To be clear, there was no chance James Harden was not going to play against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. When professional athletes look at potential career highlights, the term "Game 7" is usually a finalist.
Yet, after Harden sat out most of the fourth quarter of the Houston Rockets' stunning, come-from-behind victory in Game 6, some wondered if the flu bug he had been fighting last week was worse than first thought.
It wasn't. It turned out the Rockets didn't need Harden as Dwight Howard, Josh Smith and Corey Brewer keyed an improbable fourth-quarter comeback.
"(Harden will) be very motivated from what we were able to do in Game 6," Smith told reporters Saturday. "We know that he's going to come out with a ball of energy and effort, and you know we'll be right behind him."
Harden went 5-for-20 in Game 6, his worst shooting performance of this postseason. "I can't shoot 100 percent all the time," Harden said. "I'm human."
What didn't fail him on Thursday was his knack for getting to, and succeeding at, the line. Harden was a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe.
While Howard has bounced back after a terrible middle two games of the series, the Rockets are also getting a boost from Smith. Coach Kevin McHale inserted him into the starting lineup before Game 5, and both he and the player he replaced at power forward - Terrence Jones - have benefited.
Smith averaged 14 points and 6.5 rebounds on 56.4 percent shooting in his last two starts, while Jones shot 69 percent off the bench.
