Advertisement

Erik Spoelstra on James Harden's 40-point triple-double: "at least it wasn't 60"

By Alex Butler

Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Houston Rockets point guard James Harden had his way with the Miami Heat Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Despite going home with a 109-103 loss, Harden netted his 13th triple-double of the season, with 40 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. He leads the NBA with 11.7 assists per game. After the contest, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was honest in his assessment of the MVP frontrunner.

Advertisement

"All you can ask your guys to do is make him work, make him earn it and try and take away some of the easy ones," Spoelstra said. "But he's as offensively skilled as anyone in this league."

Spoelstra tasked rookie guard Rodney McGruder with guarding the prolific scorer.

"He makes so many plays and he generates so much offense for that team, you just want to wear on him," Spoelstra said. "I don't even know if we did. He had 40 and go to the free throw line. He made a heck of a lot of plays, but I guess at least it wasn't 60."

Advertisement

Although the Rockets have lost three of its last four games, Harden has a league-high 36 double-doubles this season, including in 21 of his last 22 games.

"I had some stupid fouls on my part reaching in and not being disciplined," McGruder said. "He got his numbers, but I feel like he worked for them. I just tried to make it tough on him and not let him be comfortable. I just tried to let him feel me a little bit."

Harden, 27, is averaging 28.7 points and 8.3 rebounds to go along with his career-high in assists.

Latest Headlines