Left stinging in Charlotte
Rockets once again hitch their playoff hopes to Harden, who has been struggling as of late
Hornets never trail in extending losing streak to three.
Kawhi Leonard was the best player on the court.
Russell Westbrook was the sharpest and strongest Rocket, and the one player in red who refused to quit.
James Harden only hit four of his 17 field-goal attempts, missed all eight of his 3-pointers and was held to just 16 points on national television Thursday night, during a home blowout defeat that featured his team trailing the second-best team in the Western Conference by 30 points.
Breaking news: Harden still leads the NBA in scoring.
By more than four points per game in 2019-20. For the third consecutive season, overall.
But what began as the best season of Harden’s 11-year career has become an oddly uneven one, at times. And the franchise face of the Rockets must be more efficient, intense and relentless on the hardwood if his team is going to find some way to the top of the NBA in June.
Follow the leader is still a thing in 2020.
From Dwight Howard and Kevin McHale to Mike D’Antoni, Chris Paul and Westbrook, Harden has been the Rockets’ leader — for better and worse. During a disappointing 120-105 loss to Leonard’s Los Angeles Clippers inside Toyota Center, Harden appeared disinterested at key points in the contest, and oncourt frustration was evident.
It was the same look during January, when he shot just 35.5 percent from the floor, and the Rockets underachieved heading into a season-changing trade deadline. It’s a view that has randomly reappeared during the playoffs since 2013, forcing the Rockets to keep spinning the same big wheel in the hope that everything will finally click at once at the perfect time.
“Everybody does,” D’Antoni said Friday before practice at Toyota Center, referring to his players finding a way to play through on-court frustration. “More so our big (stars), because they have the ball a lot. Definitely everybody has to get to the point where they dig a deep breath and then battle through it.”
Harden being Harden, he’ll probably pour in 50 points and sink eight 3-pointers Sunday against Orlando back on his home court.
The Rockets’ upcoming schedule is favorable. As long as you forget that they just lost to the 19-44 Knicks and trailed New
York by 21 points. And fell 108-99 to Charlotte on Saturday in another depressing stinker. Harden recorded game-highs in points (30) and assists (14) but only hit 8-of-22 shots and was just 2-of-11 on 3s. The Rockets have now dropped three straight games, including two against teams with a combined 41-85 record.
For years, Harden has been the best player in the NBA at making nightly Twitter critics looks like social-media idiots by the next game.
“It’s a learning experience for us (on) both ends of the ball,” Harden said Thursday night, sticking to the public optimism that has become his calling card during recent seasons. “We’ve got 21 games left to prepare ourselves for the bigger picture, so we’ll watch film (Friday), get better and be ready to go next game.”
I have praised Harden so many times. He's an eight-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA selection, former Sixth Man of the Year and deserves a couple more regular-season MVPs than the one he already owns.
Like 98 percent of Rockets fans, I have also criticized Harden a ton since his debut season in red, mostly in the hope that the most talented scorer in The Association will lift his individual game and his team to an elite level reserved for lasting greatness.
Right now, Harden needs more Westbrook.
If Harden is going to say he is the best — better than Giannis Antetokounmpo, who leads the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks; better than LeBron James, who is paired with Anthony Davis on the West-leading Los Angeles Lakers — then he must finally back the talk up when it truly matters.
Especially during a season when another Rockets coach’s job is on the line and the team has been reconstructed to get the best out a Harden-Westbrook pairing that averages an incredible 62.1 points, 14.4 rebounds, 14.3 assists and 3.3 steals per game.
The last time the Rockets were knocked out of the playoffs on their home court by a beat-up Golden State squad, I followed that second-round letdown with this column: “James Harden baffles with his checkered career.”
D’Antoni sat silent on a stage with his head buried in his hands.
Owner Tilman Fertitta drew a dividing line in the concrete. Chris Paul was traded, and Westbrook was acquired. Eventually, Clint Capela was traded, the Rockets went all-in on a crazy little thing called small ball … and now we’re here.
Westbrook started slow, then began playing with nightly fire. Harden burned the nets at the beginning of this season — averaging a ridiculous 39.5 points in November and 37.3 points on 48.1 percent shooting in December
— then slammed into a cold January wall.
February was the first month that The Beard and Brodie powerfully attacked at the same time. Like clockwork, the Rockets rose to within sight of second place in the West.
But Harden is shooting just 42.7 percent from the field and 32.1 percent on 3s since the AllStar break, and he entered Saturday in another anti-MVP slump.
He was just 7-of-24 at Boston, with 17 of his attempts 3s, and nearly shot the Rockets out of a nationally televised overtime win. He then went 8-of-22 at Madison Square Garden, while only connecting on 3 of his 13 3-point attempts. Against the significantly more intense and focused Clippers, a mid-second quarter stretch captured the Rockets’ woeful off night.
The home team pulled within nine. Then Harden gave the ball to ex-teammate Patrick Beverley, had a layup blocked by Leonard, missed a 28-foot 3, missed two free throws and lost another ball to Leonard.
It was 60-37 Los Angeles.
Turn out the lights and go home early. Or keep watching a numbing replay of an inexplicable letdown we’ve seen so many times in this era.
When the nets are scorching, they’re the most unguardable team in the NBA. When the defense is falling apart, opponents are constantly getting what they want and Houston’s maddening professional basketball squad is underperforming.
Maybe this time, the face of the Rockets will peak at the right time, then overpower all in the playoffs that define.