Slump comes to an emphatic end
Harden shakes off recent offensive doldrums by scoring 38 points in a scintillating display
James Harden finished his drive through the strength of the Wizards’ defense, his mastery of an opponent seeking nothing more than to stop him having returned in full force. From the opening minutes Tuesday night, Harden seemed to know it, but now it was certain to anyone paying attention, most of all the legend in his usual courtside seat.
Harden headed back toward the other end, giving Hakeem Olajuwon a long look when Olajuwon suddenly busted out laughing, with Harden returning a smile as they shared more than a punch line. After Harden had slogged through a few home games then struggled in San Antonio on Sunday, he seemed to decide that was enough, powering the Rockets to a 120-104 romp past a Wizards team that he made look powerless to stop him.
Recognizing the feeling, Olajuwon delivered a message.
“He said it looked too easy,”
Harden said after some prodding. “He probably felt the same way when he was playing.”
Harden had slowed down since his similar demolition of the Trail Blazers in Portland on March 20. Harden had 42 points that night, finishing a third consecutive road game with a late dagger 3-pointer and making 5 of 7 3s.
In his next five games, he made 37 of 99 shots, including just 6 of 40 3-pointers. When the Rockets finished with a season-low 83 points Sunday in San Antonio, he wasn’t going to stand for a repeat.
“I was just being aggressive,” Harden said. “Didn’t want to have a repeat of what happened on Sunday. Kind of came out a little sluggish, they put the pressure on us and we didn’t want to allow that to happen again.”
Variety of moves
Against the Wizards, Harden made 12 of 18 shots, including 5 of 8 3-pointers, scoring his 38 points in 24 minutes and adding 10 rebounds and nine assists. Beyond the numbers, from the opening minutes, he was able to choose how he wanted to attack, starting with a drive to a layup, shifting into playmaker mode with a series of passes to Clint Capela and then alternating one-on-one attacks off the dribble and step-back 3s.
“Well, I had a feeling,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said when asked if he could tell Harden was about to go off on Tuesday. “Just watched him for two years. You know he’s not going to have too many bad games. It’s just a matter of time. That’s just who he is. He’s just too good.”
Harden’s 24-point first half was all the Wizards needed to see to retool their defense to get the ball out of his hands. The Rockets went from making 13 of 41 shots in the first half against the Spurs and 13 of 42 in the first half against the Suns to making 24 of 43 (55.8 percent) against the Wizards, taking a 71-49 lead with their fifth 70-point first half of the season.
After that, the Wizards began trapping Harden on high screens and the Rockets got the ball to Capela, P.J. Tucker and Nene in the middle to let them find the shooters left open when Washington sent two defenders to deal with Harden.
The Rockets cooled off for a bit, but in a game with nothing at stake there was value to letting the big men handle that defense before they see it in the postseason.
Practice within a game
“It’s good, especially to get prepared for the playoffs, Capela said. “It’s good to work on it, just be ready to find the next guy open or finish at the basket. I think it will benefit us to get a chance to work on it now, so it won’t be something new in during the playoffs when it’s going to really count.”
That was all the result of way Harden had returned to dominance. If that was forgotten, when the Rockets’ 24-point lead was down to 13 in the fourth quarter, he drilled consecutive step-back 3s around a slick Bradley Beal reverse and then hit Tomas Satoransky with a series of crossover dribbles until he was at the rim for a 3-point play. With nine points in 75 seconds, Harden pushed the lead back to 20 and left no doubt about how the Rockets picked up their 19th consecutive win.
“It was a great player playing special,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “He had everything going. We tried switching. We tried trapping. We tried everything on him.”