James Harden scored 24 points in the Houston Rockets’ 113-106 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, but he did so with staggering inefficiency. Harden shot just 5-of-20 from the field and 1-of-9 from downtown. He made all 13 of his free throws, but he turned the ball over six times.
The Warriors have the formula for stopping James Harden
The possible MVP looks like anything but against the league’s best team. Here’s why the Warriors limit Harden when other teams can’t.
Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
In spite of his triple-double effort, Houston was outscored by nine with its MVP candidate on the floor. His struggles were not unique to Tuesday, though. They’ve been the undertone of each of Harden’s matchups against the Warriors this season.
In three games against Golden State, The Beard has turned the ball over 20 times, shot a wretched 3-of-25 from downtown, and made just 19 of 56 total field goals. Harden has recorded triple-doubles in two of those three games, but the Warriors have outscored the Rockets by 35 points in all of his minutes on the floor.
That’s because Golden State’s defense is tailor-made to stop the Rockets
Houston’s ability to scorch teams from deep behind the three-point line usually rips apart defensive game plans. Not so with the Warriors. That’s because Golden State picks up shooters 28 feet away from the basket, sometimes further. Watch Klay Thompson and Patrick McCaw in this clip.
The Warriors’ defense is also a reason why Harden, arguably the league’s most feared isolation player, has turned the ball over so frequently. The Warriors take the three-pointer away, then make calculated gambles helping on a driving Harden.
He never even sees the help coming. When he does, it’s too late.
Harden thrives off pick and rolls, and his aptitude forces defenses into a bind: Send the house at him or stay pat on shooters. The Warriors choose the latter, rarely conceding an open look from three.
It’s why they have the league’s best defensive three-point percentage. They force him to go one-on-one to the rack, where they collapse on a shot when it’s too late to make a pass.
Knowing that, he often settles for a contested three.
When Harden does indeed beat the defense, get to the rim, and meet a shot blocker, it’s his job to make the right decision. The Warriors’ swarming defense forces him into a tough spot.
Some of Harden’s turnovers have come from errant passes that he miscalculated. Others have just been poor decisions.
The Warriors have the perfect defense for Harden and the Rockets
Golden State doesn’t help on Harden on the perimeter — if he’s going to beat them from outside, the Warriors will live with that. What they do, however, is force him to make the right decision every time. The Beard hasn’t done that, and it’s hurt his team.
The results have spoken for themselves. In their three games against the Warriors, Houston has shot just 26-of-111, or 23 percent, from three-point range. The Rockets shoot 36 percent from downtown on the season, and that number spikes if you take away the duds against Golden State.
Houston shot just 5-of-31 from downtown on Tuesday. They sorely missed Ryan Anderson, another long-range sniper in the Rockets’ battalion who’s out two weeks with an ankle injury. When the Rockets aren’t splashing threes, Harden becomes less effective.
Houston won’t miss 84 percent of its threes again. They’re too confident and too talented of a group to break down now. But the Warriors have had their number.
And if Golden State’s regular season success is indicative of the potential outcome in a playoff series, Houston may have a problem.
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