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OAKLAND, Calif. – James Harden, reigning MVP and consecutive scorer of the NBA scorers, played a complementary role in the most important minutes of the season for the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets outshot the Golden State Warriors by one point when Harden came back in Wednesday's fifth game with 7 minutes and 8 seconds left. He only tried one shot from the ground the rest of the match – a lay-up that reduced the deficit to three with 18 seconds to play – and did not even touch the ball for several possessions.
Harden scored 31 points and eight assists in the 104-99 loss, putting the Rockets tied for the Western Conference semifinal series, which will be held in Houston for the sixth game on Friday. fourth quarter assistance. He had no explanation for his unusually passive game late in defeat.
"I mean, I do not know," said Harden, who was 10-on-16 off the ground for the night, the least of which was placing him for him in the playoffs. "I have to go back and watch the game. What about guys who get shot, open looks, try to make good games at certain times of the match, I I'm not sure."
The Rockets managed to score 18 points in the final at 7:08 despite Harden's lack of involvement, whose sole fourth-quarter assist returned to Clint Capela for a dunk that brought Houston down four points to 40.6 seconds from the end. Harden's only free kick in the fourth quarter is the result of a technical foul on Draymond Green.
Harden brought the Rockets back to a 14-point deficit at half-time with a dominant third quarter. He played every second in the frame, scoring 12 points and distributing three assists.
Harden was only absent for 67 seconds in the fourth quarter, but fell to the background when he was on the ground. He was 2-in-3 off the floor in the quarter, a stark contrast to his average eight fielding attempts in the fourth quarter of the previous four games in the series.
"I want to say, [Harden] do what we need to do, "said Rockets coach Mike D & # 39; Antoni." He kind of let go a little. We marked each time that he was rather quiet. He reads that.
"I thought he was playing a monster game." He played [44 minutes, 53 seconds]. Everything we need from him, he gives it to us. I thought he was great. "
Paul made three turnovers, the last arriving at a critical moment when he was called for an accusation at 3:39 remaining and the Rockets shot by three points. Green hits 3 seconds later and Houston never makes this game a possession.
"A difficult loss, we had opportunities," said Paul. "But we have to be better at the offensive [and] defensively, especially myself. "
Harden pointed out that the defense was the main reason why the Rockets, who had 20 points behind in the first half, could not complete their offer.
The Warriors scored 32 points on 10 out of 20 shots without any turnaround in the fourth quarter despite the absence of the superstar striker Kevin Durant, who came out with a straight calf stretched towards the end of the third quarter. Golden State goalkeeper Stephen Curry scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter.
"I think it's on the defensive that you win the series," Harden said. "It's clear and simple, you can not do too much nitpick, over-analyze the game." "You have to make stops to put yourself in a position to win.
Paul added, "We just have to be better, we have to bounce back, let's leave this one too, it's over, we can not get it back, we have to go home and take care of match 6."
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