The Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets both started 3-0 this season. Houston’s hot start wasn’t necessarily a surprise, but Philadelphia’s? Oh yeah.
Unfortunately, it may have been a mirage for both teams, as each has since lost four of six.
“I don’t think they can sustain it,” TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley said on The Morning Show, referring to the 76ers, “(and) listen, I’ve already ruled out the Rockets. They’re not good enough, to be honest with you.
“I was excited for the season because I thought there was going to be a lot of contenders, but I’ve ruled out a couple teams that (are) overrated, and the Rockets are one of those teams. They’re not good enough. And I think the Clippers are in that same boat, too. They’re not good enough, either.”
The Clippers (6-3), thanks to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, lead the league in scoring, averaging 110 points per game, but they’re 29th in scoring, allowing an average of 106 per night.
What exactly are the Rockets and Clippers missing?
“Toughness,” Barkley said. “You got to be tough. That’s the one thing. You’ve got to have toughness, and they’re both missing toughness.”
The Clippers showed some toughness, sort of, on Wednesday night, as Matt Barnes and Oklahoma City big man Serge Ibaka were ejected for shoving each other after Ibaka and Griffin got tied up. Barkley, it appears, would have preferred that Griffin handle this incident on his own.
“That was a cheap shot,” Barkley said. “Listen, Blake’s getting that reputation where people want to pick on him, and he’s got to defend himself. He’s got to defend himself. He’s got to (give someone) a hard foul. He’s got to just knock the hell out of somebody. Because when people think they can just push you around, that’s not some reputation you want to have. You’ve got to let people know you can’t do that to me. You’ve got to protect yourself, no matter what.”
Griffin was assessed a technical foul for his involvement in the fracas but remained in the game and held the Clippers to a 111-103 win. He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while Chris Paul added 14 points and an eye-popping 16 dimes.
As for actual contenders, Barkley said the Pacers (8-0) and Heat (5-3) are two best teams in the Eastern Conference “by far,” while the best teams in the Western Conference are Oklahoma City (5-2), Golden State (5-3) and, of course, San Antonio (8-1).
“They got the best coach in the NBA (Gregg Popovich), they got the best point guard in the NBA (Tony Parker) and they play really smart,” Barkley said of San Antonio. “I think one thing that’s underrated in the NBA is (how intelligent you are) and how hard you work. They work really hard, (and) they play really smart.
“I think sometimes we get so enamored with talent,” Barkley continued. “There’s a lot of talent in the NBA, but there’s not a lot of good teams. And that’s the problem.”
