Harden scores 44 in win over Pacers
Star’s 44 points, including 17 in fourth quarter, pave the way for sixth consecutive victory
Though the meeting of the Rockets and Pacers might have seemed to have begun as a clash of teams similarly shorthanded, with both missing a starting guard and center and their sixth man, it really was not.
The Pacers lost their leading scorer, Malcolm Brogdon, along the way to a sore back. But that too was not why the Rockets’ advantage was too significant for the Pacers to overcome.
The Rockets had James Harden and that meant more than the 44 points he scored or even the 17 he piled up in the fourth quarter, matching his average in the fourth quarter this week.
The Rockets needed all that,
but they surged past the Pacers, 111-102, on Friday nearly as much because of the offense they built off the threat of Harden.
From Ben McLemore, who started a second consecutive game with Danuel House Jr. out, scoring a season-high 21 points, to Russell Westbrook knocking down his only 3-pointer with three minutes left, the Rockets took the open 3s created by traps on Harden, getting just enough to finish off their sixth consecutive win.
“It’s the right play to make,” Harden said. “You get two on the ball, that’s what you want. You want to create an advantage on offense. When teams are doubling, putting two on the basketball, be a willing passer to the guys and have them make the play. Russ made a big 3. Ben was active. Austin (Rivers) had a couple good drives. Guys are really confident.”
The Clippers used the same tactic in the second half Wednesday. Though House could return from his bruised back in the coming days, with Eric Gordon out until late December, the Rockets could see similar strategies often.
Before his late 3-pointer, the only 3 he hit in six attempts, Westbrook increasingly attacked the rim, seeming to find his opportunities more as the game progressed.
“I mean, you just got to figure it out,” Westbrook said. “That’s about it. It (his play down the stretch) was all right.”
McLemore’s play, however, was especially vital. With the Pacers rallying back from a 10point deficit in the third quarter, when they made 58.8 percent of their shots and the Rockets misfired from deep, McLemore had 10 points, going 3-of-7 on 3s while the rest of the Rockets made just one of seven attempts from deep.
Nearly all of his points came off double teams on Harden. When the Pacers adjusted to run a defender at McLemore, he attacked the close out, drawing a sixth foul on T.J. Warren. Though Warren struggled, that was significant with Brogdon going out with the Pacers already without Myles Turner and Jeremy Lamb, unavailable with sprained ankles, with star Victor Oladipo rehabbing last season’s knee injury.
“I just try to fill in the open space,” McLemore, who made six of his 13 shots, said. “Obviously, when I set the screen, both defenders go to him. I go to the open space. He does a good job of finding me.”
That was not quite enough, however. While McLemore could make up for much of the void left by the injuries to Gordon and House, Tyson Chandler had to fill in for Clint Capela, who sat out with a concussion.
Though Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni wanted to keep Chandler to roughly 16 minutes, giving second-year center Isaiah Hartenstein his first playing time of the season, Chandler played 25 minutes, helping to keep Domantas Sabonis to 18 points.
All that was left was for Harden to provide the familiar finishing kick. After scoring 19 in the fourth quarter in New Orleans and 18 against the Clippers, he had 17 in the fourth quarter on Friday in a game he might have had as much impact when he gave up the ball.
“All he got was 44,” D’Antoni said. “He’s going to get his. He got other guys shots, also.”