Key #2 – Shut down James Harden
My J-Notes colleague Tyler Crandall already touched on it earlier today, but when facing the Rockets, it’s the absolute truth – shutting down James Harden is a must. Harden was an MVP candidate for a reason last year as he shouldered an immense load for his Rockets team, thus it’s no exaggeration to say that slowing him down is very akin to cutting the head off the snake.
Unsurprisingly, Harden is off to a fantastic start this season as he’s putting up 26.8 points per game on his best three-point shooting percentage (36.8) since the 2014-15 season. Not only that, but his turnovers (which have been one of his greatest weaknesses) are down somewhat from last year, which if he can continue to improve there, it should elevate his game significantly.
Utah Jazz key match-up 11/3: Ricky Rubio and James Harden https://t.co/4nFknogzfA pic.twitter.com/BHEDSuvwEX
— The J-Notes (@TheJNotes) November 5, 2017
It also comes as no surprise, though, that in Houston’s trio of losses this season, Harden has been much less effective. In those defeats, his points have been down by nearly five per game and his field goal percentage has been a mediocre 36.7 percent, compared to 45.3 percent in wins. Meanwhile, his three-point percentage has been an awful 29.2 percent, compared to 40 percent in wins. He’s also turning it over 5.7 times in losses, compared to 4.6 in wins.
Therefore, it will be absolutely vital that Utah’s slew of solid defenders such as Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell and Thabo Sefolosha lock Harden down and make him work for every shot he takes. Make no mistake about it, the prolific combo guard is going to find a way to score, be it from the field or the foul line, but if the Jazz render him inefficient and frustrate him into turning the ball over several times, it could very well produce an unexpected Utah victory.