NBA: James Harden’s Top 3 Games Of 2013-14
James Harden was the league’s fifth-highest scorer last season, widely regarded around the league as the best shooting guard, averaging 25.4 points per game. Led by Harden and Dwight Howard, the Houston Rockets clinched the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference but were eliminated in the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Entering training camp for Team USA last month, Harden announced of his intentions to commit to playing defense under Mike Krzyzewski, something he has failed to do the since joining Houston. Much to everyone’s surprise, Harden has actually looked competent on that end of the court so far through World Cup play.
He’s now faced with the challenge of leading Team USA to the championship round against likely rival Spain.
With training camp beginning at the end of the month, we review Harden’s top three games from last season.
March 9 vs. Portland Trail Blazers- 41 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, six steals
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The Beard was an attack dog in transition. For much of the night, he got whatever he wanted in iso situations against Portland’s
Wesley Matthews.
Matthews is a solid defender but he was no match for the arsenal that Harden came at him with. With a heavy dose of the pick and roll, Harden was the catalyst who brought the Rockets back after trailing in double digits the majority of the second half.
If he didn’t score, he was getting into the paint and kicking it out. On a key possession down the stretch, he drew in the defense and hit Jeremy Lin, who drilled a 3 from the right wing to give the Rockets their first lead of the game.
The bottom line is that Harden closed the deal and played like a superstar from start to finish. He finished with 17 points in the fourth quarter.
With eight seconds remaining and the Rockets down three, he chucked up a 3 from the corner off an inbounds pass from Lin, making the shot in Matthews’ face, which turned the Toyota Center into a frenzy as the game went to overtime. With less than two minutes left in overtime, Harden tied the game up at 113 by hitting another 3 off of a Howard ball screen.
Houston closed overtime on an 8-0 run to send Portland home with the loss.
April 4 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder- 39 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals
Harden has a habit of performing well against his former team and close friends Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. He scored 17 points in the first half in a variety of ways, being chased by Derek Fisher, Jeremy Lamb and Andre Roberson.
Harden had his way orchestrating the pick and roll as the Thunder failed in their efforts to stop him. His quick decision making led to easy three point shots for Chandler Parsons who had 23 points of his own and Terrence Jones and Omer Asik had a combined 25 points with easy layup opportunities on rolls to the rim.
The Rockets clinched the playoffs with the win, and Harden was the best player on the court for either team that night.
Feb. 25 vs. Sacramento Kings- 43 points, eight assists, two steals
A season-high 43 points from Harden was not as impressive as his other top games simply because it was against the Kings who had the third-worst record in the conference. The Rockets though killed the Kings in transition with Harden throwing easy alley-oops to Howard and Parsons with little resistance from Sacramento’s defense.
It was a dominant start to the game in which he had a 22-point, four-assist first quarter, setting the tone and tempo for the rest of the evening.
Harden finished 15 of 16 from the free throw line and was a manipulator of the pick and roll all game, drawing fouls and getting easy buckets for Jones and Asik. His season-high for points came in only 31 minutes as he did not have to play in the fourth quarter with the Rockets ultimately winning by 26.