Rockets guard James Harden controls the ball as Kyle Lowry defends during Tuesday's game in Toronto.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Stopping James Harden, the three-point happy straight shooter of the Houston Rockets, was at the top of the Toronto Raptors’ defensive to-do list heading into Tuesday’s game at Scotiabank Arena.
And with good reason.
The Beard is tearing it up once again this NBA, the leading scorer with an average of 36.7 points a game. Just over 40 per cent of his point production is accomplished from beyond – sometimes way beyond – the three-point arch.
Scoring 30 or more points is a cause for celebration when someone such as Pascal Siakam does it for the Raptors, which he has accomplished three times this season. Harden scored 30 or more points in 45 of the first 59 games he played this season, including six games of 50-plus.
The Raptors did an excellent job of containing Harden most of the way, but it was the likes of Gerald Green who was able to lay down the hammer as the Rockets survived a frantic Toronto comeback and pull away at the end for a 107-95 victory.
Give the Raptors credit. After being down and out in the first half, trailing by 22 points at one point in the second quarter, the Raptors picked themselves off the canvas to take a 71-69 lead into the fourth to at least make a game of it.
But the Raptors could not maintain the frantic pace. And with Green sinking back-to-back-to-back consecutive three’s to start the quarter, followed up by another long-distance strike by Eric Gordon, the Rockets lead was 83-73 with just over nine minutes left in the game, too big a gap for the Raptors to bridge on this night.
“That goes under the category of not playing well, it goes right up there,” Toronto coach Nick Nurse said after the game. “It’s got to be better.”
Harden led the Rockets with 35 points, but it was hard earned as he went 12-for-30 from the floor and just 3-of-9 from three-point territory. Nineteen of his points came in the final frame, when the Raptors were past caring.
With the Rockets and their potent offence providing the opposition, the Raptors made a prudent move by inserting defensive stalwart Kawhi Leonard back into the starting lineup. He led Toronto with 26 points in the setback.
The team star was given another of his frequent “load management” days off on Sunday in Toronto’s previous outing in Detroit – which the Pistons won 112-107 in overtime.
Nurse hinted before Tuesday’s game that the load-management days off may be over as the team heads into the playoffs.
“I don’t see a lot of load management going on for us here down the stretch,” he said. “We’ve had so many injuries that we’ve load-managed ourselves right into perfect load management, so we’re good.”
Houston carted a league-best five-game win streak into Tuesday’s game, during which the Rockets have started to creep up into the upper echelons of the Western Conference standing.
As for Harden, the Raptors were well aware of the load he would bring.
“He’s right there at the top of the toughest coverages in the league,” Nurse said before the game.
It was a rather blasé opening frame, in which the Rockets opened a 23-19 lead.
Toronto did a good job containing Harden, with both Danny Green and then OG Anunoby handling most of the primary defensive coverage, holding him to nine points off 3-of-10 shooting.
Ironically, it was with Harden on the bench to begin the second quarter when the Rockets started to make their first impression. Taking advantage of a soft Toronto defence, the Rockets embarked on a 17-2 run that lifted them into a 42-23 lead before eight minutes had elapsed.
With the Scotiabank faithful beginning to rumble about the inept performance of the home side, the Rockets extended their lead to as many as 22 before settling for a 55-37 bulge by the break.
The Raptors were slow off the mark, allowing too many second- and third-chance opportunities to the Rockets, who took full advantage of the unexpected hospitality. The Rockets connected on 65 per cent (13 of 20) of their field-goal attempts in the second frame compared to 29.2 per cent (seven of 24) for the Raptors.
The start of the third quarter was a lot like the second, only in reverse, with the Raptors snuffing the Rockets’ red glare.
Siakam connected on a couple threes and another by Danny Green with a little more than seven minutes left in the quarter had trimmed the Houston lead back to 57-52.
The Raptors defence was impenetrable and Toronto offence continued to roll, a 10-footer in the paint from Siakam lifting Toronto in front 60-59 with under five left and the fans were right back into it.
Siakam went off for 15 points in the period and the Raptors carried a 71-69 lead into the fourth.