Head coach Mike D'Antoni stated the obvious Tuesday night.
"Right now, we're playing like crap," D'Antoni told reporters after the Rockets' 104-85 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. "We're just not playing well. You know, I don't have a whole lot of answers for you now. We'll look, and we'll fight it."
The Rockets sit 1-5 and turned in a listless home performance in which they shot just 32.3 percent from the floor. Carmelo Anthony shot 2-of-12 from the floor, and his acquisition is at the very least a slow work in progress if not an outright bust.
The Rockets have lost their last two games without James Harden by a combined 39 points. Chris Paul has shot a disappointing 9-of-32 in those contests, his first since returning from a two-game suspension.
Kyrie Irving Balling Out After Haircut Proves His Fro Was Holding Him BackThe Celtics were able to take down the Pistons on Tuesday, and the star of the night was the one and only Kyrie Irving.
And if it looked like Kyrie was looking a little different, your eyes weren't playing tricks on you. No. 11 got himself a fresh haircut, getting rid of his baby fro.
So, did the new cut make a difference? You tell me:
What a night for Irving.
While some theorists out there are claiming his hair was holding him back, the numbers don't lie here. The star guard finished with 31 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. More importantly, though, he did so looking clean as a whistle.
Sure, fans out there sure liked seeing Kyrie rock the fro, but it just didn't feel right. Seeing Irving cross defenders up and leave them lying on the hardwood does, though.
BOSTON -- There are certain truths when it comes to the Boston Celtics: The banners will always hang prominently from the Garden rafters, the opponent will always be seeing green, and Hall of Famer Tommy Heinsohn will always espouse the virtues of the hometown team.
Right? Well, hold on a minute.
Heinsohn, the team's television analyst who is affectionately known in Boston for being an unabashed homer, departed from this usual stance on an Oct. 20 broadcast when he questioned the conditioning of point guard and franchise player Kyrie Irving. Then, after a win Saturday against the Pistons in Detroit, Heinsohn doubled down, declaring, "[Irving] looks like he's five pounds overweight, but I haven't seen him on a scale."
Irving responded Tuesday night with his most electric performance of the young season, submitting a season-high 31 points in a home win against the Pistons in which he shot 10-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-7 from the 3-point line.
He added five rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes and single-handedly accounted for a scintillating run in the third quarter that turned the tide.
Irving goes on his own run
Kyrie Irving takes on the Pistons by himself, draining three 3-pointers from more than 25 feet in third quarter.
Afterward, in a brief on-court interview with NBC Sports Boston reporter Abby Chin, Irving declared, "I want to give a shout out to my man, Tommy Heinsohn."
He then abruptly turned and strode off the parquet. Was he being sarcastic? Facetious? Genuinely grateful? Who could be sure? After all, is the world round, or not?
Irving was far more expansive in a postgame locker room interview in which he conceded Heinsohn was right: He needed to be in better shape.
"I caught wind of [his comments] probably like a week ago and it was bothering me, because it was the most honest thing anyone had said about the way I was playing," Irving said. "I literally had to try to match a level I had been playing at last year but also become better, so how you do that is, I had to really put an emphasis on my body and how I was taking care of my mind. [Heinsohn's comment] was one of the realest things I could have heard. As a competitor, if that doesn't itch inside you of wanting to be better, especially from a guy like Tommy Heinsohn, who, you can't do any wrong in his eyes if you're a Celtic. ... I appreciate that.
"It was the truth. I had to get in better shape, I had to become more dedicated to what I was doing. I was on the bike the next morning doing everything possible to prepare my body."
Kansas State's Wade, Wisconsin's Happ, Kentucky's Travis eager to create March memories in senior seasons
A variety of factors prevented Kansas State's Dean Wade, Wisconsin's Ethan Happ and Kentucky newcomer Reid Travis from ending the season the way they would have wanted last year.
They want their senior years to conclude differently.
A foot injury caused Wade to play a total of eight minutes in the NCAA Tournament during the Wildcats' run to an NCAA regional final last season. Wisconsin went 15-18 last season to end a string of 19 straight NCAA Tournament appearances . Travis never reached the NCAA Tournament during his four seasons at Stanford, which included one injury-shortened campaign that resulted in a redshirt.
"I didn't watch any of the tournament because of how bitter I was about it, about the whole thing," Happ said. "Obviously life is funny in some ways. Hopefully that great failure turns into something special this season."
They're eager to create better March memories this season.
Happ is back for his senior season at Wisconsin. Wade is healthy again and eager to get Kansas State back into the postseason. Travis is now a graduate transfer at Kentucky , a move that significantly improves his chances of getting to the NCAA Tournament.
They're three of the top seniors in college basketball heading into the season. Here's a look at some notable seniors across the country.
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