Thursday 3 September 2020 10:19, UK
On a night where his elite-level offensive skills deserted him, James Harden was able to make a game-winning impact on the defensive side of the ball in the Houston Rockets' Game 7 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Harden could not get his shots to fall all night, so the scorer turned stopper.
In a wild Game 7 that took one strange turn after another in the final seconds, the biggest play came when a guy known almost entirely for his offense turned up in the defense.
Harden made up for a miserable shooting night with a big blocked shot, Russell Westbrook scored 20 points against his former team and the Houston Rockets edged the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-102 on Wednesday night to win the first-round series 4-3.
"It was one of those nights offensively so I just wanted to change the game defensively and I think I did that," Harden said.
"I couldn't make a shot. I was turning the ball over, doing everything that isn't supposed to happen. But I just kept sticking with it. My team-mates give me confidence throughout the course of games and defensively I had to make a play. I tried to close out to him. (Luguentz) Dort was knocking down some shots tonight so I wanted to get out to him."
The Rockets triumphed after a tense final game of the first round that lasted long past the final basket as replays and fouls were sorted out.
"I have been around a long time and just at the end it was a little crazy," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said.
In the end, Houston prevailed to set up a second-round match-up with the Los Angeles Lakers that begins in the early hours of Saturday morning despite Harden, the NBA's leading scorer, going 4-for-15 from the field.
"These are the games, you want to win a championship or win playoff games, you've got to do it with your heart," D'Antoni added.
The frantic final seconds of a game that was tight throughout had Houston take the lead for good at 103-102 when PJ Tucker scored with 1:25 remaining. After changes of possession, the Thunder got the ball to Lu Dort, who attempted a three-pointer that Harden blocked with 4.8 seconds left.
Robert Covington made a free throw with 1.4 seconds to go and Harden was whistled for fouling Danilo Gallinari before the ball was inbounded, giving the Thunder one free throw and the ball. But Gallinari missed the free throw and the Thunder turned it over on the last inbound pass.
Westbrook helped defend that, perhaps remembering some of his old coach's plays. ''I kind of know a little bit,'' he said.
Covington had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Eric Gordon also scored 21 points for the Rockets. Harden finished with 17 points and nine assists.
Dort scored a career-best 30 points for the Thunder, while Chris Paul, swapped for Westbrook over the summer, had 19 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds.
"It's a tough one. It's tough," Paul said. "We fought hard all year. Honestly, a lot of people doubted us, but we didn't doubt ourselves. We didn't give a damn about anybody's predictions going into any series."
Harden was quick to praise the Thunder in his post-game interview. "Give Oklahoma City credit. They play hard," he said. "They just fought. They gave us a seven-game series that went down to the last possession. We made the right plays down the stretch to win the game.
They are scrappy. 'CP' (Paul) made some big shots, especially in the fourth quarter. All their guards make plays. We wanted to contain the dribbling and contest shots when we had to, then at the end of the possession rebound the basketball.
"I think we did a really good job, especially at the end of the game."
