With the NBA announcing that its League Pass product is free and open to the public through at least April 22, an entire archive of games from the 2019-20 season have been made available to fans.
The latest promotion is designed to supplement increased physical distancing measures around the world — all aimed at slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which prompted the league to indefinitely suspend its 2019-20 season on March 11.
Fans can take advantage of the free offer by signing into their NBA account through NBA.com or the NBA App on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android mobile and tablet devices, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and other supported devices.
Games from the current 2019-20 season can be accessed by sorting through the calendar on the NBA.com Scores page.
Earlier this week, we highlighted five games from the 2019 portion of the schedule worth re-watching. Now, we present five top games from the period of January 1, 2020 until the season’s March 11 hiatus.
5. Philadelphia at Rockets, Jan. 3
Continuing a historic run of efficiency, James Harden had 44 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds in a 118-108 victory by the Rockets over the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 3 in Houston (box score). It was the first triple-double of Harden’s 2019-20 season and the 43rd of his career.
The Sixers had considerable length on the perimeter in the form of Josh Richardson and Ben Simmons and double teamed Harden at times, but nothing seemed to work on a consistent basis.
When coupled with a season-high 30 points from Clint Capela — many on lobs from Harden — and 20 from Russell Westbrook, it was enough to send the Rockets (24-11) to a fourth straight home win.
Harden’s 44 points came on 13-of-24 shooting (54.2%), including 6-of-12 (50.0%) on 3-pointers. That gave the former MVP a career-long streak of seven consecutive games shooting at least 50% from the field.
The Houston Rockets were without three starters and two former MVPs on Jan. 27 for the second half of a road back-to-back, all against a Utah Jazz squad that had won 19 of its last 21 games.
With a gritty and determined effort on both sides of the court, the scrappy and shorthanded Rockets found a way to win, anyway.
Eric Gordon scored a career-high 50 points in the absence of Harden, Westbrook, and Capela, and the undermanned Rockets won in Salt Lake City, 126-117 (box score). Gordon made an astonishing 14-of-22 shots (63.6%) from the field, and 6-of-11 (54.5%) were 3-pointers.
Rather than replace Capela with a more traditional center such as Isaiah Hartenstein or Tyson Chandler, the Rockets started 6-foot-5 P.J. Tucker in the middle. That forced Utah’s defensive anchor, Rudy Gobert, to abandon the paint at times and defend out to the 3-point line — and it set the table for Houston’s permanent switch to a smaller lineup in February.
The increased floor spacing opened driving lanes for the likes of Gordon and Austin Rivers, who set a 2019-20 season high with 21 points.
Danuel House Jr., who started at power forward with Tucker sliding to center, also scored 21 points — but his biggest contribution was a career-high 11 rebounds. Despite going smaller, Houston still outrebounded Utah, 40-38, led by 11 rebounds by House and 10 from Tucker.
3. Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers, Feb. 6
In the debut of new forward Robert Covington, the Rockets stunned the top-seeded Lakers at Staples Center with a 121-111 victory (box score). Houston finished the game on a 19-5 run in the final six minutes.
Westbrook led the Rockets in scoring with 41 points on 17-of-28 shooting (60.7%), and he also had eight rebounds and five assists.
In accumulating those numbers, Houston’s All-Star point guard made personal history by becoming just the third NBA player in league history to have 20,000 points, 7.000 assists, and 6,000 rebounds for his career.
But it was Covington, who was acquired via trade only a day earlier, who became the biggest story as the undersized Rockets won yet again. The victory improved Houston to 11-1 in games without Clint Capela.
Without as much as a single practice with his new team, Covington scored 14 points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range (57.1%), including two dagger 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter. He also had eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks.
The Rockets were +16 in Covington’s 30 minutes, representing the best plus/minus figure of any player on either team. Covington finished the game in Houston’s closing lineup alongside Tucker at center and the usual three guards of Westbrook, Harden, and Gordon.
Despite having some combination of the 6-foot-5 Tucker, 6-foot-7 Covington and 6-foot-6 House playing at power forward and center, Houston only lost the rebounding battle against Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and the much larger Lakers by a 38-37 margin.
Harden and Westbrook combined for 72 points on 55.1% shooting as the Rockets secured a huge win on Feb. 22 in Utah, 120-110 (box score).
Both guards excelled on drives and from 3-point range, with Harden’s 38 points coming on 6-of-11 (54.5%) shooting from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Westbrook hit 2-of-4 (50.0%) on 3-pointers, representing his first game since Jan. 15 with multiple 3-point makes. The former MVPs and 2020 All-Stars also combined for 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
For the team, it was the seventh win in nine games by the Rockets, and it clinched the season series and potential tiebreaker versus the Jazz.
Gordon and Ben McLemore each scored 12 points off the Houston bench, with McLemore making all four of his 3-point attempts.
Though the smaller Rockets were undersized with the 6-foot-5 Tucker starting at center against the 7-foot-1 Gobert, they only lost the rebounding battle by a 46-42 margin. Gobert grabbed just six rebounds in his 34 minutes, while Covington had 12 boards.
Houston dominated Utah on both ends of the court in a decisive third quarter, 38-19, and led comfortably for the final 12 minutes.
Houston made 20-of-48 shots from 3-point range (41.7%) as a team, while the Jazz hit just 7-of-31 on 3-pointers (22.6%). In addition to having more floor spacing on offense, the versatile frontcourt of Covington and Tucker allowed Houston to contest more perimeter shots on defense, too.
Covington also secured a game-high three blocks, representing his third consecutive game with at least three blocked shots.
Westbrook scored a game-high 41 points and Covington grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds as the Rockets extended their winning streak to six games with a thrilling 111-110 overtime victory (box score) in Boston.
Harden struggled from the field with 21 points on 7-of-24 shooting (29.2%), and he had a crucial turnover late in regulation.
But the 2020 All-Star and former MVP came up clutch late in overtime with a steal and two free throws in the final 30 seconds, which were ultimately the difference in an intense and frantic finish.
Westbrook’s 41 points came on a 16-of-27 night (59.3%) from the field, extending his career-long streak of consecutive games with over 52% shooting accuracy to seven. He’s scored over 30 points in six of them.
Prior to these last seven games, the longest such streak by the former MVP over his first 12 NBA seasons was three games.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 32 points and 13 rebounds, though the defense of Covington and Tucker helped limit him to an inefficient 9-of-27 night (33.3%) from the field. The Celtics did not score a single point against Houston’s defense in the final 2:48 of overtime.
Covington and Tucker combined for six blocked shots and 29 rebounds on the front line, with six of Tucker’s 13 boards coming on offense.
