Playoffs are a done deal
Paul, Gordon lead the charge in Harden’s absence as team clinches postseason berth
DALLAS — When James Harden walks out to his front yard Monday morning, picks up his newspaper and flips to the NBA standings, he will see a small asterisk next to the Rockets’ name on top of the Western Conference standings.
He won’t see his name in the box score. Harden sat out the 105-82 romp in Dallas on Sunday that clinched the Rockets’ playoff spot, a sore left knee enough to give him what Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni called a ‘rest’ day. But there was no champagne celebration for assuring something that seemed certain before the first bead of the sweat of the season.
“We have a little bit higher as-
pirations than the playoffs,” D’Antoni said with a laugh.
Those immediate goals include finishing ahead of the Warriors for the NBA’s best record. With the Golden State loss on Sunday, the Rockets opened a game-and-a-half lead and a two-game edge in the loss column. With the Rockets holding the tiebreaker, the Warriors would have to have three more wins in the final 16 games to pass them for the top seed.
“I’d much rather have that No. 1 seed,” Rockets guard Eric Gordon said of making the playoff spot official. “We just want to finish No. 1. I think that’s really the main goal.”
The Rockets messed around for a few secondquarter minutes, as if trying to strengthen Harden’s MVP case. They let a 15-point lead turn into a six-point deficit. Then they cranked up their focus to roll to a 26-point lead while seeming to work on strategies and styles as if the fourth quarter was no more than a useful practice.
“We were terrible,” Rockets forward P.J. Tucker said of the secondquarter stretch. “That’s why I almost hate when we get up early big. We lose focus and play sloppy. That put some fire in us to come out in the second half and get it back started.”
After committing eight turnovers leading to 13 Dallas points in the second quarter, the Rockets had two in the second half, with the Mavericks not scoring off a turnover again. Chris Paul, who averaged 22.4 points and 9.7 assists when Harden was out in January, and Gordon, who had averaged 21.1 points and 3.6 assists when filling in as a starter for Harden and Paul, each had 12 points in the third quarter.
They combined for 50 points with the Dallas starting backcourt of Yogi Ferrell and Dennis Smith Jr. combining for six.
By the fourth quarter, the Rockets seemed to shift their strategy to getting Joe Johnson and Gerald Green going, alternating between isolating Johnson (to the delight of Harden, who mimicked him with a shout of ‘Iso Joe”) and setting up Green for 3s.
“It was how they guarded,” Johnson said. “They have guys like two feet smaller than me guarding me. We just tried to take advantage of it. I just try to fit in with the system. This system is so fun and great; it allows you to be yourself. Sometimes, you want it so bad, you wet the bed.”
Johnson had struggled on Friday while coming back from a week out with an illness. Green was fighting it on Sunday. But they combined for 21 fourth-quarter points as the Rockets accomplished something greater than earning an asterisk.
“Very valuable,” D’Antoni said of Johnson’s increased playing time. “He gets his rhythm; you see what he can do. There’s so many different options. He can get you a basket. He can get you an iso basket if you need it. The guy sees the floor. He’s a playmaker. If we can get him comfortable and taking 3s, and I think we will, it’s just one more piece.
“It’s good to get Gerald back also. I haven’t played him a couple games. He started slow. You can get out of rhythm. Once he got a few minutes, he played well.”
The Rockets had their second consecutive season sweep of the Mavericks, which was roughly as certain as the playoff spot that came with it.
“It’s cool, but we still have a lot of work to do, a whole lot of work to do,” Paul said.