Step 1: Contain James Harden
No one in the NBA can contain James Harden. We know this. That is why he is the runaway MVP favorite. What you can do against him, however, is not give him wide open, uncontested shots–otherwise known as free throws.
This is where Harden is better than anyone else in the NBA. He gets to the line at ease and has led the league in free throws attempted each of the last two seasons and hasn’t finished outside the top three in this category over the past five years.
But how do you prevent this?
Play defense with your feet. Sounds simple, but it’s really not. Harden will tantalize you with a steal by putting the ball out and daring you to reach for it. As soon as the defender inevitably takes the bait, he’ll put his arms around the defender, throw his head back and scream. This is usually enough to draw a foul, and cause the defender to hop around like he has ants in his pants while he goes screaming at a referee.
Limit his production at the free throw line and make him settle for contested layups and step back jumpers, and you have yourself a “contained” James Harden. He’ll still probably average over 30 ppg for the series, but what are you gonna do?
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