Golden State Shows Houston and Harden How Good They Are

A quote by Houston Rockets guard James Harden before the Golden State Warriors and Rockets game last Saturday claiming the Warriors were, “not even that good,” was followed by a blowout loss of 131-106 to the Warriors.

On Wednesday, a few days after that video of Harden’s quote had been broadcast; Houston was beaten down again by the Golden State “not-that-good” Warriors.

The loss was the fourth consecutive for Houston in double digits against the Warriors just this season.

The final score of 126-113 does not indicate how badly Golden State beat the Rockets.

Heading into the fourth quarter the Warriors led 102-78. That was followed by uninspired garbage time by the Warriors during the entire fourth quarter.

Houston’s problems started with the play of Dwight Howard. He struggled from the start under heavy defensive pressure from Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut. The Houston big man ended the game with just 7 points and 5 fouls.

Following the game, reporters asked Howard if he felt Golden State was the league’s best team and he replied that he thought the best team was the Atlanta Hawks.

Frustration boiled over for Houston in the third when the Rockets’ Trevor Ariza shoulder bumped the Warriors Stephen Curry

Curry, who had been assessed a technical earlier, had to be restrained by Green.

The Warriors players continue joking about Harden’s quote following the game.

Green said that Houston was in big trouble since they lost four times this season to a team that is not that good.

Following the game, Curry was not as sarcastic as Green but to the point when the said that the team showed the Rockets we are good, especially when it comes to playing against them.

Harden’s quote is wrong, but some people around the NBA are wondering whether Golden State is really that good.

The Warriors registered the best point differential after 40 games since the Chicago Bulls in 1996. How does a team that made few changes besides a new coaching staff look so good?

Putting it into perspective, Golden State would be the point differential leader in the league just based upon their first halves by themselves.

In other words, Golden State has outscored its opponents during the first half more than all other team in the league has outscored its opponents in complete games.

Therefore, the answer is yes, Golden State is very good at this point. However, the unknown is whether their play now translates to success in the postseason.

The success during a regular season is easily forgotten if a team does poorly in the postseason. Golden State hopes the rest of the league will be saying in June that, “yes the Warriors are that good.”