Thanks to a last angry counter from James Harden, Houston qualified for the Western Conference semi-finals at the expense of Oklahoma City (104-102). The Rockets give themselves a shock against the Los Angeles Lakers.
James Harden shouted long seconds of rage after his decisive counter on Luguentz Dort 1.1 seconds from time, coupled with a salutary reflex, spreading his legs to avoid being hit by the ball thrown by his victim in the rebound. He knew that this defensive action would offer the Rockets, winners (104-102) of this 7th knife game against OKC, an NBA Western Conference semi-final against LeBron James’ Lakers.
“The Beard” decided to defend like never before in these play-offs, and it took him well because his match was painful on the offensive plan (17 pts, at 4/15 including 1/9 behind the arc, 9 assists, 3 blocks, 2 interceptions), terribly hampered by Dort.
“I couldn’t place a shot”
The Canadian Thunder rookie didn’t give him a millimeter of space and was surprisingly productive (30 pts). He was not far from being the unlikely hero of the evening. “I couldn’t place a shot, ultimately I against one, only things that really shouldn’t happen …”, smiled Harden afterwards.
The Rockets, who were able to count on Russell Westbrook (20 pts, 9 rebounds) and Robert Covington (21 pts, 6/11 at long distance), also had the relief to see Chris Paul miss an open shot with 44 seconds of the end, after some crazy action where the orange ball looked like a hot potato. The latter, who dreamed of revenge on Houston after his transfer to OKC in exchange for Westbrook last summer, finished with a triple-double (19 pts, 12 assists, 11 rebounds). In vain.
