Harden World: The Beard Dazzles with 54, Rockets Blur by Magic, 130-107
Watch Close. Downtown Party. Revelations.
“Are you watching closely?” It’s a question that’s asked many times in The Prestige, Christopher Nolan’s classic film about magicians. On Friday night, I found myself watching closer and closer. I’ve watched James Harden his entire career. I’m as “used” to his greatness as someone can be. But I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. And peered closer to the screen, see if what I was watching was actually real. It was. On Friday the 13th, Number 13 put on quite a magic show in Orlando. Harden had the most efficient shooting performance of his career. The Beard truly gave the spectators in Orlando their money’s worth, scoring 54 points, in dominating fashion. The Magic put up quite a fight, but nobody, no one on the planet, was stopping James Harden on Friday night. The Beard was unstoppable, launching the Rockets to a 130-107 win in Orlando. His ten three-pointers tie his own franchise record for threes made in a game, a record Harden had just set in Houston’s previous game against Cleveland. In Orlando, Harden dazzled with insanely tough shots, and helped the Rockets separated from the Magic in the second half. The Beard went a jaw-dropping 19-for-31 from the field, including a stunning 10-for-15 from long range. It was a performance that truly showed why Harden is the best player on the planet at the moment.
Despite continuing to get little “honest” recognition for his defense, the Beard has been spectacular on the defensive end of the floor all season. In particular, the combination of Harden’s defense which leads to his unbelievable offense has fueled the Rockets to a 2-0 road trip. Besides the 54 points, the Beard also had 7 assists, 5 boards, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. On a night the three leading MVP-candidates (LeBron, Giannis, Harden) all played, the Beard’s line of work stood above the pack. Harden’s prestigious show incited a 23-point Houston blowout, and is another strong file in the Beard’s resume as the MVP. Despite playing the Orlando Magic, a subpar team, Disney World’s team didn’t play that bad. Harden was just ridiculous. Evan Fournier had a superb shooting performance for the Magic, going 10-of-18, for 27 points. Orlando’s big man Aaron Gordon also had a solid game with 21 points and 6 boards. Fournier and Gordon kept the Magic in the game in the first half, but could only do so much with limited help, and slowed down after intermission. Although Harden made the headline-worthy performance, he had plenty of help from friends.
The Beard’s buddies came to play in Orlando, as the Rockets had one of their most convincing wins of the season. Russell Westbrook is beginning to find his groove in this Houston offense. Brodie had another smart game. Russ didn’t explode, he didn’t need to, as his decision making is contenting to impress more and more with each game. Westbrook scored 23 points, on 9-of-18 from the floor, but only attempted three shots from beyond the arc. Driving to the basket is Brodie’s forte, and he’s finally cut down on all the ill-advised threes he was jacking earlier in the year. Speaking of threes, it was a Downtown Party for the Rockets in Orlando. The squad had their best shooting night from distance this season, connecting on roughly 56% of shots from deep. Ben McLemore was major part of Houston’s Downtown Party. Benny Mac shot 6-of-7 from three, with all 18 of his points coming from the promise land. McLemore has slowly evolved into the “revelation”, or find of the season. Last year it was Danuel House. The season before that it was P.J. Tucker, although that wasn’t a find, as Houston signed Tucker. However, no one expected P.J. to be Mr. Intangible and mesh perfectly with James Harden. Tucker competes and gives it his all on every single play. On the other side, the Magic aren’t much of a competitive group. But, Houston’s had trouble winning games comfortably against weaker opponents. It was a sigh of relief to see the Rockets finally not having to endure a nail-biting thriller with questionable officiating. Houston needs more victories of this manner on their resume to build confidence, and allow the starters to get some rest before the playoffs.
There’s little time to rest for the Rockets this weekend. Houston heads home to face the Pistons on Saturday in the latter half of their back-to-back. It will be the third game in four nights for the Rockets. It could also be James Harden’s third-straight game with 50 points. A feat rarely seen in this league. Westbrook will be sitting on Saturday. The plan is to have Brodie play only one game on back-to-backs. He’s been injury prone at times in the past. In the last few games, Westbrook is showing signs of finding his role on his new team. Houston will need him healthy for the playoffs if they have any chance at that elusive title. They’ll also need James Harden. And he’ll be there. But he won’t be here forever. Don’t take what Harden’s doing for granted. A revelation is his own right, in the midst of one of the greateast season’s the NBA’s ever seen. The Beard is dominating all facets of the game. If you can’t appreciate Harden’s greatness… you’re just not watching closely.