After Thursday’s win over Portland, the Houston Rockets have won four straight games and currently have the NBA’s top defense since the blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn. After going 3-6 with Harden, they’re now 5-3 in eight games since the deal. Of those three losses, John Wall missed all of them due to left knee soreness.
When Wall, a five-time All-Star in previous seasons and Houston’s clear team leader, was asked postgame what had changed since a season-opening loss against those Trail Blazers, he didn’t mince words:
“The team wasn’t where we wanted to be, and we had people that didn’t want to be here,” Wall said in response to a question about the turnaround. “So it’s kind of hard to play through that and try to find chemistry. Once we got that away and then we made the trades happen, we got the team that we wanted, and the guys that wanted to be here.”
“Once we all committed to what we wanted to do, we’re going to be a good team,” added Wall, who averages 18.1 points and 5.5 assists. “Everybody has something to prove, that people don’t think we can be as gd as we are. They said we were going to be bad when James went away.”
Houston went from No. 22 in net defensive rating in nine games with Harden to No. 1 in the league over the eight games without him.
John Wall: "Team wasn't where we wanted to be & we had people who didn't want to be here, so it's kind of hard to play through that & try to find a chemistry. Once we got that away and we made the trades happen we got the team that we wanted and the guys that wanted to be here.." pic.twitter.com/DF3bQhOdWu
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) January 29, 2021
Now 30 years old and in his 10th NBA season, Wall scored 20 points with a team-high 6 assists during Thursday’s 104-101 win (box score).
However, the floor general’s postgame comments understandably stole the show. See below for full video of Wall’s interview with reporters.
“We all play for each other,” Wall concluded.
