The Houston Rockets find themselves in a tough situation after Friday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Not only were they on the wrong end of one of the most lopsided losses in the playoffs but they are down 1-2, with the next matchup coming in Los Angeles and with Chris Paul back in the lineup for the Clippers. If they can't win that one, they will be in the brink of elimination.
The Rockets need the MVP version of James Harden and aren’t getting it against the Clippers
Harden has been playing well but the Rockets need him to be the best version of himself to beat the Clippers.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
There are several reasons for their underwhelming performances so far. The threes are not falling (29 percent for the series) and their defense is collapsing in a high-pace battle with the best offense in the league. Yet it's in those dire circumstances that the Rockets are supposed to rely on MVP runner-up James Harden to rescue them, and he hasn't been his brilliant self against Los Angeles.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say Harden is playing poorly. He’s averaging 26 points and 10 assists while shooting over 40 percent from outside. He’s responsible, directly or through assists, for 48 of the Rockets 105 points per game in round two. In the fourth quarter of Game 2, with the Rockets against the wall, he went for 16 points in a tidy eight shots to get his team a valuable win.
Despite those good stats, Harden hasn’t been dominant except for that fourth quarter. He’s put an emphasis on assisting his teammates yet is averaging seven turnovers a game, which results in a low assist-to-turnover ration. His defense, which had improved significantly during the regular season, has also regressed.
Harden has been good against the Clippers. He just hasn’t been great and that might doom the Rockets.
His turnover woes can be traced back to him venturing into the paint with no plan of any sort. Against most teams Harden finds a way to get a good outcome anyway, but the Clippers know what's coming and are ready to thwart it. They are packing the paint and sending a second defender every time he drives, playing off the Rockets' underwhelming outside threats. It's especially obvious when Terrence Jones is on the court, since a Clippers big man will leave him open to help inside.
The Clippers not only help off bad shooters. Because they are confident in their ability to recover and Harden often has blinders on when he drives looking for contact, Los Angeles is also helping off good marksmen like Trevor Ariza.
Harden’s possible decisions then are trying to score on a defender that is waiting for him in the paint, often resulting in charges; kicking the ball out and hoping the Clipper defenders don’t intercept the pass; or holding on to the ball a second or two longer than he should as he waits for a better option to materialize. With those options, it’s not surprising that his turnovers are up.
On defense the lack of effort and focus he's been accused of in the past is showing. Austin Rivers blew by him unimpeded several times in Game 3.
And in the Game 1 loss Matt Barnes killed him by making timely cuts just as Harden was ball-watching.
The Rockets as a team have been a disaster on that end but they are almost four points better when Harden is on the bench. The combination of live ball turnovers that result in easy fastbreak points and the ball-watching in the half court are too much of a drain on the Rockets’ defense.
Harden, like every heavy usage scorer/creator, turns the ball over and like most stars he takes some possessions off on defense. The Rockets have no problem living with that when he carries their offense and wins them games on his own with scoring explosions. Unfortunately, Harden hasn’t been the unstoppable force on that end he was in the regular season or in their first-round series. It’s not his fault the Rockets are down 1-2 but he hasn’t done enough to change their fate, either.
It’s only been three games and, as mentioned, Harden has been good. The Rockets’ problems go beyond him. He can still string together some good performances and lead his team to a comeback. So far, however, he’s looking like the player he was before this season, when he was a star but not one of the top five performers in the league.
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