clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Three takeaways from the Rockets loss to the Grizzlies

Rockets lose again at home and keep falling farther behind.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Rockets fell to the Grizzlies 102-93 Wednesday, this time they find a new way to lose. The Rockets have yet to lose a game this season when James Harden scored 40 points -- they did just that against the Grizzlies on last night.

Below are three takeaways from the game

***

James Harden was good and awful in the same game

*Note: Let's just talk about his offense here, we all understand everything about his defense.*

Harden was in rare form on Wednesday night against the Grizzlies -- he usually struggles against them. Harden was making shots all over the floor as he was covered by multiple "tough" defenders. Matt Barnes, Tony Allen, Jeff Green, and Courtney Lee all spent time trying to slow him down but ultimately none could.

Harden finished the night shooting 12-for-19, scoring 40 points. In the four quarter, harden came up short -- scoring only four points for the Rockets.

Harden slowed himself down in the fourth quarter, passing more and being less aggressive to the basket. Through three-quarters, Harden had 36 points and then for some reason Corey Brewer finished the fourth with more shots then Harden.

Rockets are pretty unlucky

There is missing shots, and then there is MISSING SHOTS. The Rockets this season have the feel of a gambler at Vegas. They keep betting on red, but the wheel keeps spinning on black.

May point blank shots rimmed out or have been blocked by the opposing team.  A lot of (To quote Kevin McHale) 50/50 balls have not gone their way.

It didn't stop with the shots, the referees didn't help the Rockets much either. Trevor Ariza sets a screen, Mario Chalmers runs into his butt -- foul on Ariza. Corey Brewer out on a fast break, takes four steps instead of three to slam dunk a dunk -- traveling call on Brewer. Insert any opponent name, runs into Dwight Howard -- foul on Howard.

Anything that can happen to the Rockets at this point, will happen to the Rockets.

Not really sure who is to blame now...

Ty Lawson had been the easy scapegoat for the early part of the season. Wednesday night, Lawson played in just two minutes and 41 seconds. Lawson had zero impact on this game and the team still lost.

At least before you could point to:  "Hey! Lawson is playing 20 minutes a night and not being effective -- that's why they are losing." At least on Wednesday, we can't hang our hat on that.

At first, it was all Kevin McHale's fault. Then it was all Ty Lawson's fault.  Who's fault is it now?

Tweet me