Rockets call James Harden ‘King James’ after win over Cavaliers

The Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday in a mostly forgettable midseason game outside of James Harden receiving a flagrant foul for kicking LeBron James in the groin.

Despite this, the folks running the Rockets’ Twitter account were pretty amazed by Harden’s effort in the 105-103 victory. Based on their postgame tweet, it seems the Rockets believe fans witnessed the dawning of a new era in NBA history after Harden’s 33-point, eight-rebound effort.

The team tweeted a photo of Harden with the words “King James” embedded across the top. The tweet also included, “Long live the new King” -- a clear shot at LeBron James, who has the nickname “King James.”

On Sunday, Harden played more like a King than James did. With the game on the line, James missed two free throws with four seconds remaining to help seal the win for the Rockets.

“I didn’t come through for my teammates tonight,” James said. “I tricked the game up at the free throw line.”

As for Harden, he’s a contender for the NBA’s most valuable player award this season, but he has a long way to go before he can be considered on the same level as James. The Rockets’ faithful should just be happy that he didn’t get ejected for kicking James, a move Harden claimed was an accident.

Twitter: @AustinKnob