The Denver Nuggets showcased their defensive prowess on Wednesday, as they scored a 105-95 victory against fellow Western Conference contenders, the Houston Rockets. Following the game, Rockets superstar James Harden was questioned about his rather pedestrian performance on the evening. The former league Most Valuable Player was in an understandably stand-offish mood, and when asked whether or not he thought Denver’s defense played a big part in his relatively poor play, Harden was simply having none of it.
“They got lucky,” Harden groused, via Sean Keeler of the Denver Post. “They got away with one.”
Harden logged 37 minutes on Wednesday, putting up 27 points (8-of-16 from the field, 7-of-10 from the stripe), four 3-pointers, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. This is actually still a pretty good line, but considering the fact that the 6-foot-5 guard/forward came in averaging a mind-boggling 39.2 points per ballgame, it cannot be denied that the Nuggets were successful in containing him in this one. Moreover, Harden also turned the ball over eight times, putting further emphasis on Denver’s lock down D on the seven-time All-Star.
As much as Harden would like to deny it, it’s hard to not give the Nuggets credit for doing a noteworthy defensive job on him. Based on his comments, it appears that the 30-year-old is looking to move on from this loss as quickly as he can. Things are only going to get tougher from here on out, though, with Houston set to face off against a powerhouse Los Angeles Clippers side on Friday.
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