Tasty sample of playoff fury whets appetite

I can’t say I blame him. James Harden. LeBron James. Kyrie Irving.

Constant oohs, ahhs and hardwood disbelief, with mid-March inside a packed, buzzing Toyota Center truly starting to feel like the NBA in its late-April playoff roar.

So when some overzealous fan (admirer? stalker?) ran into the middle of Harden’s court Sunday night — while the Rockets were literally in the middle of a nationally televised showdown against King James’ Cavaliers — the message was clear. The real show was here. The league’s defending champs vs. the should-be MVP. The Mike D’Antoni Show and

potential Western Conference finals contenders against the team that somehow came back from 3-1 vs. Golden State in the NBA Finals and finally brought a championship to Cleveland.

Playoff-like vibe. Postseason heat. Surges, dives, drastic changes and constant adjustments.

The third-best team in the NBA won again. And if you somehow had any doubts whether these Rockets were for real, Sunday ends it.

They are. And they’re not going away.

It was 117-112 Daryl Morey’s creation. James “Triple-Double” Harden (38 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) was once again clearly the best player on the floor. Pat Beverley was a relentless force. Nene outfought the Cavaliers when the Rockets needed him most.

D’Antoni’s team (4621) asserted its will and completely changed the game, erasing a 14-point, third-quarter deficit and ultimately wearing down the 2016 world champs.

“For us this is a big win, in the sense of, you know, the champions. We haven’t had one in a while,” he said. “We beat Golden State, we beat San Antonio. But that was earlier. And we haven’t had one, so this is good.”

Good? How about getting closer to great.

Two long years ago, Toyota Center and downtown Houston was the place to be. Harden became The Beard. The Rockets reached the conference finals and could have gone up 2-0 on the eventual world champ Warriors.

The place to be

Two years later, Harden’s home is again becoming the hottest place in this city. NFL stars and local celebs sat as close to the court as possible Sunday evening. And when Beverley single-handedly took the fight over in the fourth quarter — “unbelievable,” D’Antoni called him — Toyota Center was officially one month away from its playoff rebirth and loud as heck.

“They do (have a lot of heart). … We shouldn’t question it. They’ve shown it and showed it again,” said D’Antoni, who intentionally prodded the Rockets two weeks ago by questioning their commitment.

The only thing to question right now is how far this team can go when the second season starts.

Sunday’s beginning was everything it was supposed to be — and more.

Toyota Center was actually packed for the opening tip.

The buzz was so big the NFL general manager who signed and traded Brock Osweiler in one year watched the whole show up close, courtside.

Irving faked, danced and drained. James (30 points, seven rebounds) drew the first MVP chant and powered through everyone in his way.

Up, down, up

Then the real MVP went to work. Harden finished the first quarter with 11 sharp points, five assists and two boards. The Rockets, as always, were fearless beyond the arc: 7-of-15, with the misses barely off target. When it was 33-26 third-best team in the NBA after just 12 minutes, the arena had enough electricity for the whole night.

Then the Rockets’ oftenflickering D disappeared.

Irving got anything he wanted and at one point was “defended” by Nene.

James shredded the net on eight of his 10 first shots and rarely faced resistance.

Even 36-year-old Richard Jefferson carried a torch, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and hitting all four of his firsthalf 3s. The Cavs scored 30 of their initial 67 points in the paint, put up 41 in the second quarter alone and led 74-60 as the third period seats were being filled.

Of course, the 3-ball bailed out these Rockets.

Ryan Anderson. Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza. Beverley. Finally, Lou Williams, who snapped a sleepy 0-for-5 scoreless start with a 25-foot corner 3 that tied the battle at 83 and captured the intensity of the Rockets’ third-quarter fight.

Harden attacked harder. Twenty secondhalf points, including 11 during a game-changing third quarter that saw the Rockets outscore Cleveland 32-19 and wear down a hard-breathing James.

Beverley became ferocious, wrestling for loose balls, diving hard to the floor and coldly hitting a corner 3 that silenced the Cavs for good. Contenders? For real? The Rockets beat up on King James on Sunday night. If this roar keeps up, they’re just getting started.

brian.smith@chron.com twitter.com/chronbriansmith