James Harden casually listened as reporters suggested the Miami Heat defense got to him. Could there be a more apropos ending to Monday’s Game 1 than this? And could there be a more fitting ending than Harden dismissing the idea.
Did he think the Heat’s P.J. Tucker, his one-time teammate in Houston, knew how to frustrate him?
“P.J.’s P.J.,” the Philadelphia 76ers star guard said.
What about only getting to the foul line four times rather than the 8.7 he averages?
“Next question,” he said.
Here it was, less than an hour after the Heat’s Game 1 win, and Harden still wasn’t playing aggressively. He couldn’t make some grand statement in a way that defines his career.
Harden, to be fair, is in the worst spot the singular scorer of a team can be. He’s in Erik Spolestra’s crosshairs. The Heat coach Trae-Young’d Harden in Monday’s Game 1 win. He took Harden so far out of the game in the second half he might as well stood in a concession line.
Harden talked of hard bodies meeting him at every turn, of never getting comfortable — and of the turnovers.
“Too many turnovers,” he said, meaning his five against five assists.
Quietly, so quietly, Spoelstra does what New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is famous for doing. He takes away the opponent’s best player whenever possible. Maybe if he wore a hoodie or cut off his sleeves people would notice more?
Look at the numbers. Harden averaged 21 points playing second fiddle to center Joel Embiid this season. He had 16 points as first fiddle in Game 1 when Philadelphia needed him to star.
With Embiid injured, Harden was the singular concern for the Heat — just as Young was in the previous Atlanta series. Young averaged 28.4 points in the regular season and 15.4 in the opening series against the Heat.
“I’ve got to go home and look at what happened,” Young said after the Heat won in five games.
Spoelstra happened. His developed roster and strategy happened. The roster is so deep even defensive dogs like Tucker and Jimmy Butler are replaced with equally imposing Caleb Martin and Victor Oladipo.
The strategy? Use a changing cast of bodies. Close down driving lanes. Be physical but don’t foul. Push him to spots he doesn’t like (can Harden drive to his right?) And demand someone else beat you.
Atlanta had no one else. Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris had 27 points Monday night. So what?
After trailing by a point in a lackluster first half, the Heat pulled away thanks to rebounding and defense in a second half, when Harden had just four points on 2-of-7 shooting. That’s it.
“I think I could be a little more aggressive,” Harden said. “They did a really good job of showing their bodies, crowding the ball. We’ll watch film and find ways to get better.”
Two seasons ago, Spoelstra set up The Great Wall against Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo to close his preferred driving lanes and flush them out of the playoffs.
Giannis shows the limitations with this in basketball, too. A more mature Milwaukee swept the Heat last year en route to its championship. You can’t out-strategize great teams in basketball. You just have to beat them.
It’s different with one-man bands like Atlanta and an Embiid-less Philadelphia. If asked to be the singular name on the marquee, Harden’s career shows a player capable of carrying a night, not a series. He made five-of-13 shots. He was just two-of-seven in the second half.
Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers talked of numbers he can control like the Heat having 13 more shots due in part to having six more offensive rebounds and three turnovers. But the Heat weren’t the Heat in Game 1, either. Not really.
Butler, possibly still battling knee tendinitis, had a hum-drum 15 points. Kyle Lowry was out with a sore hamstring. Bam Adebayo took advantage of Philadelphia’s leftovers at center and Tyler Herro had a good shooting night. But the Heat shot 43.5 percent to Philadelphia’s 43 percent.
Spoelstra talked of the Heat not adding “context” to these games’ meaning without Embiid. But let’s be clear. The Heat need these two opening games with Embiid out before seeing if he’s back for Game 3 on Friday. With Embiid, Philadelphia is interesting. Without him, they’re Atlanta.
Spoelstra, of course, talks of it just being one game, of how Harden is too good to have nights like this. All true. But Spoelstra also aligns with the idea that once you start thinking you’re great, you’re done.
“Trust the Process,” was Philadelphia’s sad motto as it tanked several seasons to supposedly assemble a powerhouse (sound familiar, Miami Dolphins fans?). Spoelstra’s motto is more akin to the words of Ron Rothstein, the one-time coach turned analyst, “Don’t trust happiness.”
One game isn’t anything to trust. But you’ve seen this Heat defense for a while now — for years, if you’ve paid attention. Give Spoelstra a hoodie and everyone would know.
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