Harden’s job: keeping Rockets cohesive
— James Harden did everything he had planned before the game began, but as he headed out the door, he knew there was one task to complete from the bus.
He had made sure Ryan Anderson put up plenty of 3s to shoot his way far past any lingering rust from his layoff. He got the ball to Clint Capela at the rim. He triple-doubled his way past the Kings, taking the Rockets to an 135-128 win in which they never felt threatened.
But word had spread about Russell Westbrook’s day in Denver and Harden wanted to show respect.
“I’m going to text him when get on the bus,” Harden said of Westbrook’s NBA record 42nd triple-double, capped with a game-winning 3-pointer
the buzzer to give him 50 points. “That’s big time, man. I won’t be hating.”
He also will not concede the MVP. While praising Westbrook his place in the record
Harden moved back pace to break another NBA record. Harden scored or had the assist on 72 points Sunday, pushing his average of points produced to 59 per game and on pace to break the NBA record Nate Archibald has held since 1972. He is 11 assists away from becoming the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 900 assists and 600 rebounds.
“I think he’s made his case already,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Judge the whole package. He’s as good as you can get.”
Yet, the Rockets’ argument was not about any of those statistics or achievements. They pointed to the team’s 54 wins, putting them eight games in front of the Thunder with two games left before their firstround playoff series begins next weekend. It was an argu- ment that Harden admitted he found most compelling.
“I thought winning was what this is about,” Harden said. “Period. I’m not going to get into depths on that, but I thought winning is the most important thing. If you set your team up to have a chance at the ultimate goal, that’s the most important thing.”
The Rockets’ win Sunday, ragged as it was along the way, was a good example. With 35 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds, Harden had his 21st triple-double of the season, his NBA-leading 62nd game with a double-double and his 11th game with at least 15 assists.
With the Rockets scoring so easily, they did little to stop the Kings on the other end. They still led by as much as 22 because their offense casu- ally dominated from start to finish, even with Nene, Eric Gordon and Trevor Ariza sitting out for late-season rest.
At this stage of the season, with the first-round matchup set, the only goals were to remain healthy and be sharp.
With that in mind, Anderson could put a check on the list, making 6 of 8 3-pointers, backing up to 30 feet to add a degree of difficulty, to score 21 points in 23minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Capela returned after his night off Friday and made all eight of his shots, scoring 18 points in 24 minutes.
Most of all, while Westbrook soared in Denver, Harden answered, with teammates arguing he did whatever necessary to make sure the Rockets won.
“You can’t argue anything against Russ Westbrook,” Anderson said. “He’s having an unbelievable season. James does it within the context of our scheme. He doesn’t do anything extra to try to take over the game on his own unless he has to or unless it’s the right thing for our group.
“He’s just had a knack of leading us, making the right play all the time.”
Harden called Westbrook’s record “a hu ge accomplishment” and breaking Archibald’s record “just a great individual stat.”
“It’s my job to go out there and try to get my teammates involved, try to build their confidence to where ... everybody’s feelinggood,” Harden said. “If my teammates aren’t feeling good ... we won’t go far. That’s my job every night.
“I know I’ve done enough.”