Written by Tim McMahon at ESPN.com
It will take much more than the worst playoff shooting performance of James Harden’s career for Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni to start worrying about his superstar.
“I’m not concerned about James Harden,” D’Antoni said after the San Antonio Spurs salvaged a split of the first two games while holding Harden to 13 points on 3-of-17 shooting in Wednesday’s 121-96 rout of the Rockets. “That’s the least of my problems.”
Kawhi Leonard ranks as the greatest of problems for D’Antoni, Harden and the rest of the Rockets. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich proclaimed Leonard to be the best player in the NBA, declaring that his excellence on both ends of the floor separated the forward from the league’s other elite players, and Leonard’s display of all-around dominance in the gotta-have-it Game 2 win added ammunition to that argument.
Leonard’s offensive brilliance was breathtaking, a historically efficient exhibit. He scored 34 points on 13-of-16 shooting, putting up the best field goal percentage (81.3) in Spurs playoff history by a player with at least 15 attempts. He also had his best passing performance, dishing out a career-high eight assists.
How rare of air did Leonard’s statistical line reach? The last time a player put up at least 30 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds while shooting 80 percent from the field in a playoff game: Michael Jordan in Game 2 of the 1991 NBA Finals.
Oh, and Leonard also had a lot to do with Harden’s shooting inefficiency, whether or not The Beard is willing to admit as much.
“I just missed layups,” Harden grumbled when asked about the impact of being defended by Leonard, which occurred much more often in the second game of the series than the opener.
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