James Harden's one-man approach no contest for deep Warriors
OAKLAND – As James Harden processed the basketball beating that unfolded at Oracle Arena on Saturday night, the Golden State Warriors having gone up 1-0 against the Houston Rockets in the first round playoff series with Game 2 nearing on Monday, he sat in his locker room chair and had a moment of candor.
“How is that even possible, though?” he muttered to no one in particular.
He was talking about the officiating in the Warriors’ 104-78 win — specifically, the curious question of how someone who has perfected the art of getting to the free throw line didn’t see the charity stripe even once. But Harden — he of the 17 points, seven of 19 shooting, and six turnovers in the series opener — may as well have been talking about the entire night.
No NBA star carries a heavier load on a nightly basis than the Rockets’ bearded baller who finished second to the Warriors’ Stephen Curry in scoring this season (29 points per game) and first in free throw attempts (10.2 per game). But the one-man-wrecking-crew approach that helped Houston reach the Western Conference Finals last season is no longer effective, the Rockets having devolved into a dysfunctional group that consistently plays below its ceiling. And that means the Warriors could sweep this series so long as they keep holding Harden down.
In that sense, this matchup is a reminder of what works in today’s NBA and what doesn’t. System basketball, with multiple ballhandlers, ball movement and dynamic scorers who are willing to be selfless when the time calls for it, is good. Lopsided styles where one star player simply does too much (or even two, in the case of the Oklahoma City Thunder with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook) is, well, typically not as good. Even if those players are great.
Yet still, the Rockets had one of the NBA’s best offenses this season: they were fourth in scoring at 106.5 points scored per game. And the Warriors, who have a not-so-secret weapon in Klay Thompson to lead the defensive effort, made them look like one of the worst.
“It’s not just me (slowing Harden),” said Thompson, who grew up playing against Harden in the Los Angeles area and knows his game as well as anyone. “It’s me, Andre (Iguodala), Shaun (Livingston), HB (Harrison Barnes), Draymond (Green). As a scorer, we know how good a rhythm he can get when he gets to the line. He’s the best in the league at it, so we just have to stay disciplined. Not reach at all. Trust our bigs behind us, and if he hits tough shots on us he hits tough shots.”
Thompson, like so many of the game’s elite perimeter defenders, is a true student of the game. He memorizes tendencies, comes up with counters, and maintains the kind of mental focus it takes to increase those odds that are always in the scorer’s favor. But with Harden, this is a process that began at the ripe age of 15.
Whether it was on the local Los Angeles playgrounds, an AAU court or the more-formal high school games (Thompson’s team, Santa Margarita, once lost to Harden’s Artesia squad in the section playoffs), the two spent substantial time facing off as they grew up in the game. They even played each other in college, with Thompson’s Washington State career coinciding for one season with Harden’s time at Arizona State. And now, with mutual respect in both directions and what one Thompson associate deemed “a low-key rivalry,” they are widely considered the two best shooting guards in the game.
“That (history) doesn’t mean it’s any easier to stop him, but I definitely know what he loves to do,” Thompson told Paste BN Sports. “He loves the between-the-legs stepback midrange. He loves putting his arms out when he goes to the rim. And you can’t let him get in rhythm. Like with any great scorer, you can’t. They’re going to get their numbers, but as long as you make it tough for him we’ll live with the results.”
The Warriors would love nothing more than to replicate the Game 1 results. Thompson guarded Harden on each of his first four shots (all misses), then passed the torch to Iguodala, Green, and Livingston during that crucial first half. Harden had four points on 2-of-9 shooting, the Stephen Curry-led Warriors led 60-33, and everything from there was just a matter of running out the clock.
There’s hope for Houston if the Warriors don’t have Curry, who did not practice on Sunday because of the ankle injury he suffered in Game 1 and is listed as questionable. But Harden might need to be superhuman.
“I missed a couple easy bunnies, and we really didn’t have a lot of movement offensively so were stagnant in our offense,” Harden said. “We didn’t get a lot of open shots like we usually do, so we’ve just got to be better in Game 2 … Just be more aggressive.
“We’ve still got a shot. It’s only one game. Like I said, we’ve got an opportunity in Game 2 on Monday.”