PRUETT COLUMN: Stephen … and Harden embarrass Rockets

Published 5:27 pm Saturday, April 23, 2016

Houston fans should be embarrassed right now.

There are so many reasons why the Houston Rockets are a joke this season.

Rockets fans will first point to the fact Houston only trail Golden State 2-1 in the series heading into today’s Game 4 at the Toyota Center. The series would be 3-0 if Steph Curry played in Game 3, a 97-96 Rockets win.

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Houston also got lucky guard James Harden did not get called for an offensive foul before he hit the game-winning shot on Thursday.

Curry is a difference maker and will soon win his second consecutive MVP honor.

The Rockets were fortunate to get past the Warriors in Game 3 when Golden State was without its leader.

Klay Thompson is a great player, but he is Scottie Pippen and Curry is Michael Jordan.

Thompson is at his best when Curry is on the floor and it was the same for Pippen and Jordan.

Pippen tried to play Batman instead of Robin in Portland and failed. He also failed at it in his time in Houston.

The Warriors win easily when Curry is on the floor because there is nobody on the Rockets roster who can stop the league MVP.

Harden certainly cannot guard Curry. Harden can’t cover bread with mayonnaise, much less guard Curry.

This is when embarrassment should set in. Harden’s lack of defense is a joke.

Look up Harden’s defensive efforts on youtube.com and email me this week and tell me you didn’t straight up laugh at the guy.

So in the middle of the season, what were the Rockets intentions? Trade Dwight Howard and make Harden happy. What a joke.

Howard might not be the best teammate in the world, but neither were Kobe Bryant and Jordan.

I am in no way comparing Howard to Bryant and Jordan but am pointing out being a great teammate isn’t always the most important thing in the world.

At least Howard seems to try on both ends of the court.

Harden doesn’t even fake trying to defend.

If Harden is ever going to deliver an NBA championship to Houston, he has to become a leader on both ends of the court. That will not start happening during this series because Curry is going to play the rest of the games unless his ankle blows out again.

Houston cannot and will not beat the Warriors with Curry back in his role as Batman.

This frees Thompson back up to play Robin and Harden to be Dr. Freeze, especially when on defense. You know, the guy with his feet frozen to the court as Curry blows right past him.

Gabriel Pruett can be reached at 721-2436 or gabe.pruett@panews.com On Twitter: @PaNewsGabe

 

 

About Gabriel Pruett

Gabriel Pruett has worked with both the Port Arthur News and Orange Leader since 2000. A majority of the time has been spent covering all aspects of Southeast Texas high school sports. Pruett's claim to fame is...being able to write his own biographical information for this website.

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