It was a day of transition for the Houston Rockets. Not only did the team have a players only meeting last night but they also let go of their head coach Kevin McHale earlier today.
While McHale led the Rockets to three straight playoff appearances, their latest run being one of the best in Rockets history, the team has failed to look like a proven playoff contender this season. They held a 4 – 7 record before tonight’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, where interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff was set to make his head coaching debut.
Bickerstaff was named head coach for the rest of season by Rockets owner Leslie Alexander. Alexander spoke to ESPN saying “..we think he’s a good young coach with a lot of experience. He is on the defensive end, which we really need a lot of help on. We have a good offensive coordinator Chris Finch, so at the same time we have both. J.B. has a good relationship with the players, which I think is very important. If they didn’t know him, it would be tough in the adjustment process. Now it’s much quicker.”
With the Rockets taking on the Trail Blazers earlier tonight, all eyes were on J.B. and how the players would respond.
The Rockets kept it close for the first quarter but went back to their sloppy play as the Blazers outscored Houston, 25 – 13, in the second quarter. It got worse, nothing seemed to change as the team trailed by 15 points in the third.
It seemed that it would be another disappointing loss for Houston, but James Harden refused to believe the game was over.
Harden made important plays down stretch. One of those play being a fast break assist to Corey Brewer for three to tie the game with .9 seconds left. James would continue to control the game as he scored the teams final nine points in over time.
It was all smiles for the Rockets as they came away with the win, 108 – 103. Harden finished the game with 45 points and 11 assists, Brewer had a bounce back game with 16 points, and Dwight Howard has dominated the boards this season coming out with 19 rebounds to end the night.
The Rockets still have work to do, but for that final quarter it truly felt like “Clutch City” again.
Take a look at Corey Brewer’s game tying three below:
