OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors have put a straitjacket on James Harden this season and it speaks volumes of how dominant this team is playing defensively.
By every stretch of the imagination, Harden has been sensational in his eighth NBA season. There’s a reason he’s atop the MVP discussion next to a player who is recording triple-doubles at an Oscar Robertson type of pace. He’s having a career-year.
Are you deserving of the MVP trophy if you don’t perform well against the best team in the league? We’ll find out if the voters penalize Harden for the way the Warriors continually make him disappear.
After toppling the Warriors back on Dec. 1 in an overtime thriller, the Rockets have lost three straight against their nemesis, and part of that is do to the defensive clamps Golden State has put on the star shooting guard. Harden’s numbers this season vs. the Warriors: 23-of-74 from the field (31 percent), 5-of-34 from downtown — and here’s the kicker — 26 turnovers in four games.
“I mean, they are a good team,” a frustrated Harden said in the locker room Friday. “They have five All-Stars on their team. They have guys with experience. They are a good team. Like I said, we had opportunities. Three days ago at home we spotted them 17 points, we put ourselves back in the game and it didn’t work our way. Tonight, same way. (Inaudible) we controlled most of the game. Couldn’t score the last seven minutes of the game. We had opportunities, we just have to get over the hump.”
That’s the hardest part about the Warriors. Getting “over that hump” doesn’t imply some little speed bump. This a massive fortress and the Cavaliers have been the only team the last three seasons to scale the wall. There’s a reason shots aren’t falling for the basketball player known as The Beard.
Chasing Harden off the 3-point line and swarming him into errant plays has become a defensive calling card — and a proud defining moment this season for the Warriors. Golden State’s net defensive rating has increased since Kevin Durant went down on Feb. 28, not something many saw coming. Harden hasn’t been the only one to hit a brick wall — Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook were victims earlier in this 10-game winning streak.
Prior to Friday’s 107-88 win, Steve Kerr said Harden is the toughest player to guard in the NBA. He can shoot from anywhere, he’s gifted at getting to the foul line and both his handles and passing abilities have taken a leap this season under coach Mike D’Antoni. Friday the Warriors focused on not reaching as much, trying more for deflections and steals.
“We flew around,” Draymond Green said. “We didn’t put them on the free throw line. We tried to make them take tough 2s. We executed.”
Harden’s god-given abilities that have the Rockets sitting in pretty position with the No. 3 seed have been nowhere to be found against the Warriors. Harden went 4-for-18 on Friday, 2-for-9 from 3 and another 6 turnovers. There’s a pattern with his play against the Warriors. Maybe he’s trying to do too much?
Or maybe the Warriors own his soul, as popular Warriors Twitter member Beke Tweeted Friday night. It’s fair to acknowledge the psychological advantage Golden State has defensively. When you can throw Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Matt Barnes and Green interchangeably on star player, it will wear on you emotionally. Harden seems worn down.
For Steve Kerr, it’s not just Harden. This entire 10 game winning streak has been fueled by defensive effort, beginning back on March 14 against Philadelphia.
“We’re routinely holding teams to low shooting percentages,” Kerr said. “It’s great. We’ve got six games to go. We don’t have the one seed locked up yet.”
The No. 1 seed isn’t locked up, but James Harden is. If the Rockets get past the Spurs in the second round, the Warriors will be licking their chops to shut him when it matters most.
