Crunch time finds Harden failing to live up to duel with LeBron
Oft criticized for what he has yet to accomplish — an NBA championship is the only item missing from his résumé — James Harden doesn’t get as much credit for being one of the smartest basketball players on the planet.
The Rockets’ guard dominates games with his mind as much as with his deadly step-back, 3-point shooting.
Of course, the Lakers have a player in LeBron James who is as intelligent as any to have ever played the game.
The beauty of the playoffs is the best teams get to lock in on each other
for a best-of-seven dance. Star players like Harden and James can turn the dance into a personal showcase.
Tuesday night, they put on a show, going as head-to-head as possible without guarding each other. For three quarters.
After handling the ball and running their teams to near perfection, the NBA’s two best floor generals had 12 minutes to settle the dance-off.
But the star power gave way to Rajon Rondo, who came off the Lakers’ bench to score 21 points and dish out nine assists to help lift Los Angeles to a 112-102 win in Game 3.
The game was tied through three quarters, following one of the most entertaining halves we have seen in the NBA bubble. The Lakers put together a 10-0 run that started when Harden was getting a rest.
The Rockets never recovered. “I think our legs got a little tired,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said after his team went from 62 points in the first half to just 18 in the third quarter and 20 in the fourth, a third of which was in garbage time.
“We weren’t in attack mode,” Harden said.
The Rockets now trail in the
series 2-1 because of their failure to attack in the fourth quarter.
Sunday, Houston had a twopoint lead entering the final period but was outscored by 10. In the first game of the series, the Rockets ran away from Los Angeles when Harden was on the bench to start the fourth.
Clearly, the Rockets should reconsider their playing-time rotation, as they simply aren’t the same team without Harden on the floor. Their season might depend on it.
The last thing a coach wants to do is change what has worked so often, and it is standard for Harden to get a brief rest to start the fourth quarter, But there isn’t much margin for error in this series. Those minutes at the start of the fourth have been crucial.
Harden played 38 minutes and messed around and almost got a triple-double with 33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. That wasn’t enough.
Harden scored just two free throws in the fourth quarter until he hit a 3-pointer in the final minute when the game was out of reach.
On Sunday, his first basket in the fourth came after a two-point lead had become a 12-point deficit.
That is nowhere near good enough to beat the top-seeded Lakers.
After a sterling first half, the
Rockets lost their offensive flow when the Lakers picked up the pressure. James blocking several shots had a lot to do with that as well.
Houston committed five turnovers in the first half of the fourth quarter. It was the same number they had in the first three quarters combined.
The 35-year-old James poured in 36 points to go with seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Then Rondo provided a spark.
A four-time all-star who helped Boston win the 2008 championship, Rondo scored eight straight points during the Lakers’ fourth-quarter run.
After breaking his thumb in July, Rondo didn’t play in the Lakers’ eight games in the bubble before the playoffs began or in the first-round series win over
Portland but has shined in Los Angeles’ two wins against the Rockets.
With Rondo leading the way, the Lakers’ bench outscored the Rockets’ reserves 42-16, a number affected by the absence of Danuel House Jr., who missed the game for personal reasons.
The pace was furious for the first 24 minutes but as is often the case with playoff games, the teams settled down.
When they did, the Rockets couldn’t return to their energetic early form.
Defense wasn’t poor as much as both teams were as sharp as they could be.
Good defense beats good offense, not great offense.
The Lakers, who scored 27 points off Houston turnovers in Game 2, didn’t have any points off Rockets’ miscues at the half.
Harden had 21 points six assists and no turnovers in the half. The assist total didn’t include the gorgeous toss off the glass to himself for an easy layup in the final seconds to give the Rockets a 64-61 edge at the break.
Harden had posted higherscoring halves, but he was close to perfect running the show.
That Harden wasn’t there in the fourth quarter, when the Rockets needed a boost.