Rockets guards Paul and Harden are game ready
Harden, Paul determined to motivate each other to new heights
James Harden tried to hold back.
But the big beard began to move, his mouth opened wide, and a mischievous smile suddenly lit up the room.
“Naw. What’d they say?” said Harden, intentionally acting like he never heard, read or saw a single thing after the horror that was The Beard in Game 6.
It was funny. Cute. Perfectly timed and very well played.
Which made it the exact opposite of 114-75 San Antonio in a Western Conference semifinals season-ender that again forced us to immediately question everything we thought we knew about Harden.
“Obviously, I didn’t — I played terrible. … We’ve just got to get better. I won’t blame anybody else but myself, and that’s how I approach things,” Harden said during Monday’s annual Rockets media day at Toyota Center, looking back for the first time at the worst overall playoff performance of his career.
Four months after Harden capped off a near-
MVP season by going 2-of-11 with six turnovers and six fouls in a stunning no-show that left coach Mike D’Antoni dumbfounded and had Rockets fans booing like Brock Osweiler was in the building — Did I mention that Spurs star Kawhi Leonard didn’t even play and the Rockets were down 61-42 at halftime? — everything was new again Monday.
Cameras clicked, video screens zoomed in, and general manager Daryl Morey proclaimed the 2017-18 Rockets the best team he’s ever been involved with (even though they haven’t played a game).
And while Ryan Anderson walked into the room like a long-lost cartoon character — “Hey, everybody! How’s it going?” said Anderson, soon answering constant trade and contract questions — Carmelo Anthony was in Oklahoma City, still wearing his signature hoodie and teaming up with the triple-double machine who stole Harden’s MVP award.
Then CP3 took the stage — focused, determined, detailed — and I was instantly reminded why this season really could be different for Harden and the Rockets.
Chris Paul would have gotten in Harden’s face midway through the first quarter of Game 6.
Paul also would’ve been in the middle of it all at the end of Game 5, when the Rockets fell 110-107 to the Spurs in overtime, Harden’s tank hit empty at the absolute worst time, and his once resilient team blew a perfect shot to go up 3-2 in San Antonio with Tony Parker MIA.
Wasn’t a job for Superman
The Rockets got 56 wins in a single season out of Superman and Harden and reached the Western Conference finals in the duo’s second year. But I’d be lying if I said it ever felt like Dwight Howard and The Beard truly clicked. And everything that Howard struggled to do — push, reach, challenge his superstar teammate — Paul has long been a pro at.
“That’s what it’s about. The only way we can reach our full potential is pushing each other to a limit to where, you know, push him over the top,” Harden said. “Push him to where you can get the best out of him to where you need him to perform. Not only just for Chris but for our entire team, for our entire coaching staff, for our entire organization. That’s the only way we’re going to reach the level we want to.”
Twenty combined seasons into two careers that should eventually end up in the Basketball Hall of Fame, Harden and Paul have thus far always fallen short. Regular-season wizards flaming out in the first and second rounds. Annual All-Stars who, in the playoffs, have annually been attached to teams that just weren’t good enough.
Harden was the best he’s ever been in 2016-17: averages of 29.1 points, 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds in 81 tough games.
D’Antoni went 55-27 and turned Toyota Center into an electric open gym. Eric Gordon sacrificed at the start to end up as Sixth Man of the Year. Clint Capela lived off lobs, Anderson sank 204 3s … and it still wasn’t close to being enough.
Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and the superpower Warriors. Gregg Popovich. Game 6.
D’Antoni down to a battered seven-man rotation and a distant Harden exhausted again.
Paul has carried the weight and lived in the spotlight for more than a decade. In Year 13, the nine-time All-Star can push Harden further and harder than he’s ever been pushed.
Unique pairing
“It actually is the most different or unique duo that I’ve had the opportunity of playing with. … One thing I do know for sure is that they are both very competitive; they both want to win,” veteran forward Trevor Ariza said.
Monday was about Anderson’s being a Rocket again, Morey’s proudly touting his biggest experiment to date, and a fascinating new season starting a couple weeks too soon.
It could have been the first episode of The Beard, CP3 and Melo.
Now it’s just Harden and Paul. Two of the greatest point guards of the modern era, uniting on the same court in the same city with one shared goal.
To push each other further than they’ve ever been by themselves.