Amazingly sharper
Houston’s Harden caps pre-season with a scoring flourish
MIAMI: James Harden sure seems in midseason form.
Russell Westbrook isn’t there yet. Harden, the reigning NBA scoring champion, scored 44 points in 35 minutes – 18 of those points coming in the third quarter – and the Houston Rockets ended the preseason with a 144-133 victory over the Miami Heat on Friday night.
“James was ridiculous,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Harden was 12 for 26 from the field, 8 for 16 from three-point range and 12 for 13 from the foul line. He also had seven assists and five rebounds, and finished the preseason averaging 31.5 points.
“That’s the way he’s wired,” D’Antoni said. “He loves to play. I couldn’t take him out in the fourth quarter if I wanted to. He’d play 48 if he could. He’s wired that way. He gets better every time. I don’t know what his ceiling is. But he’s, to me, the most improved player every year. He’s just ridiculous.”
The Rockets didn’t get out of the game unscathed, however. Austin Rivers could play only seven minutes before being downgraded to out with neck soreness, and Westbrook – who has been dealing with some dislocated fingers on his right hand – left the game in the fourth quarter in obvious discomfort.
Westbrook lost the ball, immediately grabbed at his right hand, then ran off the court and straight into the tunnel leading to the Rockets’ locker room without stopping. He finished with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists on 6-for13 shooting in 26 minutes.
“Both of them told me they were OK, so we’ll take that,” D’Antoni said.
D’Antoni said Westbrook aggravated the finger issue, and will be fine. A top task for the Rockets in this preseason was figuring out all the ways to best utilise their new point guard, with D’Antoni acknowledged is still a bit of a work in progress. “I was with him for eight summers in USA Basketball,” D’Antoni said. “He’s a great guy. Works hard. Unbelievable athletically. Just the speed and power that he can play with ... he’s relentless.”
Some of D’Antoni’s favourite moments during Westbrook’s brief Houston tenure so far have been ones that few people have seen – since they’ve come in practice, in moments where the competitive juices have perhaps overflowed.
“He gets ticked off in practice sometimes and the next three minutes, he’s killing people,” D’Antoni said. “He needs that competitiveness to juice him up. He’s not like the old guy at the Y who will knock you down and shoot it. No, no, he’s coming at you with all the athleticism that he has.”
Westbrook will have a few extra days to get through the issue with his fingers. He and the Rockets don’t open the regular season until playing host to Milwaukee on Thursday.
Eric Gordon scored 23 points for Houston and Clint Capela finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Kendrick Nunn scored 40 points in 40 minutes for Miami, making 15 of 27 shots. Tyler Herro scored 14 points and Bam Adebayo made all six of his shots on the way to a 13-point, 11-rebound night.
Jimmy Butler didn’t play for the Heat, held out to rest.
Friday’s slate marked the end of the preseason, with Milwaukee (5-0), New Orleans (5-0), Boston (4-0), and Denver (4-0) all finishing unbeaten.
The regular season starts on Tuesday when NBA champion Toronto getting their rings before playing host to New Orleans, followed by the Lakers and Clippers meeting in the first battle of Los Angeles this season. — AP