NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking points from the Rockets' 113-101 win against the Grizzlies

James Harden is riding on a wave of confidence. Houston have won 10 of their last 11 games, a span during which the reigning MVP is averaging 39.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The Grizzlies meanwhile, were given a beatdown the sort of which rarely happens to a team with a defensive identity.

Mike Conley during his postgame interview:

No moral victories from tonight. It’s a big loss for us. Houston is a division opponent, a team we thought we could come in here and steal one from.

Chandler Parsons, who has recovered but not been played yet, was listed as "return from injury management and illness". The player is owed $24 million, and resting a healthy player hurts not only the player's chances at returning to the NBA's folds but also the Grizzlies' chances of trading him. To be fair, he has been hurt a lot in his career, but not playing someone due to the risk of injury is sure to send red flags to any General Managers looking to trade for him in the league.

Harden, of course, went ballistic in his outing today, dishing out 43 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists and a loss to the Grizz. Marc Gasol remained steady with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, but today's Grizzlies needed a step-up performance to beat this version of the Rockets. Mike Conley struggled with 19 points on a 7-18 performance as he missed all his 4 three-point attempts and dished out 5 assists, all of which are below his regular season averages. Here's a look at some of the talking points from the matchup.

#1 Offensive first half by the Rockets

The Rockets were all over the place from the beginning, where a barrage of makes assaulted Memphis from the start. At the end of the first quarter, the score resembled an already lopsided 18-27 in favor of Houston, and the second quarter didn't do the Grizzlies any favors either, as the halftime score read 61-38.

Houston moved the ball a lot and used Harden as a defensive magnet, whereas the Grizzlies had to cover tremendous ground to even have a chance at contesting the Rockets' attempts.

The Grizzlies rotated through a 13 man tandem in the first half of the game, looking for the sort of gritty defense that had them at a 12-5 record and brief hold of the first seed back in November.

The Rockets built a what would prove to be an insurmountable lead in the first two quarters and then let the rotation play itself out a bit, as the score read a more balanced 86-73 in favor of the Rockets at the end of the third. Danuel House and Gerald Green played close to 26 minutes each, and both had hot hands from behind the arc today.

Houston's Nene, Clark and Knight had off games, with all three playing close to eleven minutes and scoring 1 point combined as Memphis went on a 35-25 in the third to close out the lead a little. Harden showed up in the fourth again, hitting a pair of two off-the-dribble three-pointers again to bury the Grizzlies for good.

#2 Red hot Harden

Reigning MVP James Harden has continued his red-hot streak against the Grizzlies with 43 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists in just 41 minutes of action. Harden has fueled both the Rockets' playoff push as well as his own back-to-back MVP bid during this run, scoring 408 points in his past 10 games.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau research, Harden joined Jordan and Kobe Bryant (who also were shooting guards) as the only players in the past three decades to score at least 400 points in 10 games.

And as if that were not enough, he's also the first since Westbrook two seasons ago to put up 4 straight 40-plus-point performances. He also broke another Oscar Robertson held record - He has eight consecutive games of at least 35 points and five assists.

But these are stats Harden and his ilk (Curry, Westbrook) have normalized us to during their historic MVP seasons. So here's another normal-for-Harden stat: he made 21 of 27 free throws today. He attempted 27 free throws.

Either way, Houston was second from last at the start of December in the Western Table Standings. With this 10-1 run, they're now tied for fourth, and with LeBron being a day-to-day for the Lakers, will continue to climb higher even without Paul. The D'Antoni Rockets are back.

#3 Grizzlies have fallen off the map

Memphis were the most pleasant surprise at the beginning of the season, with an identity akin to the mid-2000s defensive teams amongst today's pace and space powerhouses. They were at 12-5 and first seeded in November. Then, they lost 12 of their last 18 and now have an underwhelming 18-18 (.500) record.

Against Houston, the Grizzlies were beaten down by raw talent and pure shooting highs from the Rockets. Harden shot 50% (6 - 12) from three, while House and Gerald Green combined to go 10 - 17 from three.

Although unsustainable, these sort of games usually down the opposing team and with Capela's lob and post threat (19 points on 7 - 9 FG), the Grizzlies proved to be too slow to cover the requisite space between Houston's shooters.

Memphis have to sort out their defensive woes and Jackson Jr's place in the squad before they get derailed from a wonderfully promising season.

Edited by Abhinav Munshi