Harden flipped switch to ‘D’
For most of Thursday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, James Harden was forced to conserve energy. With the Raptors double-teaming him as he crossed midcourt, he had 45 feet less ground to cover than anyone else.
He would use that energy effectively on the other end.
“I asked him, I said, ‘How (much) do you want to play the first quarter,’ ” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He said, ‘Coach, I haven’t done anything. I’m just standing there.’ He was fine. He didn’t get tired at all.”
That might have helped Harden in his matchup with Raptors star Pascal Siakam. In his possessions when defended by Harden, Siakam made 2 of 8 shots with two turnovers. Harden took fewer shots (11) than in any game this season, scoring 23 points, but added a season-high five steals while helping to hold Siakam scoreless in the fourth quarter.
“He gets overlooked. He’s one of our better defenders,” D’Antoni said. “(As) a post defender, he’s one of the best in the league. And then when he’s on somebody he wants to stop — he carries such a burden sometimes he has lapses as anybody who gets tired would. But he’s a very good defender. He did it (Thursday). He took the challenge.”
Harden is second in the NBA in post defense, giving up 0.29 points per possession on 14.8 percent shooting when defending in the low post. The Mavericks’ Tim Hardaway Jr. is allowing 0.25 points per possession in the post on 22.2 percent shooting. But Harden had defended in 35 of those possessions; Hardaway 16.
Harden’s usage rate of 37.4 percent leads the NBA. But he had a usage rate of just 15 percent Thursday. That was his smallest since Nov. 29, 2013, his first game back after missing three games with a sore left foot.
That was so long ago, the Rockets were led in scoring by Chandler Parsons, Omri Casspi and Francisco Garcia in a win against Jason Kidd’s Brooklyn Nets.
McLemore again rises to occasion
With Danuel House Jr. playing through an illness that left him weak and with chills through the game, Rockets guard Ben McLemore remained in the starting lineup, scoring a season-high 28 points.
That continued the trend in which McLemore has excelled as a starter while struggling off the bench, but coach Mike D’Antoni said he will likely return House to the starting lineup.
McLemore is averaging 16.3 points in 30.8 minutes per game as a starter, making 47.1 percent of his shots, 39.7 percent of his 3s. Off the bench, he has averaged 4.9 points in 17 minutes per game, making 27.4 percent of his shots, 25 percent of his 3s.
“Danuel needs to start,” D’Antoni said. “It shouldn’t matter. Danuel hadn’t practiced or anything. He still had chills and stuff.”
D’Antoni, however, cited many reasons for McLemore’s solid play. Even with his struggles off the bench, McLemore’s average of 9.1 points per game is the second-best of his seven NBA seasons, trailing only the 12.1 points he averaged in his second season when he played 32.6 minutes per game.
“He plays hard and he’s coachable,” D’Antoni said. “He does have a nice shot. He needs confidence. He needs to play. He needs to feel wanted. Hopefully, he will continue to get better. Somebody that is that good a person, plays that hard, has that talent, something good has got to happen unless he’s the unluckiest guy in the world.”
House had 16 first-half points but did not score in the second half.
“It was difficult,” House said of playing through his illness. “I’m pretty sure people in the world know how the flu handles your body. I started off, (then) I had enough. I was searching deep to find some more.”