Rockets see ‘devastating’ potential in Harden, Westbrook, Gordon trio

For one of the first times this season, Rockets guards Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Eric Gordon all played well at the same time.

Russell Westbrook has played excellent basketball in January for the Houston Rockets, but James Harden has been mired in a deep slump.

In December, both played well, but Eric Gordon missed nearly the entire month due to knee surgery. Before that, Harden began the season on fire, but Westbrook had an adjustment period after offseason knee surgery and acclimating to the first new team of his 12-year NBA career.

Gordon, meanwhile, struggled through injury in his first nine games of the 2019-20 season before shutting it down on Nov. 13 for surgery.

Those issues are precisely why Wednesday’s home win over Denver (30-14) was so encouraging for Houston (27-16). Beyond snapping a season-long losing streak of four games, it was also one of the only games this season that all three veteran guards played well at the same time. Each scored 25 or more points on efficient shooting of 44% or better.

After the game, Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni didn’t mince words when it came to the potential of that trio — led by a pair of former MVPs and future Hall of Famers in Harden and Westbrook.

D’Antoni said:

If we get those three to have a good game, we’re going to be tough. We’re good. We just have struggled with that.

When James is playing really well, Russ wasn’t playing well, and Eric was out. And now, James is not playing really well, and Russ is. But tonight, all three of them kind of got in it together. So you can see that. We can be potentially devastating. But potential means up to now, we haven’t done anything. That’s the definition of potential.

In a follow-up question, when asked whether it’s difficult to find enough shot attempts and possessions to consistently involve all three guards, D’Antoni downplayed that dynamic.

Houston’s head coach said:

You get what you got. James got 13 shots up, and Russell got 25. Some nights it’ll be that way, some nights it’ll be another way. It isn’t a sacrifice. You’re playing for the team. It’s what you’re supposed to do. If you’re open, you shoot it. If you’re not, you move it. Some nights you get more shots, some nights you get less. But anybody that looks at the stat sheet afterward, who cares? These are all, as they say, empty calories. They mean nothing.

Westbrook had 28 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals in Wednesday’s victory, becoming the first Rockets player to post those numbers or better in those categories since Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon did it nearly 30 years ago on March 3, 1990.

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Since Dec. 16, Harden and Westbrook rank No. 1 and No. 3 in the NBA in scoring, respectively, with each at 30 points per game or higher.

For his part, Harden scored 27 points Wednesday on just 13 shot attempts, thanks in large part to his ability to earn 15 free throws (making 13). It’s just the second time in the last eight games that Harden, the league’s leading scorer, has exceeded 40% shooting from the field.

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But it was Gordon who may have been most impressive of all, setting season-highs with 25 points and six made 3-pointers. Gordon hit eight of 11 shots overall (72.7%) and six of his eight 3-point attempts (75%), with both percentages the best of any game in his 2019-20 season to date.

Speaking postgame, Gordon said:

I hit my first couple 3s early on, and I thought that was a good tone-setter for me. When I get going early, I feel good for the rest of the game. I just liked the flow of energy, and how we played tonight. That’s the kind of basketball we’ve got to get to, and play like that and sustain it every night.

We’ve got to get back in this flow where we’re unstoppable on offense and defensively, we’re like a pest. If we can do that, we’ll be good.

Since returning from knee surgery on Dec. 29, Gordon is averaging 16.4 points in 28.5 minutes per game on 39.4% 3-point shooting. In nine games prior to surgery in October and November, he scored 10.9 points in 29.4 minutes per game on just 28.4% shooting from 3-point range.

Led by their trio of veteran guards, the Rockets will look to build on their momentum Friday at Minnesota (15-29) as they kick off a four-game road trip. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central time.

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