James Harden Gave the Jazz a Perfect Opportunity. Utah Squandered It.

[corbe]

James Harden Gave the Jazz a Perfect Opportunity. Utah Squandered It.

The Jazz’s stellar defense forced a shockingly bad shooting performance from one of the best scorers in NBA history. But it wasn’t enough to come away with a victory in Game 3 against the Rockets. It might be time to bring out the broom.

By Paolo Uggetti    Apr 21, 2019, 3:01am EDT  



Solve the following riddle. In Game 3 of the first-round series between the Rockets and the Jazz, James Harden took 20 shots and made only three of them; he hit only two of his 13 3-point attempts; his first field goal of the game came with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter and it was a wide-open fast-break dunk. The Rockets as a whole shot 38 percent from the field and 33 percent from deep; they took seven fewer free throws than Utah. And yet they beat the Jazz, 104-101, Saturday. How did they do it?

There is a simple answer: They are the Houston Rockets, and they were playing the Utah Jazz. But there is a fuller picture at play here, of a team that can withstand a historically bad shooting night from their best player (Harden went 0-for-10 in the first half, which matched the most field goal attempts without a make in any half over the last 20 postseasons) and make up for a severe regression to the mean. The Jazz, for most of the game, were gifted a perfect opportunity; capitalize on one of the most atypical nights of Harden’s career and change the tenor of a lopsided series. Unfortunately, they couldn’t score enough to maintain their advantage. And now Houston is on the brink of advancing to Round 2.

That Harden somehow still ended up with 22 points is unbelievable, but not that difficult to explain. After that dunk removed the lid from the hoop, he came back and knocked down a 3 and then another clutch one in the closing minutes. But even though his shot wasn’t dropping for most of the night—he missed his first 15 shots of the game, nine of which were 3s—Harden kept driving and dishing (he finished with 10 assists), finding contact, and making his way to the line repeatedly. Though 14 of his 22 points came on free throws, Harden seemed genuinely shocked in the ESPN postgame interview when informed of his abysmal start.

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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/4/21/18509677/james-harden-gave-the-jazz-a-perfect-opportunity-utah-squandered-it

[corbe]

    Tonight, Game 4 @ Utah.......



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[goatprairie]

Speed bump last night for the Rockets.  They were a little lucky the previous game, and the series could be tied.
But it isn't. 
The fact that Houston survived an awful game from Harden the previous game and won should bode well for their future series.  I don't think Utah has enough firepower to come back from being down 3-1.
And Harden is due for another 40+ pt. game.

[corbe]

   Last nights game was a disappointment, I'll settle for a gentlemen's sweep.

[corbe]

   We're on our way to poop city!!!!!!

[goatprairie]

   We're on our way to poop city!!!!!!

Not quite. Oracle Arena is across the bay. But you might be able to smell the fecal matter if the wind is blowing towards the east. Hopefully, it's the Warriors who leave a big stink.