Oklahoma City Thunder took the leaf out of Atlanta Hawks’ tactics on James Harden a fortnight ago as OKC orchestrated a monster comeback with a masterful combination of offence and defence in the fourth quarter to win 107-112 at Toyota Center.
However, blaming Harden alone for the Rockets’ fourth straight defeat doesn’t feel right, but Mr. Beard did play some part in his team’s massive fall on the night, for the 2018 MVP had another horrible outing from the 3-point range, shooting just 1-of-17 from beyond the arc, and 9-of-29 from the field.
Despite down by 16 points, OKC entered the fourth quarter with a renewed verve, and with seemingly changed tactics on Harden. OKC’s guard forced Harden to go left instead of right, robbing him of his favourite stepback jumper, just as Hawks’ Kevin Huerter did in Atlanta, limiting Harden’s offensive impact.
Worst 3P% in a game with at least 15 three-point attempts
5.9% — James Harden tonight
5.9% — James Harden last year
11.1% — James Harden last year pic.twitter.com/d8NuhmghJQ— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 21, 2020
Though Harden is too good a player not to come out on top against these tactics, Mike D’Antoni will be a little bit worried about his team’s clutch game. Even Russell Westbrook, who recorded a triple-double, with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists, missed two match-defining shots in the final minutes. In the end, OKC outscored the Rockets 41-20 in the fourth and penultimate quarter to secure an unlikely win.
James Harden ended the game with 29 points, 6 assists, and 9 boards, while Thunder were led by Chris Paul, who had a team-high 28 points, with 27 of those points coming in the first half.
Danilo Gallinari was the chief architect of Rockets’ downfall, as 12 of his 25 points came in the fourth quarter. Shai Gilgeous Alexander had a double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds), while Dennis Schroder erupted for 23 points from the bench.
With that win, Thunder rounded off the season series 2-1 against the Rockets, but more importantly, OKC are only two games behind Rockets in the Western Conference standings.
As for James Harden and Co, they have tumbled down from third to sixth in West, and are bracing for a tough four-game road trip after the home game against an in-form Denver Nuggets on Thursday (IST).
