Houston Rockets point guard Chris Paul says James Harden's presence on the court is “sometimes the biggest assist” for him.
Paul isn't as explosive as he used to be, so he can't get by defenders and collapse the paint at a high rate anymore. But because defenders always have to pay attention to where Harden is, the Rockets' veteran floor general is able to find lane penetration.
“It’s been great. It’s been cool. It’s the way that we play,” Paul said, via Michael Pina of SB Nation. “If you play the way that we play, push it in transition and stuff like that, and then we play together some and then we don’t play together some. I don’t think for me and him, we don’t even pay any attention [to assisting each other].
“Sometimes the biggest assist is having James on the court, and me driving and them hugged on him. There’s no stat for that though. There’s no stat for that. When I’m driving, and the guy is denying him, you know what I mean?”
When Paul joined the Rockets last summer, a lot of people were wondering how he was going to play with Harden since both players need the ball in their hands to be effective.
However, Paul has proven to be a good catch-and-shoot player, which allows the Rockets to put the ball in Harden's hands more and let Paul play off-the-ball and benefit from the crowd which Harden draws when he's driving.
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