The Rockets need Chris Paul to takeover when James Harden can’t

James Harden vanished into thin air in the second half of the Rockets’ 99-98 nail-biting loss to the Celtics on Thursday. Without Chris Paul (groin), whom Houston picked up specifically for his leadership qualities in crunch-time, the Rockets blew a 26-point lead for their fourth loss in a row, and their MVP candidate was at the crux of their meltdown.

Harden shot just 3 of 17 from the field (that’s 17.6 percent) with only three assists to five turnovers in the second half while the Celtics mounted their comeback. He shot two of eight from the field in the game’s final five minutes and had back-to-back questionable offensive foul calls against Marcus Smart on the Rockets’ final two possessions of the game.

This was Chris Paul’s face after Harden picked up his second offensive foul in 11 seconds.

Harden is a dynamic playmaker, a savage in the pick-and-roll and an assassin on the perimeter. We know these as facts. But he looked like none of those things as the clock crept closer to zero. Instead he devolved into a timid ball-handler seemingly unsure of the abilities that have vaulted him into the front-runner for league MVP this season.

His performance down the stretch — along with a short-handed officiating crew — cost Houston the game.

After missing a three here, Harden wants no parts of the rock. He actually backs away from the action as it unfolds. So credit goes to Eric Gordon here for stepping up, going to the ball, and creating a decent look — one that he got fouled on, but didn’t get a whistle — that set up P.J. Tucker for an easy tip-in.

But Gordon shouldn’t be tasked with carrying the load down the stretch. That’s what happened when Harden gave him the ball early into an ensuing half-court set. And here’s how that played out:

Gordon was trying to force the defense to contract by attacking the rim. That’s what James Harden does so well: he’s a supreme, crafty, deceptive ball-handler who knifes his way into the lane and forces the help to come before hitting the open shooter with a pin-point pass. Swish-get back on D, rinse and repeat.

Instead, Harden shot six threes in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter — and to his credit, he made two — while only attacking the paint twice. Several of those threes, though, were head-scratchers, including a shot with 31 seconds left in the regulation but 13 seconds left on Houston’s shot clock.

Chris Paul has legitimately etched himself onto the Mt. Rushmore of NBA point guards, somewhere well below Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson but above Jason Kidd and Steve Nash. That’s because aside from the fact that he’s one of the best lob passers on the planet, aside from the fact that he is still the second coming of John Stockton in the pick-and-roll, and aside from the fact that he is one of the best playmakers in the history of the game; the man is ice cold when the game is on the line.

The Rockets have arguably the strongest offense in the NBA, and as a result, teams don’t hang toe-to-toe with Houston for four quarters. The Rockets barely get to play much crunch-time basketball. They’re so used to taking the fourth quarter off.

Paul has only played in 10 minutes of clutch basketball — defined as the final five minutes of a game within five points (or overtime) — but he is shooting 66 percent with a five-to-one assist to turnover ratio.

When the Rockets blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead against the Milwaukee Bucks in mid-December, it was Paul who stabilized his team by running the clock down, getting to his spot and netting a calm mid-range jump shot.

Then on the next possession, he buried the Bucks and did it again.

The Rockets trailed the Pelicans by 12 in the third quarter of their Dec. 11 matchup, but Paul closed the period with eight straight points before picking up five assists in the fourth quarter alone. Houston went on to beat New Orleans, 130-123

Harden doesn’t meltdown all the time. He had 12 points in the final five minutes against the Pelicans, including two dagger threes late. Paul didn’t record a field goal; he didn’t have to. More than anything that’s what CP3 gives Houston: another option down the stretch when Houston or Harden is struggling. And that’s exactly what the Rockets needed against the Celtics.

Another option.

The Rockets have lost four straight games, and in three of those games, Paul has been watching from the sidelines — in another against the Lakers, he exited early with a leg injury.

Say what you want about CP3 never making it past the second round of the playoffs; the man has never shied away from big moments on the court. Now, the Rockets need Paul exactly for those big moments. And judging by his face when Houston reduced to ash in Boston on Thursday, CP3 is up for the challenge.