After requesting a trade in the offseason, frustrations seemed to boil over for Houston star James Harden after a second straight blowout loss at the hands of the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.
In Tuesday’s lethargic 117-100 home loss (box score), the Rockets trailed by 21 points after the first quarter and were never competitive. Harden played well below his usual standard, with 16 points (31.3% shooting) and six assists in 31 minutes. In postgame comments from Toyota Center, Harden answered two questions before leaving the podium.
These were Harden’s remarks upon leaving Toyota Center:
We’re not even close, honestly, to that team — obviously the defending champions — and all the other elite teams out there. You can tell the difference in these last two games.
We’re just not good enough. Obviously chemistry, talent-wise, just… everything. It was clear. They’re a veteran team, a championship team, one of the best teams that we have in this league.
I love this city. I’ve literally done everything I can. This situation is crazy. It’s something that, I don’t think it can be fixed. So, thanks.
James Harden: We're not even close, honestly, to that team, the obviously the defending champions, and to all the other elite teams out there. I mean, you can tell the difference these last two games." pic.twitter.com/l6WDfBrtNS
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) January 13, 2021
This is how James Harden walked off the podium tonight. It sounded like a farewell pic.twitter.com/fnY2h6dnHP
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) January 13, 2021
With that, Harden walked off the podium.
Houston’s next scheduled game is Thursday night in San Antonio, with tipoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central from the AT&T Center.
