James Harden notched his third career postseason triple-double Wednesday night, delivering 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to drive Houston past the Utah Jazz 118-98 in Game 2 of their first-round series.
Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni marveled at his superstar guard’s play—which gave his team a 2-0 series lead—and said, “when he gets it rolling nobody’s better.”
Jazz guard Ricky Rubio vows not to give up, despite having the unenviable task of checking the reigning MVP.
Per The AP:
“It was important for us to come out aggressive,” Harden said. “I think it was our defensive effort.”
Harden controlled the game from the start as the Rockets raced out to a 39-19 lead after a first quarter where he scored just two points fewer than the Jazz.
“What he did in that first quarter was ridiculous,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Just dicing everybody up. When he gets it rolling nobody’s better.”
Ricky Rubio was the man tasked with guarding him most of the night.
“He’s hard but I’m not going to quit,” he said. “He’s one of the best scorers of all time and we’re going to keep trying to find ways to make his scoring hard.”
