Harden, who was guarding the Steven Adams center near the block, sprinted to close the incredibly sizzling Dort, jumped and stretched his left arm as high as he could. Harden blocked Dort’s potential 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds remaining, a defensive stop that saved the series from an NBA champion who had endured yet another night in an elimination match.
During the dead ball after the block, Harden released a primal roar, releasing a long night of frustration.
“Like it [Nipsey] Hussle said, never let a difficult moment humble us, “Harden said, referring to the late rapper, after the Rockets progressed to the Western Conference semi-finals with a 104-102 win in Game 7 on Wednesday.” It was just one of those nights in an offensive way, so I just wanted to change the game in a defensive way. I think I did. “
This game could have become another end-of-season disaster for Harden, a perennial MVP nominee who had some of his worst outings in the Rockets’ elimination matches, twice going 2 of 11 off the floor in the Houston final playoff match, committing 12 turnovers in a Game 5 defeat to the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 Western Finals and foul on a Game 6 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of 2017.
Harden, the NBA scoring champion for the past three seasons, had another tough offensive outing in Game 7 against the Thunder. He scored 17 points, less than half his season average, with 4 out of 15 shots from the ground.
“In an offensive way, I played like shit. Excuse my tongue,” Harden told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth in the field interview immediately after the game. “I couldn’t shoot a shot. I turned the ball. I just did everything that wasn’t supposed to happen, but I kept on keeping it. My teammates trusted me throughout the match, and defensively I had to do a game.”
Harden made that play by denying Dort, the non-drafted lockdown defender who had a shocking night of shooting in Game 7, breaking the Harden’s Thunder playoff rookie scoring record with 30 points. Dort, a 3-point shooter to 29.7% this season, was 6 of 12 from long range on Wednesday.
There’s a bit of irony in Harden, often harshly criticized for being a disinterested defender, saving the Rockets season by inventing a clutch. However, with many members of the Rockets organization screaming from the rooftops, Harden’s reputation for being a terrible defender is outdated.
“James played defense,” said Rockets co-star Russell Westbrook, who had 20 points in Game 7 to help eliminate his former team. “I think if the media and people really looked at the numbers – since you like to look at the numbers – look at them and then you have your answers. James defends.”
Harden has led the NBA in steals with 125 this season. He also finished sixth in the league in deviations with 220, an indication of just how busy Harden has been in that part of the pitch. Harden has consistently been rated as an elite defender over the past few years – conceding just 0.68 points per post-up possession defended this season, according to NBA.com/stats – one of the main reasons the Rockets felt they could survive. in defense by playing a historically little football true.
“You know how the stories go,” said Houston manager Mike D’Antoni. “Once you get stuck with a label, it’s hard for NBA players to get rid of that label. I’ve coached so many guys who’ve improved different areas of their game where people keep writing about how bad it is, why not they do really study the movie, watch and understand completely and I think James’ defense has improved a lot.
“He’s been locked up, and I think he knows that to be able to win in a good clip, the defense has to be there. He’s just taking up the challenge and doing a great job.”
Harden, who averaged 29.7 points and 8.0 assists per game in the series despite Dort’s stellar defense, has repeatedly stressed that the Rockets’ defense would determine whether they would have a legitimate chance of winning a championship.
Houston allowed Oklahoma City to score just 101.7 points per 100 possessions in the series, giving the Rockets the best defensive score so far in the bubble playoffs. Harden felt an extraordinary sense of satisfaction that his most impactful and memorable play of the series – “one of the best” of his career, he said – came on defense at a crucial moment.
“It’s nice to get 40 or 50 points or to hit the ball very well,” Harden said. “Of course, we all want to do that. But because you pay off when you count on the defensive side, it shows that I’ve been busy and blocked. To show it in a moment of friction, it means a lot.”
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