Nets guard James Harden will have his No. 13 jersey retired by his former team, the Rockets, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. In a 132-114 victory tonight, Harden recorded a triple-double in his first game against his Houston since being traded earlier this season. The loss marks Houston’s 13th straight.
“James Harden will always be a Rocket,” team owner Tilman Fertita said via text message. “Of course, we will retire his jersey. He made my first three years of owning this franchise unforgettable. The success he brought this franchise over eight years and the memories he created for our fan base/community (are) truly remarkable.”
In postgame comments made tonight, Harden revealed that he discovered the news of his impending jersey retirement online, per Malika Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). “My reaction was hopefully I did something right,” he said.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Second-year Spurs small forward Keldon Johnson returned to the floor for San Antonio yesterday after clearing the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
- The Pelicans sent forward Wenyen Gabriel to join their G League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, according to a team press release. The BayHawks clinched a spot in the upcoming NBAGL playoffs thanks to their play on the Orlando “bubble” campus.
- Even with key Spurs rotation players Derrick White, Rudy Gay and Devin Vassell unavailable, a thinned-out San Antonio roster has proved resilient against opponents, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “They have dug down deep all year,” head coach Gregg Popovich said. “They never give in.” Trey Lyles, in his second year with the club, has flourished as a starter in his last four games for San Antonio, averaging 11.5 PPG and 6.0 RPG.
Just to show how much better the Rockets are with Christian Wood in the lineup, they’re 8-9 when he plays and 3-14 when he’s out. If you look at the points scored and points allowed it’s even more obvious. With him they outscored their opponents 111-109.9 but without Wood their opponents outscored them 115.5-104.2; that’s a point differential improvement of almost 12.5 PPG when he’s in their lineup.
Or you could say his on-off is plus12.
That stat in Bas.ref.’s player playbyplay box is prorated to 100 possessions.
For those interested in an ASG sub, Mike Conley is back but has fallen to a plus13, still terrific, though he’s playing on a hammy problem.
I probably should have considered that when I went Bouston +10.5 tonight…should have been winnable for me, but I also would have got some balance in the rotation with 1 or 2 different choices in that starting lineup, of the guys available
The Rockets signing Christian Wood for $41 million for three years was an amazing FA signing. Maybe the Rockets can rebuild quickly. Another website says the Rockets are entertaining offers for Eric Gordon.
If I was Harden I wouldn’t accept that two-faced move from HOU… they made his life a living nightmare & now they wanna show him some love!
Go flip yourselves & leave The Beard alone!
You have no claim on his greatness!
El Don has stalker potential.
He’s just like that Cubs fan whose posts were deleted all the time.
Trolling.
Didn’t the Rockets give Harden his last contract which is a four year contract all guaranteed for $38.2 million, $41.250 million, $44.3 million and $47.3 million? A living nightmare?
Due to Harden’s complete inability to co-exist with whichever guard is playing next to him – even ones personally selected by him – the Rockets have traded Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Lou Williams, Kyle Wiltjer, $661k cash and five first-round picks for John Wall and a first-round pick.
I’d rather see a jersey-burning ceremony than a retirement ceremony.
Retiring a players jersey for making the playoffs a lot over an 8 year period with zero championships is the weakest thing I’ve ever heard, Sam Cassell won more championships with that franchise
Philly retired Barkely’s Jersey. Drexler with Portland. Etc…
James Harden will always be a Thunder, he will always be a Net. Same thing.
He’s the 2nd best player in team history. I don’t understand this sentiment that a player should only get their jersey retired if they win a title(s).
Put Robert Horry in the rafters for Houston, LA and San Antonio if that’s the case.
Rofl
It’s funny how every thinks the Rockets season is over because of their 13-game losing streak. While the fact of the matter is they won all three games that Wood, Oladipo, and Wall participated together in. They’re just 7 games out of 8th place and will be getting Christian Wood back soon. Plus Kevin Porter Jr. will give them another playmaker in the second unit with Gordon. Get ready to be surprised.