Houston Rockets superstar guard James Harden only made two field goals in Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers, which can't happen again if Mike D'Antoni's squad wants to come back from the 3-1 series deficit.
Harden finished Game 4 shooting just 2-of-11 from the field. He did finish with 21 points, as the former MVP got to the free-throw line 20 times and made 16. Still, that's simply not enough production.
While speaking to reporters on Friday, D'Antoni revealed what must happen for Harden to break free and go off against a stingy Lakers defense:
How can the #Rockets free James Harden in Game 5?
D’Antoni: “Obviously we got to speed up. …There are times he’s got to be a bit more selfish.”
— Michael Shapiro (@mshap2) September 11, 2020
The Lakers are often double-teaming James Harden pretty much as soon as he crosses the half-court line. With that being said, Mike D'Antoni may have to start having a screener set a pick for Harden as soon as he crosses half court so the Rockets star can have some room to operate and go downhill more.
The Rockets are one loss away from getting bounced in the second round of the playoffs for the second straight season. There could be a bevy of changes in Houston if the team falls to the Lakers like it looks like they will, so there's a lot of pressure on Harden and D'Antoni to come back and win this series.
Thus far in the Lakers series, Harden is averaging 29.3 points per game while shooting 47.0 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. While those are great numbers, Harden can't shot 18.2 percent from the floor in a pivotal Game 4 as he did on Thursday if he wants to be considered one of the best scorers of all time. He also needs to produce more in critical fourth quarters after scoring just 21 total points in the final frame over the first four games.
Follow Us
Subscribe