Harden displaying no signs of slowdown near season’s end
As Denver coach Michael Malone described the Nuggets’ ongoing injury issues, with forward Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler out, he stopped to marvel at James Harden’s durability. Harden has not missed a game, other than for a one-game suspension, in the past three seasons, and Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said he has not missed a practice.
“That’s why I respect James Harden so much,” Malone said. “He wants to play. You have to respect the hell out of that. They have the No. 3 seed fairly firmly established, but he’s a competitor, he’s an old-school player, he wants to play, he loves to play.”
Harden said Monday he has had no issues in the days following his hard fall Saturday in Denver, but his left wrist was wrapped for Monday’s shootaround.
“I just wanted to look good,” Harden said.
Harden did not leave Saturday’s game. He made three of his final eight shots and four of his five free throws after he landed hard on the court trying to block Mason Plumlee’s shot. He finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the first player in league history to have 40-point tripledoubles on consecutive nights, and said he has no intention of taking games off when healthy.
“I’m a hooper,” Harden said. “I just want to hoop. I’ll rest when I’m done. I feel like my teammates and organization need me to go out there and do what I do. I get obviously paid for it, but it’s something I love. I enjoy the grind. I enjoy how hard it is. I think that makes you tougher. That makes you who you are.”
Harden added he does not want D’Antoni to order him to take a break.
“Mike knows not to come at me with that,” Harden said.
Entering Monday, Harden’s average of 36.5 minutes per game ranked eighth in the NBA and was the fewest in his five seasons with the Rockets.
Former assistant happy in Denver
Nuggets assistant coach Chris Finch ,a Rockets assistant for five seasons, made his first trip to Toyota Center since leaving the Rockets after last season, happy with a place coaching a team on the rise while keeping the lessons from last season’s dysfunction in Houston.
“The trials and tribulations of last year are well documented,” Finch said. “It’s good to see the Rockets back playing at a high level. Having been in the game 20 years, you’ve pretty much seen it all at that point, but I think chemistry and philosophically, everybody being on the same page, that’s to me what is so important right now.
“It feels good to be back. Don’t find it awkward in any way. We have a lot of young players, play the right way, share the ball. They’ve gotten better as the season’s gone along. We have a lot to play for. The playoffs would be really big for us.”
Finch worked extensively with James Harden during his Rockets tenure, especially in recognizing defenses and ways to attack them.
“The evolution of James’ problem-solving through his career, there’s not a defense or coverage he hasn’t seen,” Finch said. “Now, he’s so proficient at attacking. Just to watch that over time, it’s a credit to him. He’s such a smart player to continue to adapt and thrive and play his best basketball of his career.”
Tough lesson for Nuggets
Few teams did a better job than Denver last season to avoid reaching in on James Harden and allowing him to draw fouls.
Among Western Conference teams, only the Spurs sent Harden to the line less last season than the Nuggets. But Harden took 17 free throws Saturday in Denver, twice catching the Nuggets reaching as he prepared to shoot 3s, leading Denver coach Mike Malone to reinforce his directives on defending the player who draws the most fouls in the NBA.
“You have to do a great job to defend with your feet and your chest and show your hands,” Malone said. “That’s what we tell our guys. We lost the game at the free-throw line last game. You have to have a lot more discipline showing your hands.
“You have to have discipline. I think for us, it’s tough because we’re playing two rookies, Juancho Hernangomez and Jamal Murray. Those guys are 19, 20 years old. They’re going to make more mistakes the first time. You tell them, ‘Don’t touch that stove, it’s hot. Don’t touch that stove, it’s hot.’ Then, they touch the stove. Oh, it is hot. Juancho got caught twice. Jamal got caught on Lou Williams. That’s where the discipline comes in and creating proper habits. These are opportunities to hammer that home.”