Harden a ‘horror’ to defend
DENVER — Nuggets coach Michael Malone laughed off the idea that he might come up with “a new wrinkle” to defend Rockets guard James Harden. Beyond the impossibility of that, Malone said coming up with a defensive game plan for the league’s top scorer is the most difficult of his tenure in the NBA.
“Yeah, a new wrinkle,” Malone said. “I think he’s seen every single conceivable defensive coverage and he demands that kind of attention. He’s a great player. I’ve been in the league 19 years and no disrespect to all the other great players in those 19 years, but he’s, I think, the toughest guy to prepare for.
“He can hit the 3. He gets to the foul line a ton. He makes his teammates better. He can create his own shot. If you want to force him left, he’s going to beat you. If you want to force him right, he can still beat you. He’s one of those guys when you’re watching film, it’s like you’re watching a horror movie.”
Harden leads the NBA in scoring, averaging nearly eight points more than the second-leading scorer Giannis Antetokounmpo after being held to 27 in Denver’s 105-95 victory Wednesday night. He leads in shots attempted, 3-pointers attempted and free throws attempted. His average of a career-high 14.2 free throw attempts makes defending without fouling the first line in most game plans regardless of the rest of the scheme used.
“He’s a master of drawing the foul,” Malone said. “They changed NBA rules because of James Harden, so you know he’s doing something right. You have to show your hands. You can’t get caught with your hand over the ball. He does a great job of drawing contract and raking the ball through. When he’s shooting 3s, you have to give him room to land. It’s a challenge.”
Nuggets change pace of play
The Nuggets have traditionally played extremely fast, a style that especially seemed to take advantage of playing home games at high altitude. They even have made a point to remind visiting teams that Pepsi Center is a mile high, with the altitude listed on the wall close to where the bus drops players off and now at both foul lines.
But with an offense that revolves around the passing of 284-pound center Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets have played at the slowest pace in the league.
“Everybody’s got to play at the pace they play well at,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Pace is also dependent on the other teams you play. Maybe you’re trying to slow them. There is some truth they might be playing a little bit slower.”
In recent seasons, the Rockets played at a faster pace than the statistics would have indicated because their switching defensive style slowed games overall. The Nuggets, however, play at the fifth-slowest pace in the league after made baskets and the slowest pace after missed baskets, according to inpredictable.com.
The Rockets play at the third-fastest pace overall, the second-fastest after made baskets.
Defensive plans don’t faze Jokic
Though the Rockets had generally had more success against Nuggets star Nikola Jokic than most, coach Mike D’Antoni was not ready to believe that was from anything they had done, at least not before facing the Denver center on Wednesday.
He even described Jokic the way he often does James Harden, including the idea that Jokic’s success is generally not impacted by the defense played against him.
“He does what he wants to do,” D’Antoni said. “You try to make it hard for him. You try not to foul him. But he’s a great player. He’s going to do what he does.
“Same as James. I don’t care what they do to James. He has a good game, it’s because of him. He has a bad game, it’s because of James.
“There’s a few players that are that special, it just depends on him.”