On a floor packed with stars, one shines the brightest
James Harden stood above Anthony Davis and kept staring at the fallen Laker.
The image said everything about Harden and his revived Rockets in Game 1.
Intensity. Passion. Total dominance.
This Harden can beat Los Angeles.
These Rockets can take down LeBron James and A.D.
Will it last? Check back next week, Houston.
But Harden was undeniably brilliant in Game 1 and clearly the best superstar on the hardwood. His team followed its renewed leader, absolutely dominating the
first battle in the Western Conference semifinals and taking a 112-97 victory Friday night inside the NBA’s Florida bubble.
“I’ve talked about it so much, how good he is. It’s just like, yeah, just another normal game for him, which is probably you can’t get much better than that,” said Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, referring to Harden standing out on both sides of the court against the West’s No. 1 seed. Swagger returned. Attacking was in, settling was out.
The last time the Rockets looked this sharp and strong in a big game? Chris Paul was running point and Harden’s crew was up 3-2 against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
The Rockets were united and inspiring in this Game 1.
The Lakers were bulldozed. By small ball.
With more than two minutes still left on the clock, Los Angeles benched James and Davis. There was nothing left for the Lakers to fight for Friday.
Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, P.J. Tucker, Robert Covington and Austin Rivers fed off Harden’s confidence and inner drive. And when the Rockets led by 19, everything else was just garbage time.
James and the Lakers became increasingly frustrated. Harden only got cooler, finishing with a game-high 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting, while the Rockets hit 48.1 percent of their field goals, 35.9 percent of their 3-pointers and outscored the much larger Lakers 42-40 in the paint.
Los Angeles started hot, taking a 7-0 lead. But small ball kept benefiting the Rockets. The Lakers forced interior passes that were deflected away, while the Rockets’ quick-fire offense soon put the West’s No. 4 seed up 15-14.
Harden started 100-percent sharper than he did during Game 7 against Oklahoma City, sinking four of his first seven shots and again playing with his trademark smoothness with the ball in hand.
The best scorer in the NBA only got hotter. The Rockets kept getting open looks and the shots they wanted. Harden kept firing and attacking, reaching 17 points with 7 minutes, 23 seconds still left in the first half.
The normal L.A. show was missing. Staples Center. Superstars, movie stars, pop stars. A national buzz that carried from California to Texas.
“It’s a little bit of a strange — playoffs you expect all the buzz and hype as soon as you walk in the building, but it isn’t there,” D’Antoni said. “But our players generate that. It’s still, once the ball goes up, I think it’s about the same. It’s unbelievable competition.”
Harden was unbelievable in the first half.
He stood out on defense, especially down low. On the scoring end, he was peerless on a loaded hardwood featuring James, Davis and Westbrook. The Beard was a highly efficient 7-of-11 from the floor, 2-of-3 on 3-pointers and sank nine of his 11 free-throw attempts. Add it all up: 25 points for No. 13 and a 63-55 halftime advantage for Harden’s highly confident squad.
The Rockets were in control and winning the first test of opposing styles. But for all their Game 1 strength, the Lakers continually remained within eight points and pulled within 78-76 as the fourth quarter approached.
The real takeover waited. The Rockets dug in and the Lakers fell back.
Westbrook drilled a 3 and cranked his intensity volume from 10 to 15.
Tucker fought for rebounds and refused to give a loose ball to James.
Davis shied away from the hard stuff inside the lane and settled for soft looks along the perimeter.
Maybe it took seven increasingly crazy and tight games against Paul’s Oklahoma City Thunder to wake the Rockets up.
Maybe Game 2 of this series will follow the script from the Lakers’ last series.
But the first battle was won by the better team. Because all the Rockets had to do was follow the best player on the court.