This seems to be the difference between Harden and other great scorers. It's not like teams never thought "hey, let's double team Shaq". Or Kobe. Or Jordan. Or Lebron. Or Hakeem. etc. They all have defenses focused on them, but they all still found ways to dominate. Harden - especially in the playoffs - seems easier to scheme around and discombobulate on offense when teams really put some effort into it. I think it was the Lakers that found that just double teaming him at half court got the ball out of his hands and then he wouldn't really put any effort into getting it back. When he has an endless slew of all-star teammates, though, it probably can work really well if he just turns into a passer.
Great analysis. It's not just that he was double-teamed, everyone else helps off their man excessively too whenever a star has the ball. That's how Toronto generally plays D to force role players to step up. Obviously this is especially effective against teams with no depth like the Nets, especially with KD out. You'd think Kyrie could have stepped up more, but he was bad. Dribbling right into that double and getting turning it over in the fourth was the beginning of the end. His handle has looked off all season. The one thing other posters on this site have convinced me of is that might have been equally toast if Nash had played Jordan, they just would have been torched on the perimeter instead of the paint. The one thing I know for sure is you can't just plug Brown into Jordan's role and play the same way. Harden set him up for easy dunks three times in the fourth and he didn't make one of them.
They all had teammates who can make you pay. All of them. It was easier because Westbrook was on the team. Have you seen people get him get doubled like that with Chris Paul,...I wouldnt say so. When he has shooters around him, it works. https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202101100GSW.html Take a look at this. Im not trying to dismiss Curry as he has been great this year but look at this. The Raptors defense is designed to make role players beat you. They loaded up on Harden. He made the right plays. Scoring wise, he's very efficient. And he had 12 assists with 3 turnovers But his shot is off, I think he's out of rhythm and it might take him a while to get it back. Their offensive rating that night was good(good for the best in the league). The problem is really they lost the turnover battle and they gave up a ton of offensive rebounds. And...well bad at defense.
