HARDEN LONELY AT TOP.
MVP front-runner is the only All-Star from NBA’s top team
LOS ANGELES — James Harden was angry or at least annoyed. The best record in the NBA did not change that. It made the feelings grow stronger.
He was asked about being the Rockets’ lone representative in Sunday’s All-Star Game. He knew the Warriors had four representatives and the Celtics, Wizards, Raptors, Cavaliers, Thunder, Pelicans and Timberwolves had two each.
This was not a new development. Chris Paul was excluded last month when the coaches’ choices for reserves were announced and again when Oklahoma City’s Paul George replaced DeMarcus Cousins. But things felt different on Saturday when he took his seat a few feet to Mike D’Antoni’s left and was asked why the team with the best record had fewer All-Stars than eight other teams.
“What are we talking about?” Harden said. “Obviously, everybody knows Chris Paul is with the Rockets. The Rockets have the No. 1 (record). How does that happen? It’s frustrating. I know he’s frustrated. He never brings it up. That’s why I said what I said. He’s never going to bring it up. I’ll defend for him. He should be here with me in L.A. as an All-Star.”
‘For sure not fair’
The Rockets believe their play merited a second All-Star.
“How can we have the No. 1 record going into the All-Star break and not have more (All-Stars)?” Rockets guard Eric Gordon, who was in the 3-point contest, said. “That’s definitely, for sure not fair.”
But with their move to the top of the standings has come a different sense of their place in the league.
The Rockets had already thought of themselves as contenders. Gordon said they felt that way early in the season. But they consider themselves championship contenders with the AllStar break record to prove it.
“We know what we’re capable of,” Gordon said. “We know we have a chance to win it.”
The only All-Star on a 44-13 team, Harden is the heavy MVP favorite. Though he has considered himself the NBA’s best player for several years, he feels differently about his team than he ever has.
“Whole different swag,” Harden said. “A whole different feeling. Just confident. I know what we have back in Houston, coaching staff to the players, top to bottom. We have a lot of depth. That’s what we’ve been missing since I’ve been in Houston. We’re going to ride this weekend out. When it’s time to get back to business, it’s go time.”
Record not the motivation
He said the Rockets still need to improve, especially with their consistency defensively. D’Antoni said the contenders will improve and that needs to be the emphasis in the 25-game stretch run to the playoffs. But with the Rockets holding a half-game lead on the Warriors, they said the chase for the best record is not their primary motivation. The top seed is something they want but do not need as much as to be playing at a championship level when the postseason begins.
“I don’t think we use the record (as motivation),” D’Antoni said. “The Warriors drive everybody because they’re the champions. It’s always that way. Even if we were three games ahead, we’d still try to win as many games as we can. That (the race with the Warriors) doesn’t come into players’ psyche. We’d love to finish first, knowing that’s hard. Then, obviously, you watch the Warriors’ games because they’re the closest ones to us.
“You know the team you face later on in the playoffs is not the same as now. Regular season means a lot, just for home-court advantage. But it doesn’t mean everything. We don’t have that competition, yet. If we get there, we have to be as good as they are, and they’re good. You just try to get the best position you can get. We never talked about the Warriors, and I don’t think they ever talked about us. Nobody is ready for that, yet. But we would love to be the No. 1 team, without a doubt.”
‘Peaks and valleys’
The Warriors would have set an NBA record for holding the top record at the All-Star break for four consecutive seasons, but the Rockets made up five games in a month to pass them. Kevin Durant said the Warriors will not use the pursuit of the best record as a motivation. With losses in four of eight games before the break, the Warriors have more immediate concerns.
“There’s peaks and valleys through the season, so we’re not really concerned with the record,” Durant said. “When you’re trying to win a championship, it’s all about how you’re playing at the moment. We have to get better. Every other team probably sees that the same way.
“The best record? That’s not even a thing. I’m sure that’s not a thing for Houston. It’s about playing good basketball every single night. If we don’t play good basketball, we’ll lose. It’s not even about the record.”
The Rockets have a 10-game winning streak and a sense of what they can accomplish, even if they will have just one All-Star.
“They should have four. They’re the world championships,” D’Antoni said. “But we should have two, at least.”