Greatness certainly wouldn’t come easy for the Houston Rockets on December 1, 2024, as they battled both their conference’s No. 1 seed, and a defense holding opposing guards to the NBA’s lowest field goal percentage allowed. Yet, with the game’s outcome in the air in the final minute-and-a-half, the Wild West’s newest up-and-coming contender introduced the Oklahoma City Thunder to the only weather-related connection that truly mattered: Fred VanVleet’s rainbow. Drifting backwards towards Houston’s bright-red midcourt logo as an off-ball threat, VanVleet observes as the Rockets’ offense seemingly does itself no favors against both a quickly-draining play clock and the Thunder’s lockdown defense. Unburdened by the pressures of receiving a “hot potato”-like pass with only a second to launch, VanVleet rockets a skyscraping 33-footer through the air, smoothly connecting to give Houston a late-game three-point lead. Built for the high-stakes atmosphere, VanVleet’s heroics encouraged 38 points on sparking efficiency from the field (10-of-19), from deep (five-of-nine), and from the charity stripe (13-of-14), complemented by two rebounds and three assists. · Dec 2, 2024