Harden belatedly joins Rockets in Orlando, Fla.
Quarantine required before joining team
The Rockets’ restart to the NBA season soon will include star guard James Harden.
Harden arrived Tuesday at the NBA’s Florida campus to begin his quarantine period at the team’s hotel. The Rockets posted a video on the team’s Twitter account of Harden arriving Tuesday evening, five days after most of the team made the trip to Orlando.
The team has not specified a reason for the delays of Harden, Russell Westbrook or Luc Mbah a Moute, but Westbrook announced Monday he had tested positive for COVID-19.
Harden will need time to rejoin the team on the practice court. He will have to quarantine in his hotel room at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex until he has two more negative tests for the virus, with the tests given at least 24 hours apart.
With a COVID-19 test administered upon his arrival Tuesday evening, Harden can receive two additional tests in time to prac
tice with the Rockets on Thursday evening.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association announced Monday that 19 players tested positive for COVID-19 in home market testing that began July 1. Players with positive tests were not identified.
Coach Mike D’Antoni said Tuesday he did not have an updated timetable for when the Rockets would be whole, but Harden’s arrival offered a tangible reminder of his belief they soon will be.
“I really thought that was the case all along,” D’Antoni said. “This is one step closer to getting back to full strength. We’re excited. We’re excited about the journey. Today, we’re one step closer to that.”
The Rockets on Tuesday held their fourth summer camp practice shorthanded but described that situation as temporary and called the workout their most demanding and best since they were cleared to practice Saturday.
“It changes a little bit,” D’Antoni said of the shorthanded practices. “Defensively, it shouldn’t change anything. Offensively, sure we’re going to play off those two guys (Harden and Westbrook) mostly. Getting Eric (Gordon) in the groove and getting him going is very important. And also getting the other guys to be able to maybe even have more opportunities these days.
“We’ll adjust when we insert each one back in there. It’s a good adjustment, though. Basketball’s basketball. We’ll do it a different way with them. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
During the Rockets’ first extended
scrimmage time of the four sessions so far, playing without Harden or Westbrook to trigger the offense led to adjustments. But even with those absences, there was a look at the bright side that for whatever encouraging signs could come from good workouts so far, integrating the coming reinforcements will add more.
“It’s an adjustment playing without James and Russ right now, which is a lot of our offense,” guard Austin Rivers said. “It’ll be an even bigger adjustment when they come down here. But it’s actually nice in some ways, because the energy is so high right now. I imagine for most teams, Thursday, by Friday, the energy sort of goes down because of a lot of practices in a row. But when we get James and Russ, it’s going to be a whole jolt of energy having them back.
“Those are two of the top five
players in the NBA. They make the game very, very easy.”
Even without their MVP backcourt, the Rockets considered Tuesday’s practice especially encouraging, with more scrimmaging than in the initial workouts and added confidence they could continue to step things up.
“We played a lot more five-onfive, which was really the first day we got into it,” D’Antoni said. “So it was good. They had three days of ramping up, and then (Tuesday) we went after it pretty hard. Not long five-on-five. But I thought it was really good. I thought the defensive intensity was super.
“We had a lot of guys (look good). Defense is mostly a team thing, so the intensity was good from everybody, both teams. When we got to scrimmaging, probably Eric Gordon jumped out. He was bombing it. Looked really good. (Robert) Covington looked good as usual. Just a lot of guys.”
Though it remains uncertain when Westbrook and Mbah a Moute will join them, the Rockets could have just one more practice without Harden. D’Antoni said he would be cautious about working his late-arriving players into the mix but also said there is ample time to prepare. The first of the Rockets’ eight “seeding” games is July 31, and the playoffs begin Aug. 17.
“When they come in, we’ll work them in as gradually as they need to be, and then hopefully by the first of the eight games, we’ll be good to go,” D’Antoni said. “If not, definitely by the playoffs.”
As well as the afternoon’s practice went, Harden’s Tuesday evening arrival brought a significant step in that direction.