I agree that the last two months for Harden has been pretty damn hard to watch... I don't know what's up with him, but we need him to snap out of it if we're gonna mount the epic comeback this series.
dead legs might be why harden is missing shots but throwing the ball out of bounds or to fisher and being lost on defense... he must be on drugs.
Sorry, I don't see a 26/6/6 player, even at 39%, not being an All-Star. Particularly given the defenses we've played in this stretch.
#1 James Harden's basketball IQ is light years higher than Francis' and is probably the highest on the Rockets. He is 23 years old and is forcing things. I am sure that being banged up and carrying the offensive load is not easy. #2 I don't think Harden would like anything better than beating the Thunder. It was his choice to leave the team, and he wanted a bigger role. Besides, he came up for 36 pts in game 2 and 30 in game 3. Yesterday he just had a TERRIBLE job. He was off, and he is stubborn, he forced it, and kept forcing it thinking he would get the job done.... he didn't.
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I've never seen a stat line like that. 15 pts, 10 TOs. You don't see that kind of line because no one is ever allowed to continue doing what he was doing.
Looking at that play again, it's pretty infuriating. Down one point. 31 seconds left. Harden drives to the basket and still has 15 seconds left before he dumps it to Fisher. I mean that pass was right smack into Fisher's hand. Fisher didn't even jump.
Every player that was playing on the court last night was playing really well except for HARDEN! I feel the same way too by watching the game, it seems like Harden's helping OKC to win.
The 31 seconds left is the key factor. 15 is inconsequential. It's called 2 for 1 -- the same dynamic that forced Durant to take an off-balance, rushed three. Only difference is he got a bull**** roll and it went in. Harden was trying to make something happen so that the Rockets would be ensured multiple possessions. He expected either Garcia or Parsons to cut to the basket, they didn't, turnover. It's frustrating, but it's pretty easy to understand what he was thinking.
