NEW YORK -- James Harden is crafty. He is calculating. It is not inaccurate to describe him as deceitful. He dribbles too much for my taste, has slowed the Houston Rockets' pace to a crawl and his mastery of drawing fouls frustrates opposing teams and their fans every time he steps on the court. If you want to play on his team, you must accept the fact that the open looks he creates come at a cost: You will be doing a lot of standing around.
Harden is not, however, boring. Nor is his game ugly, gimmicky or robotic. His isolations might not be as aesthetically pleasing as a Stephen Curry flurry, but the narrative that he is somehow gaming the system or taking the fun out of the sport doesn't account for some of the ridiculous things he does with the basketball in his hands. Harden does not have to be your favorite player, but whenever I hear that his production is more impressive than entertaining, I think about plays like this:
That is pretty, and it is just as illustrative of Harden's style as any of his foul-drawing techniques. It is the kind of thing you can easily picture Manu Ginobili doing in the fourth quarter of a close game, to the delight of everybody who praised the Spurs legend's creativity and brilliance when he announced his retirement five months ago. About a decade ago, at the draft combine, Harden described himself as "Ginobili and Paul Pierce put together." He studied Ginobili's footwork and finishing ability, too.
It is worth remembering that the Rockets do not isolate as much as they do because coach Mike D'Antoni loves playing that way. Their offense tilted in this direction last season when opponents started switching more often against their high pick-and-rolls. Harden's increasing reliance on lulling his defender to sleep and making plays one-on-one evolved the same way, a result of other teams not wanting him to destroy their defenses in the pick-and-roll. His ability to do that, by the way, has not gone anywhere:
The argument here is not that Houston's system should please purists the way that the Golden State Warriors' offense does. It is that, when a team's entire goal is to put one of the best playmakers imaginable in position to make plays, it's not such a bad thing. When Kyrie Irving puts on a dazzling dribbling display in a one-on-one situation, no one complains. When LeBron James barrels toward the bucket, leaving defenders helpless, no one says his game lacks aesthetic appeal.
Harden's off-the-dribble 3s should inspire awe. The balance required to hit these shots on a regular basis -- after crossovers, after stepbacks, after sidesteps -- make them unfeasible for almost anyone else, stars included. You might laugh at the sheer audacity he has when lining them up:
If Harden was strictly a scorer, his divisiveness would be easier to understand. He shoots a lot, sure, but it's not as if he takes long 2s over multiple defenders. He might be the most effective downhill driver this league has ever seen because of his handle, his ability to change speeds and, crucially, his vision. Look at this absolutely absurd pass to P.J. Tucker, and notice that he directed Tucker to that spot:
"If you tell him, 'OK, you can't score, you have to be a point guard,' he'd be the best in the league," D'Antoni said. "His passing is ridiculously good."
D'Antoni said this on Wednesday, the night when Harden dropped a career-high 61 points against the New York Knicks. In the middle of the second quarter, Harden went to the free throw line and received an MVP chant from the Madison Square Garden chant. Seconds later, boos drowned it out.
If you hate Harden's game, then Houston's 114-110 win would have been your nightmare. He went 17-for-38 from the field, 5-for-20 from 3-point range and 22-for-25 from the free throw line. None of his baskets were assisted and he had a 53.1 percent usage rate, per NBA.com, a number that might even make Russell Westbrook blush. I found it thrilling, though, to see him do his thing over and over again. One clutch foray to the rim, in particular, stood out:
Harden and his team have dared to avoid half-measures. Everybody knows what Houston wants to do, and yet it remains extremely difficult to stop. Rockets guard Austin Rivers told CBS Sports that they hear that a lot of people don't like the way they play, and they don't particularly care.
"If people don't like it, then turn it off, I guess," Rivers said. "Because we're not going to change for anybody."
And why would they? D'Antoni acknowledged that Chris Paul will take some of the pressure off Harden when the point guard returns from injury soon, but he won't tell the reigning MVP not to dominate. Houston has won 16 of its last 22 games, with Harden averaging 42.5 points in that span. Why not just enjoy the show?
"I've never seen a player do this," Rivers said. "We're witnessing history. He just had 61 in the f---ing Garden, man. It's incredible."
Blanketing Buddy
After the Brooklyn Nets' 123-94 victory against the Sacramento Kings on Monday, the first player coach Kenny Atkinson singled out was not guard D'Angelo Russell, who had 31 points and eight assists. It was not sharpshooter Joe Harris, who had 19 points and seven boards. It was Treveon Graham, the wing who did absolutely everything he could to make Buddy Hield's life difficult.
Hield, who is in the middle of a sensational season, scored 11 points in the first half and zero after that. Graham blanketed him, trying to deny him the ball. When Hield did get it, Graham made sure he was not comfortable.
Look at how Graham waits for Hield at halfcourt and refuses to give him any space, completely taking him out of this play:
When scorers are defended like that, they can get antsy. Here is Hield taking a contested stepback jumper from about 18 feet, which, yikes:
Now look at how hard Graham closes out on Hield on the wing, preventing a catch-and-shoot jumper:
Here, the only way Hield can get the ball is to receive a handoff near halfcourt, and even then Graham pokes it away:
Brooklyn, back in action on Friday against the Knicks (7:30 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV), has won 18 of its last 23 games, and that isn't all because of Russell's scoring outbursts. The Nets have been an average defensive team throughout this turnaround, and sometimes they look like a genuinely good one, a major step up from where they have been the last few years. Russell could make the All-Star Game, but Brooklyn's ascension has been about depth and resilience. Spencer Dinwiddie came off the bench to lead the Nets in scoring in their 114-110 win against the Magic on Wednesday, and this is not an unusual occurrence. If Caris LeVert picks up where he left off when he returns to the lineup, watch out.
As for Graham, it is not clear yet if he will become another success story for Brooklyn's front office and player development program. The track record is encouraging, though, and if he keeps playing defense the way he did against Hield, it will be tough for Atkinson to keep him out of the lineup.
The mixtape: Boogie down
In September 2012, DeMarcus Cousins tweeted, "They call me a young Luther Vandross." Last week, when Cousins made his debut for the Warriors, Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported that Vandross was one of the artists he listened to during his rehab sessions, prompting one member of the organization to say, "Man, you don't know if he's getting ready to make love or preparing to shoot a basketball." This is all the context you need for this week's mixtape:
Sidenote: What is it with the Warriors and Luther Vandross? Just 12 months ago, Draymond Green said after a game that he thought about getting a technical foul but then thought about the music he had listened to in the bath earlier that day. "Luther one of the GOATs," Green told reporters:
Checking in on ... Norman Powell
Toronto's bench hasn't been killing teams the way it was expected to this season, but there have been bright spots. One of them is the play of wing Norman Powell, who had a rough go of it in 2017-18 after signing a four-year, $42 million contract extension.
Powell's averages of 7.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 18.6 minutes don't scream "bounceback season," but his efficiency does. His true shooting percentage is a career-high 58.8 percent, and he has made 37 percent of his 3s, including 41.5 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s -- if he keeps that up, he should have a place in the Raptors' rotation in the playoffs.
In Toronto earlier this month, Powell told CBS Sports that, when he got his opportunities last season, he was overthinking. He so badly wanted to make something happen whenever he got on the court for a few minutes, even in garbage time, that he was pressing instead of letting the game come to him. The difference now is that he is comfortable.
"Just being able to be myself," Powell said. "And being able to attack, get into the paint, see what the defense is giving me, see my finishes, seeing kickouts, seeing drop-offs, just being aggressive and getting the ball moving. I feel really good that I'm able to go out there and play and not have to really second-guess, just be able to get myself into the game, go out there and just play and not think about anything."
Powell watched film from last season in the summer and knew he had to play at his own pace and make better decisions. Coach Nick Nurse has allowed him to "probe a little bit more," Powell said, and encourages him to shoot when defenders go under screens. The 25-year-old has room to grow, particularly as a playmaker for others, but he has made that contract look a lot better than it did this time last year.
Hmmmm: Should the All-Star break be earlier?
By the All-Star break, the Boston Celtics will have played 58 games. Their coach, Brad Stevens, isn't sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
"I was looking at it," Stevens said. "Because we moved the season up, maybe there is an argument at some point to move the All-Star break up. I think the benefit of it is, after you come back, you're sitting at one-fourth of your season left. I think we found that to be beneficial last year heading into the playoffs, where you have a little bit more freshness come April 12 or whatever it was."
The Celtics shocked the world in the playoffs last year, finishing a few 3-pointers away from the NBA Finals, so it is understandable that Stevens would have some hesitation when it comes to changing things around. He is onto something, though, in terms of the schedule. If you're going to start the season earlier, why keep All-Star in mid-to-late February?
I am all for the idea of an earlier All-Star break -- it doesn't have to be at the exact midpoint of the season, but it makes sense to do it somewhere around there. Since opening night is going to be pushed back by a week in 2019-20 anyway, the league could accomplish this without it feeling like a drastic difference.
10 more stray thoughts: Reason 1 and Reason 2 why Knicks fans won't give up on Frank Ntilikina, even if it isn't clear that the organization is committed to him … Mike Conley could help so many teams, but it's tough making hypothetical trades work … The Sixers are must-watch right now … Remember when the Warriors seemed sort of vulnerable? Me neither … I wish the Thunder had pushed the pace like this years ago … Can we officially stop calling John Collins the league's best-kept secret now? This dude is something else … I know it's working just fine, but it's still pretty weird that Otto Porter Jr. continues to come off the bench … Who is having a better time than Donovan Mitchell lately? … Fun with advanced stats: LeBron's usage rate is 30.5 percent, Michael Beasley's is 29.4 percent … Free Enes Kanter!