Rockets' James Harden gets key defensive stop as scoring streak continues

HOUSTON -- Coach Nick Nurse came up with a simple strategy during a timeout when the Toronto Raptors had a chance to complete a wild comeback: target James Harden.

The Raptors, who trailed by 19 points with 5 minutes, 35 seconds left and 11 with 1:14 left, executed the plan by forcing Harden to switch onto Kawhi Leonard after Norman Powell set a high screen on PJ Tucker.

Harden, however, prevented perennial All-Star Leonard from getting a good look at the basket. He forced Leonard into taking a tough, tightly contested 3-pointer from the right wing that failed to even draw iron at the buzzer as the Houston Rocketswon 121-119.

"He can play defense when he wants to," Tucker said with a wry smile, well aware that his buddy Harden might not find his comment funny. "Everybody always talks [bad] on James about him playing defense, but he wants to win."

Harden continued one of the best scoring runs ever with 35 points against the Raptors, extending his streak of 30-plus-point performances to 22 games. It's the fourth-longest streak of 30-point games in NBA history, surpassed only by Wilt Chamberlain, who has three streaks longer than Harden's, including a record 65.

Harden also had seven assists -- five to Kenneth Faried, who was phenomenal in his Houston home debut with 21 points and 14 rebounds -- but it was far from a spectacular offensive performance by the reigning MVP's ridiculously high standards. Fresh off a franchise-record 61 points in Wednesday's win over the New York Knicks, Harden was 9-of-25 from the field and 2-of-13 from 3-point range in his lowest-scoring outing since a Jan. 7 win over the Denver Nuggets.

"James gets 35, and it's like, 'Oh really, that's all he can do?'" Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said.

"It's kind of weird not to see him score 45 or 50," Rockets reserve wing Gerald Green said.

Many would consider it weird to see Harden make a game-saving stop, considering his reputation as a subpar defender. But it didn't necessarily come as a surprise to the Rockets.

"His defense is a lot better than what people give him credit for," D'Antoni said. "You have to pick something, I guess, but he came up huge."

Harden has established himself as an elite post defender over the past two years. According to Second Spectrum data, he allows only 0.74 points per post-up possession, which is tied for the fourth fewest in the NBA among players who have defended at least 75 post possessions.

He is still below average as an isolation defender, ranking in the 30th percentile by allowing 0.99 points per possession in those situations, according to Second Spectrum. That's why the Raptors wanted him matched up with Leonard, who scored 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting, after rallying to give themselves a chance to steal a win with help from the Rockets, who committed two turnovers and had Eric Gordon miss an ill-advised 3-pointer in the final minute to give Toronto hope of pulling off a miracle comeback.

"Everyone is going to make mistakes, but your energy and your effort makes up for those mistakes," Harden said. "Tonight, I'm sure we made a lot of mistakes, but the way we rotated and boxed out and guarded the basketball made up for a lot of them."

Harden embraced the challenge, clinching Houston's 12th win in the 17-game stretch missed by Chris Paul, whom the Rockets expect to return Sunday against the Orlando Magic after sitting out five weeks because of a strained left hamstring.

"It's impressive," Rockets guard Austin Rivers said. "He played good D, man. It was Kawhi and he moved his feet and forced him to take a really tough shot. James has actually been playing solid defense since I've been here, to be honest. That whole defensive liability thing for him is dead, from what I've seen."