Rockets player makes bold claim about Warriors after win
“We are better than them.”
Nothing like being a prisoner of the moment.
In the afterglow of Saturday night’s impressive 116-108 win over Golden State, Rockets center Clint Capela said it all — in an interview with ESPN that may be repeated a few times the rest of this season.
Capela was clearly feeling the moment.
“We’re confident because we know if we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, we’re going to beat them,” Capela said. “We’ve got to keep playing. We know that they’re going to come back if we have the lead, and we’ve just got to keep that mindset.
“Sometimes I feel like, in the past, we were all dragging down after mistakes. But today, we were ready. I think that if we’re doing what we’re supposed to do on defense — all the switches, the weak side — and keep playing our offense by keeping that mentality all game long, we have the weapons to beat them.”
James Harden scored 22 points in his second game back from injury. His hamstring certainly looked to be feeling good. Harden scored 22 points, and was 5-for-9 from 3-point range.
#JamesHarden shakes and bakes for the three!#DubNation 108 / #Rockets 114
📺: #NBAonABC pic.twitter.com/1TBAoe21vj
— NBA (@NBA) January 21, 2018
Harden said Saturday’s victory was critical “for our swag.”
Houston has now won five of its last six games after a stretch in December that saw it lose five straight.
The win leaves Houston 3.5 games behind Golden State for the Western Conference’s top seed, which is surely what the Rockets have in sight.
“Mentally, now we have a chance to go after the No. 1 seed,” Rockets sixth-man Eric Gordon said. “Because if it’s a tie at the end of the year, we have that edge. That’s why we all thought it was very important to win. Now that we’re healthy, I think that we’re going to get back to a big winning streak and get back to doing what we need to do, like we did earlier in the year.”
For their part, the defending champions don’t seem overly concerned.
“The season starts over when you’re in the playoffs anyway, so it doesn’t matter,” said Kevin Durant, “You’re going to have to get through these teams to get to where you want to go. You have to play at home and on the road, so it really doesn’t matter. We just want to be playing good basketball when it comes down to that point.”
When Houston traded for Chris Paul, the idea was to take some of the burden off of Harden.
Paul’s 33 points, seven assists and 11 rebounds Saturday suggests he’s getting healthy after an injury-plagued start.
Chris Paul goes for 33 PTS, 7 AST and 11 REB in the @HoustonRockets' win!#Rockets pic.twitter.com/BgipTZ3rDT
— NBA (@NBA) January 21, 2018
The Warriors had won 14 straight road games, so Durant’s lack of concern may be justified. But keep one stat in mind: Houston is 17-0 in games where Harden, Paul and Capela all play — including two wins over the Warriors.
The teams won’t meet again in the regular season, so it’s possible their next meeting will be in the Western Conference finals.
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