2014-2015 Houston Rockets: Harden Charges Hard

2014-2015 Houston Rockets: Harden Charges Hard

2014-2015 Houston Rockets: Harden Charges Hard

Along with powerful center Dwight Howard, shooting guard James Harden was coming into his own as a leader on his team and as one of the best players in the NBA, and he would prove just how valuable of a player he was in the 2014-2015 regular season. With Howard sidelined for half of the season due to an injury, Harden mainly led the Houston Rockets to a 56-26 record, which would capture 1st place in a tight Southwest division, and good enough for 2nd place in the Western Conference. The Rockets finished 1 game ahead of both the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs, 6 games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and 11 games ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans, all of which qualified for the postseason as well as the Rockets.

Harden had 2,217 total points, 459 rebounds, 565 assists and 154 steals. Harden also made 208 of 555three-point shots. Harden averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Small forward Trevor Ariza had 1,048 total points, 459 rebounds and 152 steals, and averaged 12.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Ariza made 194 of 555 three-point shots. Power forward Donatas Motiejunas had 855 total points and 421 rebounds, averaging 12 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Point guard Patrick Beverley had 568 points and 192 assists, averaging 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Beverley made 115 of 323 three-point shots. Shooting guard Jason “The Jet” Terry had 541 points and 147 assists and made 126 of 323 three-point shots. Power forward Josh Smith had 660 points in 55 games along with 328 rebounds and 145 assists, averaging 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Appearing in 41 games, Howard had 646 points and 431 rebounds, averaging 15.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

The Rockets played a game in Mexico City against the Minnesota Timberwolves, a game in which they won by the score of 113-101 on November 12, 2014. The Rockets were also involved in 5 overtime games in the regular season, all of which they won. Their overtime wins include a 114-112 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 5, a 113-109 win over the Sacremento Kings on December 11, a 115-111 win over the Denver Nuggets on December 17, a 117-11 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on December 26, and a 105-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 1, 2015.

The Rockets would easily down the Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 1 in the 1st Round of the playoffs. James Harden averaged 28.4 points, 7.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the series. Josh Smith averaged 17.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Dwight Howard averaged 16.6 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3 blocks per game.

In Game 1 at Houston’s Toyota Center on April 18, the Rockets won 118-108. Harden had 24 points and 11 assists. Power forward Terrence Jones had 19 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Trevor Ariza had 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks had 24 points and 8 rebounds. In Game 2 on April 21 the Rockets won again by the score of 111-99. Howard had 28 points and 12 rebounds. Harden had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. For Dallas, point guard Monta Ellis had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and Nowitzki had 13 rebounds.

In Game 3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on April 24, the Rockets narrowly won 130-128. Harden exploded with 42 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists. Howard grabbed a remarkable 26 rebounds. Nowtizki had 34 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for Dallas while Ellis had 34 points, 9 assists and 3 steals. The Mavericks picked up their only win of this series in Game 4 on April 26 by the score of 121-109. Monta Ellis had 31 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Small forward Al-Farouq Aminu grabbed 12 rebounds for Dallas. Harden had 24 points for Houston along with 5 assists and 2 steals.

The Rockets rebounded in Game 5 on April 28 to win 104-93, sending the Mavericks packing. While Ellis had 25 points, 7 assists and 4 steals and Dirk Nowitzki had 22 points and 15 rebounds for Dallas, Harden had 28 points and 8 assists, Howard had 18 points, 19 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks and Josh Smith came off the bench to get 20 points and 8 rebounds.

The Rockets then took on the Los Angeles Clipper

However, the Clippers would soon put the Rockets in a 3 games to 1 hole, starting with a Game 3 victory over Houston at the Staples Center, a 124-99 pounding on May 8. Harden had 25 points, 3 rebounds and 11 assists and Howard grabbed 14 rebounds for Houston, but Los Angeles countered with guard J.J. Redick’s 31 points as he hit 5 of 6 three-point shots, and 25 points and 6 rebounds from guard Austin Rivers as he made 3 of 6 three-point shots. Griffin had 22 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists, and center DeAndre Jordan grabbed 15 rebounds and had 3 assists.

The Clippers won Game 4 on May 10 with another 128-95 pounding. Jordan had 26 points and 17 rebounds, and Griffin had 21 points and 8 rebounds. Harden would put up 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a losing effort.

Going back to Houston for Game 5 on May 12, the Rockets would make a comeback in the series, starting with a 124-103 win. Griffin had 30 points and 16 rebounds, and point guard Chris Paul III, who was nursing a hamstring injury, had 22 points and 10 assists. Harden had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Howard had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Ariza had 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals for Houston.

s in the Western Conference Semifinals, but it would be a much more difficult hurdle for Houston to overcome. In game 1 on May 4 the Clippers beat the Rockets 117-101, and while Dwight Howard had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks, James Harden had 20 points, 5 rebounds and 12 assists, and Trevor Ariza had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, the Clippers countered with dynamic scoring options. Power forward Blake Griffin had 26 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists. Guard Jamal Crawford had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals off the bench. Forward Matt Barnes had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

The Rockets responded with a Game 2 win on May 6 by the score of 115-109. Griffin had 34 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists for the Clippers while Crawford had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Harden had 32 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists for Houston’s cause while Howard had 24 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Rockets evened the series at 3 games apiece with a 119-107 victory at the Staples Center in Game 6 on May 14. Harden had 23 points while Howard had 20 points and 21 rebounds. Chris Paul III had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals for Los Angeles while Griffin had 28 points and 8 rebounds. In the deciding Game 7 on May 17 in Houston, the Rockets completed their comeback with a 113-100 victory. Blake Griffin did all he could for the Clippers, having 27 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists while Chris Paul III had 26 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals, but the game belonged to James Harden, who had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. Trevor Ariza pitched in with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, and Dwight Howard had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Although the Houston Rockets fell to the eventual NBA Champion Golden State Warriors 4 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals, James Harden would have one more excellent game, which would be in a Game 4 128-115 win for the Rockets on May 25. Harden dropped 45 points in front of his home crowd along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Harden also hit 7 of 11 three-point shots.

Though the Rockets didn’t win an NBA championship in the 2014-2015 season, James Harden would be selected to the All-NBA First Team, and he would finished 2nd in the Kia NBA MVP voting, only behind Warriors point guard Stephen Curry. Curry received 100 1st place votes, 26 2nd place votes, 3 3rd place votes and 1 5th place vote for the MVP award while Harden received 25 1st place votes, 87 2nd place votes, 13 3rd place votes and 4 4th place votes.