Rockets, Harden take a pass on Raptors sort of “load management’

Houston Rockets' James Harden plays against the Boston
With Chris Paul, left, having rejoined James Harden recently, the Rockets haven’t moved up from fifth in the West. But thier five-game winning streak leave them only a game out of third.
TORONTO - Raptors star Kawhi Leonard played against the Rockets on Tuesday after sitting out Sunday's overtime loss to the Pistons for load management, one of 12 games he has missed this season without an injury. That has been the Raptors' plan after Leonard played just nine games with the Spurs last season, a strategy very different from the Rockets' efforts to rest James Harden between games.
Harden has averaged 37.5 minutes per game, the most in the NBA. He missed three games with a strained hamstring and one with a strained neck. But Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said that as difficult as it is to get Harden to sit out, he finds rest time in other ways.


"So you're telling me that if I'd have practice and shootaround and I play him two less minutes (in a game), then it's better?" D'Antoni said before Monday's practice in Scotiabank Arena. "What if we don't have practice and James plays two more minutes? So you're trying to trade it off. And if he needs an extra day or he needs a day off, we'll give him a day off. But he will not ask for it."

 

The Rockets have held just five game-day shootarounds this season while cutting back on practice day workloads.

Leonard last week told the Toronto media that the 82 regular-season games "are just practices. And playoffs is when it's time to lace 'em up."



Harden, however, rejected the idea of sitting out games as Leonard has.

"I just love to hoop," Harden said. "I love to play basketball. Like, this time won't last forever, you know what I'm saying? I embrace it. I enjoy the grind. I enjoy tired legs and having to find ways, and when your shot's not (falling). That's what makes me a basketball player."

D'Antoni said that he has come to accept that about Harden and that even keeping him out of practices can be a struggle.


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"He is born to play," D'Antoni said. "He loves to play. he loves to practice. I can't take him out of practice. (If) he has a turned ankle, the trainer will say on Tuesday 'on Thursday he's out.' Then he'll practice on Wednesday. You can't keep him off the floor. That's special in itself, knowing 75, 78 games a year, he's going to play for you and play 40 minutes at a high level.

"We try to keep him around 35 (minutes). He's 29 years-old. There's so many guys playing more minutes. I want to be careful a little bit, but he's fine. He'll be fine. We have data and trainers and James. Whatever he needs, we'll do."

Raptors coach Nick Nurse said he believes the Raptors have completed the "load management portion of their season. He also has cut back on practices and shootarounds.

"I don't see a lot of load management for us down the stretch," Nurse said. "We've had so many injuries we've load managed ourselves right into perfect load

 

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