Stephen Curry, who rained down terror with his 23-point fourth quarter, might be responsible for the discord within the Houston Rockets.
After losing at home in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals due to a 23-point fourth quarter performance from Stephen Curry, the Houston Rockets have seemingly turned on each other.
Conflicting reports have been out all day on the reported beef between James Harden and Chris Paul.
“Sources” told Yahoo Sports that Harden and Paul’s relationship is “unsalvageable.” Apparently, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told ESPN’s Zach Lowe Paul has not demanded a trade and that he never asked for one.
The truth isn’t always easy to find, but what fixes everything is success.
What did Stephen Curry take away from the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals?
Success.
Curry entered halftime of that game with zero points. Heavily criticized and under an enormous microscope, Curry scored ten points in the third quarter. That wasn’t enough to solidify himself as a franchise killer so he dropped 23 fourth-quarter points en route to a narrow Warriors victory.
That game and that series were supposed to be the Rockets time to finally dethrone Golden State. Although they were eventually dethroned by Toronto, it was Morey and the Rockets that build a Warriors-destroying roster.
Or so they thought.
Now, they’re deep in the luxury tax, have limited options, have to may Chris Paul max-contract money over the next few seasons. Their inability to get better and their inability to defeat Golden State surely upset James Harden.
There’s something going on in Houston. Reports that have as strong vernacular is concerning. Whether you want to believe the discord or not, there’s got to be some truth in what multiple league sources have reported.
However, without that 23-point fourth quarter and a series-ended Game 7 which wouldn’t have featured Kevin Durant, Houston could’ve found their way to an NBA Championship for the first time in two decades.
In a bad turn of events for Houston, they’ll either be trading Chris Paul or mending what’s almost certainly a broken relationship between their two stars.
That brokenness can, in part, be thanks to Steph Curry and his world-class talent.