James Harden determined to ‘shoot those same shots’ despite woeful shooting night vs. Timberwolves

James Harden followed a 44-point masterpiece in Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves with a measly 12-point effort in Game 2, which proved enough to dispatch the Wolves into an 0-2 holes in the series.

Yet the NBA’s leading scorer was unfazed by a horrid 2-of-18 shooting night, including 1-of-10 from beyond the arc, rendering him into a very inefficient version of himself.

“I’m more happy than anybody right now, believe it or not, just because I’m not really worried about my shot,” said Harden, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “I had those same shots in Game 1, and they went in. In Game 3, I’ll shoot those same shots.”

Harden counted with a stellar performance from point guard Chris Paul and Gerald Green, who carried the bulk of the scoring through his struggles from the field.

“But I’m fortunate to have guys like Gerald [Green] and just the entire team to have my back on both ends of the floor,” added Harden, who had three steals and three blocks to compensate on the defensive end of the floor. “I just tried to make an impact on the game in other ways, not just offensively. Happy we got the win.”

The Rockets have done a great job frustrating the inside scoring of Karl-Anthony Towns and forcing the Timberwolves to out-shoot them for the series, which they have proved unable to do thus far.

Minnesota is shooting 13-of-41 from deep, a far cry from the 26-of-89 that the Rockets have put up. Houston won’t be the most effective team from deep, but they will take enough shots to carve an advantage — a strategy that so far has panned out for Harden and company.

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