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James Harden battles through eye injury, Warriors win Game 2 with awesome defense

By Dan FeldmanMay 1, 2019, 2:02 AM EDT
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James Harden squinted and scratched his head as he walked off the court.

How did that just happen?

The Rockets shot way better than the Warriors from beyond the arc. Houston went on a 7-1 run with the shot clock off in the fourth quarter. The Rockets even drew more fouls and attempted more free throws than Golden State in a game Scott Foster refereed.

Yet, the Warriors took a 2-0 lead in the second-round series with a 115-109 Game 2 win Tuesday. Teams that won the first two games of a best-of-seven series at home have won the series 94% of the time.

Houston will have plenty of time to regroup before Game 3 Saturday. Nobody could use it more than Harden.

Draymond Green swiped Harden in the eyes in the first quarter, and Harden left the game for a while. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said Harden was bleeding from his eyes. Harden (29 points) returned, but he was playing throughout bloodshot and watery eyes that were still clearly bothering him after the game.

Still, Golden State’s inspired defense deserves credit. All five starters – especially Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant – were swarming.

The Warriors also crashed the offensive glass hard, particularly players coming from the weakside.

That’s why Golden State won despite shooting just 31% on 3-pointers to Houston’s 43%.

Curry also missed time in the first half with a finger injury. Though he shot just 3-of-13 on 3-pointers, including 2-for-7 while playing with the Warriors’ other starters, Curry proved helpful with his gravity. Golden State’s starting lineup posted a 143 offensive rating. The connection between Green (15 points and seven assists) and Iguodala (16 points and four assists) proved particularly fruitful as Curry drew attention.

Durant (29 points) cooked. Thompson (21 points) got hot.

The Rockets just couldn’t match that offensive output during the game’s competitive time. The Warriors got up big early and never trailed, even though Houston – sparked by Austin Rivers (14 points, +11) – cut into the margin with Harden out in the first half.

A wonky final couple minutes, featuring odd turnovers and fouls, made the final scpre misleadingly close.

Thankfully, in a game with the leadup focused on refereeing, both teams mostly focused on just playing basketball. There were a few noteworthy moments related to officials. Golden State griped a little in the third quarter. Harden drew a three-shot foul on a Durant closeout, and Chris Paul laid it on thick by pumping his fist while helping up Harden. Green and Nene got a double technical foul – which could rescinded, but is for now Green’s fourth technical foul of the playoffs (toward a limit of six before suspension). Green’s swipe of Harden’s eyes went un-whistled.

But this was mostly the clean, competitive game everyone wanted – just one controlled by the Warriors from start to finish.

 

Gross! James Harden bleeds from his eyes, Stephen Curry dislocates his finger (VIDEO)

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By Dane DelgadoMay 1, 2019, 12:15 AM EDT
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When the playoffs come, you can’t question the toughness of NBA players.

On Tuesday night, James Harden was hit in the face by Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, which caused the Houston Rockets star to head to the locker room. Green promptly apologized.

Early reports after Harden’s exit was that he was bleeding from his eye. After all of Twitter collectively said “yuck” Houston’s best player returned to the bench and eventually to the game.

As one might expect, Harden’s eyes didn’t exactly look like they were in a tip-top shape. Then again, Harden quickly went to his patented step-back jumper and it appeared that he had the ability to at least score for the Rockets.

Via Twitter:

Around the same time, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry dislocated his finger on the arm of Houston’s Clint Capela. Images of Curry’s hand were notably disgusting, but he too returned to the game with a bunch of tape on his left hand.

Sure enough, Curry quickly hit a 3-pointer to signal that he was going to be okay the rest of the way.

Via Twitter:

This series could very well be the “real” Western Conference Finals, and both teams are giving it all they’ve got.

Bucks pound Celtics by 21 as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton even series

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By Dane DelgadoApr 30, 2019, 11:45 PM EDT
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Much to Paul Pierce’s chagrin, this series is not over.

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in Game 2 of their second-round series, 123-102. It was an absolute drubbing by the Bucks, particularly after halftime when Milwaukee scored 39 points in the third quarter compared to Boston’s 19.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points to go with 10 rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The Greek Freak went to the free-throw line 18 times, dominating from the charity stripe. Teammate Khris Middleton poured in 28 points with seven rebounds.

All in all, it was a triumphant return to how the Bucks played throughout the first round against the Detroit Pistons. For Boston, it was a return to the kind of irregular play that we saw from them during the course of the regular season.

And to be honest, that’s was the biggest takeaway from Game 2.

The Celtics have been bandied about as potential NBA Finals contenders since July, when LeBron James decided to change conferences and head to the Los Angeles Lakers. But they have often been up and down with their play, and a dark cloud has hung over their locker room culture, blocking the light around Kyrie Irving.

For as much as he tried to force the issue to start of the third quarter, Irving just couldn’t get it going on Tuesday night. The Boston point guard scored just nine points in total, going 4-of-18 from the field.

The series now turns to Boston, with things tied 1-1. The question will be whether this Celtics team can come together and find some sort of continuity. Even with some of their starters in on Tuesday night, the Celtics couldn’t get it together against a staunch Bucks defense that often didn’t have Antetokounmpo on the floor.

It’s not going to be a sweep for either of these teams now. Confidence was at least restored in part for Boston after their Game 1 win over the top-seeded Bucks. Now, with Boston showing flashes of how they looked at their worst this season, we have to wonder whether they can activate a playoff mode of their own or are simply going to revert to old habits.

Milwaukee was always a favorite in this series. Boston showed signs of life on Sunday. If they want to convince us that we should have any confidence in them at all, they need to show up and show some consistency at home starting in Game 3.

Joel Embiid says he had ‘the s—ts’ before Game 2 win over Raptors (VIDEO)

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By Dane DelgadoApr 30, 2019, 11:30 PM EDT
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Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia Sixers took Game 2 against the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, 94-89.

Embiid was questionable to join the game, both because of his nagging knee issue but also because of gastroenteritis. The Sixers big man said as much after the game while at the podium with teammate Jimmy Butler.

Of course, in his own special way, Embiid described what was happening to him before the win.

Warning, NSFW language ahead.

Via Twitter:

That’s one way to put it.

Embiid came out of the contest against the Raptors with a statline of 12 points, six rebounds, six turnovers, and five assists.

He didn’t play his best game, but the Sixers came together and beat Toronto on their home court.

Game 3 is on Thursday back in Pennsylvania.

Kevin Durant on James Harden: ‘I don’t think he’s been cheating the game at all’

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By Dane DelgadoApr 30, 2019, 9:30 PM EDT
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The Houston Rockets have been the talk of the NBA after word came out that the team had been doing data analysis on specific foul calls in relation to the Golden State Warriors.

Whole thing smelled like sour grapes, particularly after Houston had lost Game 1 of their second-round series to the Warriors on Sunday.

Given that Houston has both Chris Paul and James Harden, their complaints about referee officiating has seemed a touch disingenuous. Of course, now folks are starting to ask other players around league about Rockets.

According to Golden State’s Kevin Durant, he doesn’t feel as though Harden is cheating the rules of the game.

Via ESPN:

“I wouldn’t say that he has an advantage,” Durant said after the morning shootaround before Game 2 on Tuesday night. “I think everybody, once they get into the lane, they use little tricks to try to get their shots off. I don’t think he’s any different.

“He may bump guys off going to the rim, but everybody does that. I wouldn’t say that he’s found a way to … cheat the rules. I wouldn’t say that. I just think that he has his style of play. It might not be what everybody likes to see, but it’s been effective. And I don’t think he’s been cheating the game at all.”

Durant was teammates with Harden in Oklahoma City, and the Warriors forward no doubt has a couple of tricks up his sleeve that he’d like to continue to go unnoticed by officials. No need to draw ire here.

And the problem is not that Harden is cheating the rules. In fact, in large part Harden, Paul, and several other superstars are explicitly not cheating the rules, but their results have fans groaning about the flow and spirit of the game. They’re taking advantage of specific sight lines and issues that referees have as they try to officiate a game that has grown stronger, faster, and smarter.

It’s been put forth that all the tricks that Harden and players of his ilk have learned over time have made them believe that they should get certain calls in situations due to the patterns referees have allowed them. That doesn’t mean that some of those calls are, altruistically, fouls.

In short, Harden seems to get upset every offseason because he can no longer manufacture foul calls on the same moves he did in the regular season. Whether that’s fair or not is up for interpretation.

The referees have been a constant source of conversation over the course of these playoffs with just how poorly they’ve performed, especially with an audience at home that can watch instant replays and see the right call nearly in real time.

The NBA will need to address the situation with the referees during the off-season. For now, the league does not agree with Houston’s methodology and how they believe they’ve been unfairly disadvantaged by the boys in gray.