Rockets Live: A Personal Experience
I had the pleasure of watching the Rockets play the Wizards in person last night from Section 402 of Verizon Center. Special thanks to my coworker and friend Kevin for the tickets.
High above the arena with a bird’s eye view – more conducive to a strategic NBA 2k player than a fan with nominal concerns about height – I watched the game with my friend Paul. Paul, by the way, is a very underrated writer over at Red94 and an overall stand-up guy. Watching the game in person though, led me to something very unique.
Rockets fans span the globe, much of our analysis comes from cold stat sheets and what we see on TV. Quite often what we believe is colored by commentators such as yours truly or whichever multimillionaire is paid to offered hackneyed analysis (Looking at you, Clyde Drexler). What can’t be replicated, what’s truly pure, and what’s truly special about the game – these Rockets in particular – is what you see on the court, live.
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For as much as I ride James Harden, for his selfishness, for his lack of effort, for his stupid decisions at times, watching him in person is a special experience. We often praise Harden’s production but never truly appreciate it. When the scoring opened and Harden hit jumpers early in the first quarter against Washington, I was mesmerized.
The ease with which Harden floats around on the floor, when he manages his step back shots, and the clean crisp snap of the twine when he hits a shot, it’s enthralling. To be perfectly honest, watching Harden go to work early on you got a feeling, one you don’t get at home. With his first effortless points, I turned to Paul and said “It’s gonna be THAT kind of night, then.”
While the game unfolded, THAT kind of night was abundantly clear. Harden failed to get consistent help from his team, struggled with his decision making when the team struggled, but always, without fail, managed to quiet a run and hit shots that needed to fall.
Corey Brewer, time and time again, had us looking at each other and plainly stating “That shot had no business going in but I’ll take it.” Every substitution we saw didn’t feel wrong but they didn’t always feel right. A stupid decision here or there was enough to suck the wind out of your sails.
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Heading to the half, the game felt like it was taking forever. You could see Harden pleading with refs off his team’s poor decisions, you could see the collective disinterest on the floor. The whole while you just knew that the third quarter would be messy for Houston. Then, with the fourth quarter opening, Jason Terry came on the floor. We scoffed as the should-be retiree quarterbacked the offense.
Then, he netted all seven of his points that quarter and Harden answered back on some runs by Bradley Beal and John Wall. Watching the back and forth between Harden and the Wizards was beautiful. The crowd ooh’d and aah’d as Harden did his patented shake down three against defenders. No one would be immune to Harden’s magic that night – as tough as it was for the home crowd to admit it.
That’s just the thing, if you’re ever fortunate to witness this team, Harden in particular, even from the cheap seats, it’s a special experience. I’ve seen the Charlotte Hornets, the Wizards, and the Phoenix Suns as well, nothing compares. Those teams didn’t have marquee players.
Harden, from the moment he touched the ball to start, left the building feeling like they were going to see something special. The knee-jerk, awe-struck reaction of the crowd despite what it meant to the score said all that could be said.
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