James Harden pleased with his NBA Finals debut - Vows to come back stronger after an off night
James Harden`s 5 points on a 2-of-6 shooting night is not the kind of performance everybody has grown accustomed to from the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. But despite his low scoring outing, Oklahoma City Thunder recorded their
first ever win in the NBA Finals, against the Miami Heat after turning the game around in the second half.
In the press conference following his team`s first ever win in the Finals, Harden was not at all disappointed with his performance and was rather pleased with the way he helped his team by making small yet key contributions.
"I think I did a pretty good job ... obviously I didn't score the ball well but just defensively and doing other things to help the team win," Harden said Wednesday. "Ws are all that matter now. It's not about individual performances."
Harden who has been the go-to guy in the fourth quarter for the Thunder in this year`s playoffs so far featured for only 22 minutes in the game because of foul trouble late in the third quarter. Head coach Scott Brook opted to
go with Thabo Sefolosha in that phase and the guard did an excellent job on the defensive end by slowing down LeBron James.
Harden is known to make his living by driving in the lane and getting to the free throw line. His ability to finish at the basket makes him all the more effective, but in game 1, the surprising factor was that he was unable to
get to the charity stripe, not even once in the game.
Harden however expects himself to be more effective in that regard and vowed to be more aggressive for the rest of the series by studying the tapes of Game 1.
“Be more aggressive not just for myself, but collapsing the defense in and making plays for my teammates is something that I'm very good at, I've just got to be aggressive and do whatever it takes and drive the lanes, find my shooters
and find by bigs for easy dunks."- Harden added in the press conference.
OKC’s star reserve has averaged 16.8 points in this year`s playoff so far and after an off day at the office, he is expected to get back to being himself in the next games which can only mean trouble for the Miami team. Harden
brings a third premium scoring option to the OKC unit, alongside Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and is especially good in clutch scenario, in which Heat tend to disappear.
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