HOUSTON — There are nights when the 3-pointers practically fall right out of
the sky and find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. When every crazy
Euro-step drive through the traffic in the lane ends with the ball creeping up
over the rim to find a place to cuddle in at the bottom of the net. When every
pass is right on target and every rebound falls into your hands and everything
seems so easy.
Then there are others when you’ve got to get out a coal miner’s pick ax and dig
your way through it.
James Harden struggled with his shot all through the first round playoff series
against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it was his Houston Rockets that moved on
with a 105-99 win in Game 5 on Tuesday because he never stops pushing and
prodding them.
He finds a way.
Harden came here five seasons ago to find this kind of team, this kind of
atmosphere, this kind of bond in the locker room and trust out on the court.
He left here one year ago after another first-round playoff exit and the
dissolution of an unfulfilling and unhappy marriage with Dwight Howard searching
for answers that eventually turned up on his doorstep.
A new coach in Mike D’Antoni, who practically gave him a jet pack to go with a
license to thrill. An upgraded cast of characters that put the deadeye shooters
Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon and eventually Lou Williams all around him, veteran
Nene to lock things down in the middle and to supplement the steadfast holdovers
Trevor Ariza, Patrick Beverley and Clint Capela. He’s even got an owner in
Leslie Alexander who was willing to break his normally taciturn character to
storm out of his front row and chew on the ear of referee Bill Kennedy in the
first half.
Yes, things have changed and Harden couldn’t have looked more different as the
Rockets closed out their four games to one victory if he had shaved off his
beard.
He’s not sullen, detached or aloof, but engaged, enthused and energized. He’s
the one setting the tone, keeping the pace, showing each and every one of them
that he’s all in.
The final stats for the series might show that Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook
had more triple-doubles and put up gaudier numbers. But it was Harden who four
times in five games kept his team moving forward at crunch time in the fourth
quarter.
“He finds out a way to win and he’s been doing it all year,” said D’Antoni, “and
he’s been leading us. He can always score. He can always fill up the stat sheet.
That’s him, Russell. I mean, a lot of guys do that. But he allows us to win. It
makes the other players better. You know, that’s kind of the case all along.”
It’s been the case since last summer when Harden took stock of his career and
his reputation and decided that if both were at a crossroads, he’d better make
the right choice. He was already committed to turning over a new leaf. Then
D’Antoni was hired and he ended up turning over the whole damn tree.
The Rockets didn’t shock most of the league in winning 55 games just because
Harden was putting up video game numbers. They stayed on course to become a team
that has to be respected because he embraced the role of leader at the same time
that he pulled his teammates in closer. Gone was the passive-aggressive feud
with Howard in its place a man in bloom who was ready and capable to advance in
the playoffs.
“It means a lot, especially the way we played,” Harden said. “We didn’t
particularly shoot the ball well. But we found other ways to win. So to build in
the summer the togetherness and the trust what we built all year long, (it) pays
off.”
The Thunder made a concentrated effort to run the mad-bombing Rockets off the
3-point line and especially Harden. It threw off his rhythm, tended to produce
slow starts to most games. But he eventually found a path to the basket and even
when the drives wouldn’t put the ball into the basket, it sent him to the free
throw line where he thrived.
Harden made just 44 of 107 shots (41.1 percent) in the series and connected on 8
of 25 in Game 5. But in the fourth quarter while a worn-out, frazzled Westbrook
hit just 2-for-11, Harden closed with 13 of his 34 points and lived at the foul
line, hitting 9-for-10.
“When you play with somebody like James, every time I step out onto the floor I
feel like we have an opportunity to win a basketball game,” said Williams, who
came by trade in February. “That’s how much confidence I have in him. Just being
around him the past few months, seeing the way he approaches the game and the
way he leads everybody by example and just the way he goes about his business it
makes it easy for me to come and give him what he needs from a standpoint and
play as hard as I can.”
Westbrook will likely win the MVP trophy because he put up historic numbers and
singlehandedly carried his team all season long. But Harden is moving on because
he has come to understand that a leader doesn’t have to do it all alone.
“Everything isn’t always going to be perfect,” Harden said. “You’ve got guys
that step up and help you make big plays, always have your back. Even nights
when I’m struggling, I’m not really worried because I know I got a group of guys
that trust in themselves and in their leader to go out there and play the right
way and good things will happen.”
They’re happening because Harden has been put in the middle of a roster that has
been stitched together like a custom-tailored to his skills and also because he
has grown into it.
“I’ve been excited all year, quite honestly,” he said. “From the coaching staff
to each and every individual player. The excitement is there. The togetherness
is there. They showed it in this first round. The second round is gonna be even
tougher. I’m ready to go to war with these guys.”
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here, find his
archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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