James Harden is not upset about being left on the bench during the Houston Rockets' historic comeback in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Rather, Harden says he was simply happy to cheer on his teammates, who erased a 19-point third-quarter deficit as part of a 49-18 stretch over the final 15 minutes of the game.
Harden remained on the bench for the entirety of the fourth quarter. The MVP runner-up was a strange sight on the sidelines, but the strategy paid off handsomely for Kevin McHale and the Rockets, saving their season.
For his part, Harden was quick to praise his teammates, as he relayed to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:
Amazing. It was really amazing. Just really proud of those guys in that fourth quarter, man, to keep fighting, keep battling. They did a tremendous job on both ends of the floor, battling, holding that team to 15 points. Being down 13 … those guys kept battling and it was an amazing job.
I was a cheerleader. I was one of their biggest supporters. I was so excited for those guys. The energy they brought was unbelievable. I could have checked back in, but those guys had it rolling on both ends of the floor. Mac didn't call my name and I didn't try to check myself into the game.
Harden was under the weather in Game 6 and it showed. He was able to successfully attack the Clippers' interior defense in the first half, scoring 21 points with 11 free-throw attempts, but faded in the third. Visibly frustrated, he mustered only two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the frame before checking out.
However, the Rockets found their spark with Harden on the bench. McHale opted to play three defensively solid wings in Jason Terry, Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer with two athletic rim protectors in Josh Smith and Dwight Howard.
That lineup shut down the Clippers' attack, holding them to 15 points on 18.2 percent shooting in the fourth. And thanks to some scorching-hot shooting by Smith and Brewer (who combined for 29 fourth-quarter points), the Rockets were able to hang 40 points on the Clippers in the final frame.
"That group just went out there and they just scrambled, they fought, and they played their tails off," McHale said after the game.
However, that's not to dismiss Harden's talents. Harden is undoubtedly the Rockets' best and most important player, as the Rockets were 8.8 points per-100 possessions improved when Harden took the floor in the regular season. He averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and seven assists per game while carrying the brunt of the Rockets' playmaking duties.
Instead, Houston's success in Game 6 is a promising sign for the Rockets, as they've stumbled upon a lineup that matches up well against the Clippers. They now have an option to throw at Los Angeles in the rare moments that Harden sits.
