Harden won’t discuss injury
if James Harden does not talk about being hurt he will not get hurt.
That seemed to be the juju Harden hoped to conjure Tuesday, when he remained mum about the severity of his sore left shoulder. He would not elaborate on how much discomfort he feels or how it could affect his performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.
His stoicism and coach
Mike D’Antoni’s “we’ll see” shrug suggest Harden will make the call, which means he likely will gut through the pain and decline the extra rest before the upcoming All-Star break.
“If he comes to the arena, he’s playing,” D’Antoni said after Monday’s win, in which Harden showed signs of discomfort. “He knows his body. He can go through this. He’s fine.”
Stemming from a collision with Thunder center
Steven Adams on Saturday, Harden’s shoulder discomfort prevented him from doing his usual shooting routine for two days.
D’Antoni suggested that had interrupted Harden’s rhythm and led to his rusty shooting performance Monday.
“You always think about it during the game,” D’Antoni said Tuesday at practice. “As you’re going up, there’s always a little something in your mind. It did bother him. How much? No idea, but he still got 31 (points).”
Paul shrugs off ‘totally back’
After declaring that
Chris Paul looked fully restored in the Rockets’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, coach Mike D’Antoni said the point guard looked even better in Monday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Paul scored 17 points and recorded 11 assists without committing a turnover in 29 minutes.
“He’s totally back,” D’Antoni said Tuesday. “Single-handedly, he can turn a game around with either defense or rebounding or hitting shots.”
Paul downplayed the significance, suggesting he would rather the world not question his health.
“Appreciate it, Coach,” he said when informed of D’Antoni’s assessment. “I feel fine. I felt pretty good in the OKC game and who we played (Sacramento) before that.”
The hamstring injury, which caused Paul to miss 17 games, appears to be behind him. He has averaged 15.7 points, eight assists, 2.3 steals and 45.5 percent shooting in the seven games since his return. James Harden expects that resting during the All-Star break and regaining Clint Capela (thumb) after the break will put Paul in a position to up his game again.
“Once we get our pieces together and get guys healthy and on the same page,” Harden said, “he’ll look even better.”
D’Antoni is relying on a full-strength Paul to conPerhaps tinue chipping away at Harden’s league-leading minutes rate of 37.4. The coach would prefer Harden play 35 minutes and Paul to continue being a reason.
“That’s how we have to play,” D’Antoni said.
Green thrives as effort rises
After a mid-January slump, Gerald Green has shot his way back to reliability in February.
He scored 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting in 22 minutes in Monday’s win over the Mavericks.
He has been remarkably efficient lately. Over the past five games, Green has averaged 17 points, 50.9 percent on field goals and 47.4 percent on 3s.
He also averaged the second-most points-per-possession on the team, after league-leading scorer James Harden.
“If he can play a little more defense, get a little more rebounds, then he’ll get more time,” coach
Mike D’Antoni said. “He gets more time, he’s gonna score. It’s all predicated on him being active defensively and on the boards. Otherwise, he can’t get his shots up, because he can’t shoot from the bench.”
D’Antoni was most encouraged Monday by Green’s effort level, evinced by his matching his season high of six rebounds. The Rockets, who rank 29th in defensive rebound percentage, need all the effort they can get.
“He got six rebounds. That’s what we need from him,” D’Antoni said. “He’s gonna go off. He’s gonna get some points. I was happy with him.
“I’ll leave him in there until he gets on that hot streak, because he’ll eventually get there. He’s got to be able to work his way to that.”