James Harden: Nightmarish shooting night in Game 5 win

Harden’s scoring total may have checked in second only to Chris Paul’s
(hamstring) on the Rockets, but his final line would have been downright
dreadful if not for a perfect showing from the charity stripe. The Beard’s
0-for-11 tally from three-point range marked his first blanking from distance
since Mar. 22, and his 23.8 percent success rate from the field overall was his
second lowest of the postseason, ahead only of the 11.1 percent figure he’d
generated in Game 2 of the first round versus the Timberwolves. Harden will look
to tighten things up considerably when Houston tries for their first NBA Finals
appearance since the 1995-96 season in Saturday’s Game 6.