Rockets star James Harden has rough start but comes through when it counts

TORONTO — In the wake of the Houston Rockets’ 107-95 win over the Toronto Raptors, James Harden sat hunched over one of his two phones, red headphones clamped on his head, with his feet in a tub of ice and knees encased in bandages and icebags.

After some quiet time, he removed the ice and hobbled to a back room. A septuagenarian might have beaten him there.

Minutes later he was a vision of style — clad in black under a stylish camel coat with a Givenchy bag over his shoulder.

Looking good takes time.

The Beard proved that on the court Tuesday. The NBA’s leading scorer had nine points (on 3-of-10 shooting) in the first quarter and four points (on 2-of-6 shooting) in the second. He added three more points in the third (on 1-of-7 shooting).

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As he missed shots, he collected fouls.

Then in the fourth, carrying four fouls and with Houston trailing 71-69, Harden scored 19 points (on 6-of-7 shooting) to turn the tide back in the Rockets’ favour after a Raptors surge in the third.

Gerald Green got the ball rolling with three straight threes. A little later Harden hit two of his trademark step-back three pointers.

“Shots went in. Our defence got better, a lot better to tell you the truth,” point guard Chris Paul, who finished with 10 assists but just five points on 1-of-10 shooting, said of the fourth quarter.

Said Harden: “We locked back in, got some stops and put some points on the board.”

Harden, who came into the game averaging 36.7 points, finished with 35 points on 12-of-30 shooting. He has now led the Rockets outright in scoring in 42 straight games played — the fifth-longest streak in league history.

“I think I was playing well but I wasn’t shooting it well,” said Harden. “I had a lot of opportunities at the rim that I didn’t convert on. And so I wanted to make sure I converted on those (in the fourth) because that was the game right there.”

The win was the sixth straight for Houston (39-25), tying its longest run of the season.

Harden saw one streak snapped after taking just nine three-pointers (and making three) on the night.

Harden had attempted at least 10 three-pointers in each of his previous 34 games played, the longest streak in NBA history.

While Harden struggled early, the Houston bench stepped up. Green (18), Austin Rivers (13) and Nene (6) combined for 37 points. 

“I loved a lot of it. I hated some of it,” a smiling Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said of the game.

With just Iman Shumpert (calf) and Kenneth Faried (hip) missing through injury, the Rockets are getting healthy.

“Once those guys gets back, we can continue to push,” said Harden.

“Right now we feel good,” added Paul, “and as long as we’re healthy, we’re going to be one of the best teams in the league.”

It’s been a season of streaks for the Rockets.

Houston is 10-3 over its last 13 games, after going 7-7 the 14 games prior, after winning 11 of 12 before that, after starting the season 11-14.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press