After his monologue last night, a James Harden trade on Wednesday felt imminent. Since the talks last November, the idea of Harden in Brooklyn felt imminent. Then, in a series of Shams, Haynes, and WojBombs, it was official. The James Harden era in Houston is over, and the Harden and Kevin Durant reunion is in […]
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After a deflating game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the fans of the Houston Rockets were searching for positives. Two straight losses by double digits to the defending champs were hard to swallow. Houston needed to make some big schematic adjustments, shoot the ball better, and get some key plays from key playmakers. While effort […]
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Thursday, the entire country was tired. Wednesday, this nation faced an unprecedented attack on its Capitol. It struck the weird cross-section of the “shocked” and “not-surprised” Venn Diagram. After a tumultuous day, the cocktail of stress, anxiety, and anticipation kept many Americans up until the wee hours of the morning. The few -if any- hours […]
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Another week of Rockets’ basketball down… this time without off the floor embarrassment. The Houston Rockets finished the week 2-1 after two big wins against the Sacramento Kings and a tough loss against Dallas. As mentioned in last week’s Round-Up, Houston started off their season short-handed (well, it started off no-handed, and then short-handed… now […]
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2020 was a challenging year for everyone. The pandemic, both in itself and in its rippling impact, made the year both historic and a nightmare. Some saw victories, but as a whole the nation felt a long lasting depression. We hope to be moving back in the right direction soon but as the splash has […]
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As 2020 comes to a close many find themselves looking at the year that was, making goals for the near future, or some combination of the two. For the NBA, this New Year’s Eve comes at a weird time. Usually, at this point of the season, the NBA season feels like it’s just starting and […]
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What a week it has been for the Houston Rockets. Monday, pictures of a maskless James Harden in a nightclub began to circulate. Tuesday those photographs were investigated by the NBA, and Wednesday it appeared Harden would be unavailable for the opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder that night. Things only went downhill from there […]
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The day after their first game was scheduled to be played, the Houston Rockets are undefeated. At this rate, they might not lose a game. Because in order to lose a game, you’d have to be allowed to play them. After an eventful news day of night club specifications and barbershop boys clubs, the Rockets […]
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We’ve documented it on Belly Up before, specifically when the games were announced, but the NBA on Christmas Day has become a true familial tradition. Eggnog and roundball go together on Christmas like turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving. Christmas Eve is for family time, morning is for the kids, but Christmas afternoon and evening? That’s […]
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Happy Festivus, NBA fans! Better known as “a Festivus for the rest of us”, Festivus is a holiday that originates from Seinfeld. In an episode from December of 1997, George Costanza dreads the celebrations of his father, Frank, for a made-up holiday. On December 23rd, the date of the fictional holiday, families are to raise […]
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In 2020, we are seeing athletes ask their teams to make a real change in their image across the sports landscape. One easy, simplistic way to begin that change is through language. More specifically, seeing the names we use to refer to schools, mascots, and team names as carrying weight. Changing them may be a […]
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James Harden and PJ Tucker made their return to the Houston Rockets on Monday and played in Tuesday night’s preseason victory over the San Antonio Spurs. There was a lot of intrigue as to how Harden and newly acquired John Wall would play together. Before tip off, another story dominated the #NBATwitter world: James Harden […]
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The 2020-21 NBA Season has begun! Or, at least the pre-season has. In an effort to limit travel, NBA teams are playing two-game series that feel a lot like a baseball matchup. For the Houston Rockets, this meant the league year opened with two games in four days in the Windy City against the young […]
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Ok, so Houston Rockets and Houston Sports Twitter have been a hot mess for the entirety of 2020. On the front end, you had three things happen all at one time: The Astros cheating scandal was revealed and AJ Hinch and Jeff Lunhowe were fired Bill O’Brien’s Houston Texans were up 24-0 and lost by […]
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