Random day in Rockets history: James Harden vs. Wesley Johnson

There’s not much happening in Houston Rockets news today, but ESPN dropped a pleasant reminder earlier of a pretty famous day in team history.

Four years ago today, on February 28, 2018, James Harden, who was in the midst of both one of his finest individual seasons and also his best ever team season, executed the famed step back that dropped Wesley Johnson a full 10 feet in front of him, gave him the stare down, then cashed a three-point jumper. The move was so good, even Johnson had a half smile on his face running back to the other end.

The Rockets went on to defeat the Clippers 105-92 to move their record on the season to 48-13 on their way to a franchise record 65-17 mark.

Harden finished the year leading the league in scoring with 30.4 points per game to go along with 8.8 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the field and 36.7 percent from three.

Houston would eventually lose to the Golden State Warriors in seven games in the Western Conference Finals after Chris Paul got hurt and the team infamously missed 27 straight three-pointers after some god-awful officiating changed the game’s trajectory, but this Harden highlight was one of the top moments in a season filled with them.

Hard to believe that was four years ago already. Don’t worry, there will be no further ruminations on getting old.