Do a lot "us" on here think James Harden had a not-so-great game 1? I for one feel he had a great game. He missed some of his step-backs that he would normally make at a more consistent clip, but overall it appeared he played within the flow of the game and adapted to what the Mavericks' Defense was giving him. He got 24 points and 11 assists. I saw him driving in relentlessly throughout the game into the Zone D and consistently trusting his teammates by dishing out to them. How is that not a great game by Harden? I certainly do not consider the Mavericks "neutralized" harden by any stretch. So all of the fans who claim Harden didn't "show up", I really don't understand how that can be said. Harden was instrumental in leading the team to a game 1 victory.
It was a good game. Others folks think he needs to drop 50 to be a good game. It was a balanced scoring night.
You're right about the 50. But this is also the playoffs and Carlisle is not incompetent. The Mavericks focused on keeping Harden out of the lane and he still overcame and was able to have a remarkable game 1. He didn't just settle for jumpshots because of the Zone D....he still drove and weaved through. Pretty impressive.
We won - great game. Glad he didn't have be the man in the 4th because at some point he will have to be. Hopefully all these days off will help the team. We need this rest as a team, more so Harden
I don't think he had a bad game. I just think he had a quiet 24 points and 11 assists. Although one could argue those kicks to Corey for three were not quiet. The question is are those 24 points any more or less valuable than 24 dramatic points which would be defined as 7 straight to take the lead or a pair of 3's at the buzzer to kill dallas's momentum. If you are one of these that thinks his 24 was less valuable because they were quiet then yea. He had a bad game. I think without his 24 quiet points we get killed instead of winning.
It was a great game IMO. He took what the defense gave him, and didn't force anything. He had no problem playing the roll of creating for other teammates.
It was a good game for him, a smart game. He didn't try to do too much, and he trusted his teammates. He will have to explode on offense at least one game though.
Well, I'm of the camp that considers his "quiet" 24 points to be impactful. If Harden does not play period, they lose. He created countless times and only got 11 assists out of it. Just think of the missed gimmes at the rim he could have gotten assists on as well. To be able to create relentlessly against a zone defense is spectacular in my opinion. I was actually happy to see he didn't force the issue by taking the game on himself. Outside of making a few of the step-backs he missed, I don't think Harden could have done more in game 1. Very special player.
Agree that he had a great game, despite bad long distance shooting touch for the night. I think he initially tried some long range shots to no avail, then he switched the gear to basket-attacking mode with passes along the way. He didn't force it, much improved from last year in this regard.
We got the W. It was a great game. If some fans are looking for a 50 point game though it might happen tonight. There's no way Carlisle doubles Harden the way he did in game 1. Best guess is he throws Rondo at Harden, which I'm fine with because it lets us play 4 on 5 on defense.
He had a classic James Harden "You want to double me, then I'm going to facilitate and get a triple double" game. He didn't get a triple double but easily could have in the regular season when more rebounds were up for grabs. He's doing something that Kobe or MJ really never would do. If a defense sent two or three guys at Kobe in his prime, Kobe would try to will his team anyways, and force up more difficult shots. Yes alot of them would still go in, but he'd need to work alot harder to get them, and he'd need to suck up alot more possessions to get them. Harden is just a much different type of MVP perimeter player than we are used to seeing in the NBA. He's a rare player than can be Magic Johnson one night, and prime Manu Ginogili the next night. Some nights he's both at the same time, and looks like a smoother version of Lebron. This guy might be one of the most complete offensive players to ever play the game. We really do take this guy for granted being in a Rockets uniform. Hopefully I'm not jinxing him, and he has a great playoff series.
I agree with this and it will happen...perhaps tonight Even last year in the playoffs, he didn't "explode" until Game 6. But point is, we all know from last year that Harden can not be contained and sustained.
I thought he did exactly what was needed given how Dallas was defending him. Getting guys like Terry and Brewer involved early on is going to go a lot further towards this team's success than Harden dropping 40. He was balanced, attacked when he needed to, and served as the main facilitator of the offense.
Yeah but from what I saw in the 4th, Harden WAS the man. He was the man setting teammates up for clutch shots. Harden doesn't have to be the traditional offensive juggernaut to be the man. Although I do agree with everyone that he does absolutely need to explode offensively and go for the kill.
Well, the saying out there is James Harden has not shot 40% from the field in two successive playoffs as the 1st option and as a result is a playoff "choker" or regular season stat padder Until he gets over that stupid so called 40% figure, folks are going to think he didn't have a great game Personally, I thought he did well. He didn't force shots and took what the defense gave him. He was doubled hard and he found the open guy.
Not disagreeing with you per se. But how/why are you so certain Carlisle won't continue to defend Harden the same way? Wouldn't Carlisle prefer to keep Harden under 30 and put the onus on the rest of the team to stay hot and beat them? (I'm playing Devil's Advocate here)
