On Tuesday night, the Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 122-121 to spoil their home opener and championship ring ceremony. James Harden led the charge for the Rockets with 27 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 assists while Kevin Durant finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, having his game winning bucket waived off upon further review.
Not so fast 😱 KD's bucket is just late.— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 18, 2017
Rockets escape Oakland with the W! #KiaTipOff17 pic.twitter.com/Nm6MWcbRev
The fact that this game took place in mid-October doesn't take away from the significance of this win for the Rockets. They're a team that is trying to prove themselves as a legitimate threat to the Warriors and doing what they did on Tuesday night isn't a bad start. They could have packed it in when they were down 101-88 at the end of the third quarter, but instead they chose to keep fighting and not give up. James Harden stepped up big time as did Eric Gordon, P.J. Tucker, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute off the bench, who combined for 58 points. A gritty win like this took a real team effort.
As far as the Warriors are concerned, I wouldn't worry too much about this loss, but it definitely doesn't feel good to lose on your home floor after receiving your championship rings. These are the kind of games you want to come out and win wire to wire for the purpose of entertaining your fans and sending a firm message to the rest of the league. A lot of what makes the Warriors tough to stop is the mental advantage they have over other teams who believe they have no shot at taking them out. By losing tonight, the Warriors gave their opponents a little bit of hope and sometimes a little bit of hope is all a team needs to pull off an upset.
While the Rockets have 81 games to go before the playoffs begin, tonight's win is still a huge win for them. They came into this game eager to prove that they are the real deal after acquiring Chris Paul and I think they proved that they are, even though Paul himself didn't have as good of a game as he was hoping for. The bottom line is that when it comes to defeating the defending champions on their home floor, you'll take that win and use it as motivation whether it comes in October, December, or March. The timing of the win isn't nearly as important as the win itself.
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