Toyota Center announcer Matt Thomas tried to use the same tone and enthusiasm on Wednesday night, when it was James Harden’s turn to start, as he has done for the past eight seasons.
Of course, the circumstances were quite different. This was the reaction of Houston Rockets fans, who greeted Harden with a mixture of cheers and boos as the 2017-18 MVP returned to face his former team for the first time since his request to be traded in Brooklyn. Nets was granted seven weeks ago.
“As for the game in Houston, a lot of mixed emotions for the fans, but I knew that was going to happen,” Harden said. “I just wanted to come here and give them a show.”
Harden has done well with a spectacular performance that has been almost routine for him since joining the Nets team. He had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists to lead Brooklyn to a 132-114 victory over the Rockets devastated by injury, the eighth double-triple in 23 games for the Nets, which enters the All-Star break winning 10 of the last 11 games.
It was the 13th straight loss for the Rockets, who were limited to eight available players, as the franchise’s longest losing streak in two decades was extended to the All-Star break.
“The way we lost, we definitely need a break to clear our minds, to find ourselves, to try to get some healthy guys, to try to get a full team again,” said John Wall , who scored 36 points. when shooting 12-of-30 in 41 minutes. “I don’t know when we last had a full team. Tonight we came in with just eight guys, but we didn’t stop fighting. We kept competing, we kept fighting and that’s something you can respect.” .
A crowd of fans from the low-capacity crowd booed Harden every time he touched the ball at the start of the game, expressing dissatisfaction with the fact that Harden forced the Rockets to change him, a divorce process that admittedly he became more tense and bitter than he would have been. pleasant. Harden, who, according to Elias Sports Bureau research, became the sixth player to post a triple-double in his first game against his former team, said the boos did not affect him.
“Once they get to that field, they’re just trying to win,” said Harden, who was 10 out of 15 upstairs. “It simply came to our notice then. That was kind of my feeling – win the game and do whatever it takes to do what you did. I wasn’t trying to show myself, I wasn’t trying to do anything out of the ordinary that I didn’t do. “
The Rockets, as an organization, gave Harden a warm welcome back in Houston. He spoke with and embraced several Houston employees and players before and after the game. A tribute video, which contains the most important moments of Harden’s eight seasons in Houston and his charities in the community, played during the first period of the game.
“You could say that meant something to him,” Nets coach Steve Nash said. “This place is special to James. Houston means a lot to him – the city, the organization, what he has accomplished here with this team. I know it was a great game for him. I’m proud of the way he managed it. “
Harden said he learned “on the Internet” on Tuesday that Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta intends to eventually withdraw T-shirt no. 13 of Harden and hang him in the Toyota Center deer.
“My reaction was, hopefully, that I did something right. Obviously, I got to a championship, but working on and off the field [I] For the past eight years it has been elite, “he said.” I think the only thing I didn’t do or didn’t do was a championship, which is hard to achieve. But when it comes to bringing enthusiasm to this city, caring for fans on and off the field is something we’ve tried to contribute, so hopefully it goes beyond [lack of a championship]. “