James Harden explodes for 56 points in rout of Jazz
Something woke inside of James Harden on Sunday night as he erupted for 56 points and utterly decimated the Utah Jazz for a career night. The Beard was about as hot as you can get from the field, draining seven of his eight attempts from three point territory and 19 of his 25 shots overall. The fleet-footed shooting guard danced with Utah’s defenders all night and kept them on their heels as they desperately tried to contain him with no success.
Harden had it going against Utah and by halftime the game was beginning to look out of reach. By the end of the fourth quarter, the Rockets had built up a 32 point lead and the game was all but over. At the horn, Houston had sealed their eighth victory of the season as their generational talent James Harden put on a performance for the ages.
The Jazz were thoroughly humiliated at the hands of Houston’s superstar, but as is the case with players of his caliber, it was bound to happen eventually. Utah was just one of many victims of the James Harden show this season, but their forgettable night had more than a few positive takeaways.
For one, upstart rookie Donovan Mitchell clocked in his fifth 17 point plus outing of the year while coming off the bench to breathe some much needed life into the Jazz offense. The first-year shooting guard has been deadly as Utah’s sixth man, but with the way he’s electrified the offense as a part of the second unit, maybe it’s time to unleash him into the starting five and assess the damage he can do.
Rodney Hood, Alec Burks and Mitchell all possess rotational talent that could be put to good use on any NBA roster. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the trio of two guards are stuck in a minutes logjam competing with each other for the same role. They can all put the ball through the basket, that’s not the issue. Where things get tricky is finding the touches to go around to make each trigger-happy shooter satisfied.
Moves will most likely need to be made before the trade deadline in order to further the development of this loaded Jazz team and its gifted pieces. However, trades are easier theorized on paper than accomplished in reality. Even if they decide to retain their plethora of scoring guards, Utah still shapes up as one of the lower tier playoff contenders in the highly competitive Western Conference.
Missing the playoff is hardly a possibility, and even if they did, the lottery pick they would receive as a consolation would barely help them in their climb towards achieving a championship team. At this stage in their construction, scraping by as a bottom seed couldn’t hurt their long term outlook.
Playoff experience is invaluable, the postseason is oftentimes where stars are made, and the Jazz could use the emergence of a franchise player. Whether they choose to sit on their assets or get wheeling and dealing, the Jazz are in a good spot heading into the future.
