A Good InFLUence

Feeling ill early on Wednesday, James Harden was excused from the Rockets morning practice. Come game time, it was only his shot that was - as the kids say - sick. Harden swished seven threes, three more than he had made through the first four games of the series, on his way to 31 points. Harden may have been battling a cold; however, his shooting was anything but, as he drilled 10 of his 16 field goal attempts. Harden said he spent the day sleeping, yet it was his old teammate Kevin Durant who drifted off late, going scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Harden's rapid recovery is just as surprising as the Rockets, who staved off elimination for the second straight time and get to head home for game 6. Maybe there's a mini-medicine cabinet in that bushy beard.

Trey Bien

Talk about a triple threat. The Rockets matched an Association mark and set a team one by making a net-if-not-mind-melting 23 three-pointers, which accounted for exactly half of their made field goals, in a blowout win over the Warriors last night. Houston connected on a Hades-hot 57.5% of its attempts from beyond the arc, better than its overall platter-of-fajitas-sizzling shooting for the game (50.5%), as every single player successfully sank at least half of the threes they tried. Jeremy Lin led the long distance liftoff with 5, while the fuzzy-faced James Harden hit 4 and the Chandler Parsons Project contributed 4. Even a guy from Lithuania, Donatas Motiejunas, who had 15 career starts, was part of the mania, adding one.

The surge was all the more surprising since they were - dare we say en fuego*? - minus Carlos Delfino, the Argentine assassin (which is nickname we made up for him just now) and the team's top swisher of said shot. Thanks to a touch better than that bizarre boy on Kiefer Sutherland's show, the Rockets turned Tuesday into Threesday.

*Two romance languages in one post? Mamma mia!

Allow Themselves to Introduce...Themselves

A trio of intros from the second night of the season, with a nod to Austin Powers, but not to Austin Rivers (1-for-9 shooting):

1. Take a brow bow, Anthony Davis. The first overall pick showed defense isn't the only dimension of his game by dropping 21 points. However, last year's NCAA leader in swatted shots had only one block and couldn't block the path of the tireless Tim Duncan, who recorded a game-high 24 points. To the deft Duncan, the rook was a mere pawn.

2. Before last night, you probably thought Trailblazers guard Damian Lillard was Matthew Lillard's cousin. Lillard, the pride of Weber State* (which is not Chris Webber's alma mater) and the sixth selection in the draft, totaled 22 points and 11 assists in Portland's victory, but he did maybe more damage inadvertently, when Steve Nash ran into the rookie and hurt his left leg. It turns out athlete Lillard has something in common with actor Lillard: he too made people Scream in fear.

3. James Harden has said that heading to Houston a handful of days ago from Oklahoma City was a "whirlwind." How appropriate that he went on to blow by the Pistons like a hirsute hurricane. Harden had a career-high 12 assists to complement 37 points, 6 boards, 4 steals and a block in Houston's win. Only three players in the past quarter-century can show off a similar stat line: Jordan, Bird and Dwyane Wade. Those weren't the only eye-catching numbers attributed to Harden on Wednesday, as he agreed to an $80 million extension. Best of all was the Linterplay between Harden and his backcourt buddy, Jeremy Lin, who produced 12 points, 8 assists and 4 steals. We predict they'll make as many connections as LinkedIn.

*which we wish Emmanuel Lewis would buy and rename Webster State.

A Harden Sell

Halloween arrived early in Houston, although it wasn't hard candy the Rockets hauled in, but an even better treat: James Harden. Despite him helping guide the franchise to their first finals appearance ever this past June. Oklahoma City sent the reigning sixth man of the year to Houston Saturday night, just five days before the Thunder's season starts, after an agreement on a long-term contract couldn't be reached. Skilled scorer Kevin Martin, rookie Jeremy Lamb and three draft picks are the Reese's pieces that found their Milky way to OKC.

$4.5 million was supposedly the small sum between securing Harden for four years and shipping him off. While it would've been the maximum amount of money allowed, that's couch cushion change to teams. Why the Thunder acted hard up for cash in regards to Harden, when they re-signed Serge Ibaka to a 4-year, $48 million deal in August, is as strange as starting seafood shanty in cow capital Oklahoma City. NBA executives fear exceeding the salary cap like comedian Mike O'Malley fears not wearing a cap.

OKC wasn't willing to commit big bucks to a quartet of promising players (Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden), while Houston is untroubled being tied up with a trio of tyros (Lin, Asik and Harden). We'll see which salary strategy - spending or saving - is sound, but changing the chemistry of a chummy contender so close to the opener is an experiment we wouldn't have gone through with, like Anderson Cooper on daytime television. It should've been too hard for the Thunder to say goodbye to James Harden. GM Sam Presti, prepare to hear boos long after Oct. 31 is over. This is a trade that could come back to haunt the Thunder.

Hand Insanitizer

Metta World Peace isn't interested in making peace with James Harden. The erratic elbower, who returned from his seven-game suspension in time to save the season in the Lakers game seven win over the Nuggets* (15 points, 4 steals), said he won't shake Harden's hand because he's a player who comes off the bench, effectively treating the sixth man like an invisible man. Artest acts like this is a long-standing policy of his, but we think his reasoning is: if your hair can't be as wild as your opponent's, at least your comments and conduct can be. Harden may be a substitute, but there's no substitute for manners, Metta. It's probably best for Harden that their mitts won't meet (this isn't playoff hockey, so it's not obligatory), since Purell doesn't protect against crazy.

*of course the Lakers might've been able to end the series earlier had he not tried out his WWE heel move and been available, although it did free him up to appear on late-night talk shows.

The Pop-ular Vote

Just because this blog will never win awards (unless "Least Read" is a category), doesn't mean we can't hand out accolades to others. Unlike the Chinese, we'll stop short of building a bronze statue for the honorees.

Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich. The extra 'g' is for "great," which is what San Antonio has been under his guidance. He has the lockout figured out, winning the title last time there was one and quietly steering the Spurs to the second seed in the West. Selective sitting senior starters has been a Socratic - and successful - strategy.

Defensive Player: Dwight Howard. Serge Ibaka rocks the block, but no player changes more shots - or his mind - more than Dwight Howard. First in rebounds per game, third in rejections. Numbers don't lie, even if he does about not advocating for Stan Van to be canned.

6th Man: Lou Williams. It's a hard choice to deny James Harden, since his ppg is slightly higher than Williams, but no other player in the league leads his team in scoring while coming off the bench like Lou and, unlike Harden, he hasn't started a single game.

Most Improved: Nikola Pekovic. Jeremy Lin was positioned to win this in a Lin-dslide, but then a left knee injury ended his season early, so we penalized him for Lin-ping to the finish line. In his second season, Pekovic's minutes have doubled and he's responded by more than doubling his scoring (13.5) and rebounding averages (7.0). Bravo, man from Montenegro.

Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving. "Kyrie" means 'Lord' in Greek and he has fittingly been a God among mere mortals, whether it's other first-year players or his teammates. Now, he can use this honor to lord it over them.

MVP: Kobe Bryant. Last year's bestowal of it on Derrick Rose is what we'd call "Bulls-shit." The Adidas ads bragged that he was "fast" and he sure pulled a fast one on the voters. Like a pre-pubescent prince, Rose was crowned too early. Honestly, we almost gave up on the association, like Lamar Odom appears to have. While LeBron James is averaging career-highs in field goal percentage and rebounds, the Heat have cooled off considerably after the All-Star break. Rajon Rondo likely won't be mentioned, but we believe he should be in the discussion for responding to tiresome trade talks with triple-doubles. Chris Paul deserves a nod for ensuring the Clippers were worthy of the cover stories and commendation that came their way in the pre-season. Kevin Durant belongs among this consummate clique, but he has heaps of help (see: runners-up in the defensive player and 6th man categories) If there was backlash against LeBron for "The Decision" among voters, surely Dwight Howard will face some for the indecision he became synonymous with. That leaves Kobe Bryant. Saddled with a soft, strange team that sent away his steadying influence in Derek Fisher, Kobe scored enough to lead the league, while also showing he can be a sympathetic teammate. He's supported a shell-shocked Pau Gasol and a short-circuiting Andrew Bynum, not to mention brushing aside the bizarre Metta World Peace and the blunt Matt Barnes. The Lakers would be lost and much closer to last without him. He held his tongue when new coach Mike Brown benched him and Odom was dealt at a discount to the champs, so when the regular season ends in ten days, Kobe should be holding the MVP trophy.