3. Ball So Harden
The Opponent: Houston Rockets
Date: Feb. 4, 2016 @ 8:30 p.m.
Nationally Televised? TNT
Honestly, you could pick almost any game in February during the Suns’ seven-game homestand here. Phoenix’s competition during that stretch — and for the month of February in general — is that good. But excluding NBATV games, this is Phoenix’s last nationally televised game of the season, and since it comes against a quality opponent, why not this one?
Last season, the Suns created some bad memories for themselves against Houston, most of which involved James Harden torturing them. In one of those games, Harden scored 20 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter to carry the Rockets with a 40-12-9 stat line. The time before that, the Beard had 33 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for the game. Oh, and this also happened:
Ok, so maybe that was just a commercial, and maybe James Harden didn’t ACTUALLY transform into a Sun Devil, but you get the picture. Harden seems to love piling on the points against the Suns, and since this game is relatively early into the February homestand (the second game, to be exact), this would be a great victory to pick up.
Next: Another Rematch With I.T.