The Houston Rockets defeated the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semi-finals on Friday with relative ease, and they mostly did it through stifling defense and the dangerous scoring of James Harden.
Robert Covington, one of the most dangerous spot-up shooters on the Rockets, was seen sporting a headband that read “Stay Hungry” on it. Covington spoke to the press about the custom accessory (via Bleacher Report).
“I wore this because that’s the mindset: stay hungry. We’re not satisfied based off what we did in Game 1.”
RoCo on his custom headband. pic.twitter.com/Ym4bRKFVda
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) September 5, 2020
Winning Game 1 of their series against the Lakers was certainly an important moment for Houston, who barely squeaked by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round following a hard-fought, drag-out battle with two teams that know each other intimately.
Many believed that the Lakers would prove to be just too big on the interior for the Rockets, who have transformed the team into the definition of “small ball.” After trading Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks during the season, PJ Tucker moved to the center spot, which caused a lot of head-scratching.
However, on Friday, Covington’s headband guidance proved to be the deciding factor, as Tucker completely hounded both LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Lakers to the point that they were settling for heavily contested jumpers rather attempting to drive into the paint.
Covington himself is no slouch on the defensive end himself, as he has amassed a whopping 21 steals (including four against the Lakers on Friday) and 12 blocks in 259 total minutes played in the playoffs.
The former G Leaguer is also shooting a staggering 51 percent from downtown so far in the playoffs, per ESPN, so Rockets fans are clearly hoping that “hunger” remains if the Rockets advance.
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