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We couldn’t wait for the rematch between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets.
Last time the two met, it was Chris Paul’s first time back in the building after being dealt to Houston in the offseason. The game got chippy when the officials missed a goaltending call—coaches were arguing with opposing players, bench players were talking like starters, and things got heated enough that James Harden, Trevor Ariza, and Gerald Green tried to get into the Clippers locker room to confront Austin Rivers.
A month later, the rematch was on. Sadly, the players didn’t bring that same energy to the court. Instead, the best team in the NBA team spanked the Clippers in their own home. Harden—who is already heavily favorited to win this year’s MVP— proved he deserves the award by pulling a very disrespectful move on Wesley Johnson.
He crossed Johnson over so hard that the Clippers star fell over. Even worse, Harden stared at him as he laid on the hardwood for a few seconds then sunk a three-pointer, making the crowd go crazy.
https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/969061722005884928
The Clippers never recovered, with Harden putting them up by more than 20 in the first quarter and later cruising to a 105-92 victory.
“We made a mistake last time and we weren’t going to let that happen again. I thought we caught them with tired legs. It was just workmanship out there. We got it done,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said after the game.
Joking with the media later that night, Harden said he stared at Johnson for so long because he was thrown off.
“I was looking at him and he was looking at me and I was trying to figure out what he was doing. I was going to shoot it, but I was waiting to figure out what was going on. I was confused,” Harden said.
With the best record in the league, the race to the finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets has made the western conference very interesting this year.
