victory over the Rockets.
The receipt of the 3615 at the Toyota Center wasn’t as toxic as colleague Net Kevin Durant heard on his return to Oklahoma City, but Harden – who forced a trade and sent his way to Brooklyn – was usually booed during introductions, and with every touch was laughed at early on.
But then the Rockets honored Harden with a first quarter video tribute that generated heartfelt cheers. Touched, he responded by raising both hands in acknowledgment and then touching them to his heart.
“I’m excited. We won. To finish that strong, going into the All-Star break means a lot,” said Harden. “About playing in Houston, a lot of mixed feelings from the fans. But knew that was going to happen. I just wanted to come over here and give them a show. “
That show was spectacular.
Harden, who had said the Rockets weren’t good enough when he tried to trade, showed Houston how good his new squad is. He had 29 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds, just the sixth player to score a triple-double in his first game against his former club. He led the Nets to a team record for their seventh straight win.
And after leading the Rockets to so many wins with No. 13, Harden handed Houston a worst 13th straight defeat.
“I’m a problem solver at heart, and we have a problem,” said Rockets freshman coach Stephen Silas, whose job got a lot tougher after the divorce from Harden, but added that the former MVP deserves credit. for his work in Houston. “He’s done a lot, scored a lot of points, carried this team to the play-offs. And he was here for a long time and it was a lot more good moments with James Harden for the Rockets than bad ones, so he should be recognized for that. “
In the wake of last month’s disastrous power outages in Houston, Harden’s restaurant, Thirteen by James Harden, donated 3,000 meals for needy residents, 100 meals a day to five different schools, and another 150 to a low-income senior citizen center.
Harden said he found out that Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta promised to retire his song the same way everyone else did: on the Internet.
“But my response was, hopefully I did something right,” said Harden. “Obviously I was short of a championship, but the work on and off the field that I have been doing for the past eight years has been elite.
“That is the only thing that I have not done or achieved is a championship, it is difficult to achieve. But in terms of bringing excitement to this city, taking care of the fans on and off the field is something I’m trying to contribute, so hopefully that outweighs that. “
Looking like a championship team, Harden’s Nets (24-13) hit the breakthrough with their third-best ever score, and just half a game behind the 76ers who were the Eastern Conference leaders.
Kyrie Irving scored 24 points, while Nic Claxton scored 16 points and eight boards in 16 minutes.
John Wall (36 points) and Victor Oladipo (33) both had season highs for Houston. But with the Rockets (11-23) playing with only eight men, the outcome was never in doubt.
The Nets led 82-59 on a floater by Bruce Brown (17 points) with 7:35 left in the third. After coughing up a 21-8 run that allowed Houston to pull an Oladipo 3 pointer in 90-80, the Nets responded. Landry Shamet’s corner 3 filled the lead back to 18.
And after Houston broke it down again to 105-97 on a wall jumper, the Nets put it away for good. Harden followed a setback from Claxton with a 3 dagger to give the Nets a 113-97 lead. The clock still said 6:48, but the game was over.
‘You could say it meant something to it [Harden], ”Said Nets coach Steve Nash. ‘This place is special to him. Houston means a lot to him – the city, the organization and what he has achieved here. I know it was a big game for him. I was proud of him for the way he handled it. “
Harden enters the All-Star game as a legitimate candidate for another MVP and is lauded for his leadership. But he says his game and leadership haven’t changed one iota.
It’s just, I get the credit now, “said Harden.” I didn’t get credit before. Same leadership. I’ve been the same person. Haven’t changed, not at all. “