Rockets end year with a win
Triple-double with 43 points, 13 assists gives team a December sweep at Toyota Center
The Grizzlies sent their traps and double teams, as so many have before them, trying to somehow stop the unstoppable.
Memphis coach J.B. Bickerstaff, the former Rockets coach, had seen James Harden defended in every way possible. He knew that, sometimes, nothing can be done, that no strategy, no game plan can be enough.
If not, Harden demonstrated what unstoppable looks like, backing up to 32 feet to drill a 3-pointer, then beating the halftime buzzer with another, dominating again until the Rockets finished off the Grizzlies 113-101 on Monday night at Toyota Center for their fifth straight win and their 10th in 11 games.
The Rockets’ ninth-consecutive home win gave them a clean sweep of their December schedule at Toyota Center,
sending them back to Oracle Arena for the latest rematch with the Warriors tied for fourth in the Western Conference.
Yet, as dramatically as the Rockets had turned around their season, they were still buzzing about the way Harden finished the first half on his way to the NBA record books.
“It’s ridiculous,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He has a mastery of the game.
“I don’t know how you get any better than what he’s playing. Defensively, too. He comes up with steals, triple-double like it’s nothing. So yeah, he’s playing at a different level.”
Harden had his fourth consecutive game scoring at least 40 points, his 10th straight with at least 30, finishing with 43 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his fourth triple-double of the season.
He is the third player in the past 30 years – joining Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant – to score 400 points in a span of 10 games.
Harden’s eighth consecutive game with at least 35 points and five assists is the longest streak in NBA history, breaking the record he shared with Oscar Robertson.
Along the way, he added to the jaw-dropping list of moments with the back-to-back 3s that no defense can take away, short of swinging a twoby-four.
“Two-for-one. Two opportunities to get shots off. I was going to shoot them for sure,” Harden said. “I didn’t really care where I was. I wanted to get a shot off. Felt good. Looked good. Went in.”
Perhaps things have gotten that simple, to become a matter of choice even against a defense determined to have him surrounded. Yet, as Harden piled on the points with just eight field goals, the first player to ever reach 40 points on eight or fewer made shots, he had to demonstrate more than his scorching hot left hand.
He began the game passing out of the doubleteams, setting up teammates for open 3s. They missed early, but when Gerald Green dropped in his first three 13 seconds after getting on the floor, the Rockets began nailing shots left open by the traps.
Harden began drawing fouls and hitting his stepbacks. But with Eric Gordon’s bruised knee keeping him out of a backcourt already depleted by the injury to Chris Paul, Harden sat for less than two minutes in the second half,s having watched the Grizzlies rush through an 8-0 run when he was out.
When he seemed to tire, Harden beat the Grizzlies with the other part of his game, drawing foul after foul until he put up 27 free throws, matching Sleepy Floyd’s franchise record, and hitting 21 of them, one shy of his career high. That made him so impossible to defend, after hitting those heaves to end the first half, that Harden made just one shot the rest of the night and still had 15 points with five assists and five rebounds in the second half.
“I’m just being aggressive, man,” Harden said. “I’m in attack mode. They tried to shake some things up and run a double team at me. I did a poor job of … controlling the basketball, basically giving them transition points by (nine) turnovers. I have to take care of the ball more, but just continue to be aggressive and make plays for my team.”
When he needed help with the Grizzlies within 10 with 5 ½ minutes left, Austin Rivers set up Green for his season-high sixth 3-pointer and then finished a drive. Harden dropped in a few more free throws, and the Rockets never seemed seriously threatened. Instead, they had clearly demonstrated how things turned around.
“He’s playing unbelievable, as we all know,” Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said. “Even tonight, I thought we did a great job, but he still had 43. He’s an unbelievable talent. He’s MVP for a reason.”