James Harden and the Houston Rockets are one game away from making the conference finals. Houston won Game 4 against the Utah Jazz on Sunday night, 100-87, to take a 3-1 series lead as things shift back to their gym for Game 5. Harden had an ok night by his standards, scoring 24 points, pulling down four rebounds, and dishing out three assists.
Harden did some of the stuff that has made him a polarizing player, most notably when he embellished this sequence to earn a foul against Dante Exum.
Dante Exum was called for fouling Harden on this 👀 pic.twitter.com/CJJ5yAM1zG
— ESPN (@espn) May 7, 2018
Harden is the best player in the NBA at getting to the charity stripe, but the way he does it oftentimes draws ire, as he has a reputation for flopping. This has drawn the ire of Donovan Mitchell, apparently, as Utah’s star rookie guard was caught criticizing the way the presumed league MVP plays the game.
Donovan Mitchell walking into the locker room after the Jazz’ Game 4 loss to Houston: “If that’s what he needs to win the MVP, so be it.” #HOUatUTA
— Jake Edmonds (@JakeKUTV) May 7, 2018
Mitchell, to his credit, had a big night, going for 25 points and nine rebounds in the loss. There was certainly some frustration building up as the Jazz lost a chippy basketball game and now are backed into a corner, but beyond that, it must be frustrating to watch Harden earn foul calls for what you view as good defense.
This could open up a big can of worms regarding whether players should do this or not, and Harden would probably say that if the refs or going to call it, you might as well try to help your team win by getting to the free throw line. Still, if anyone asked Mitchell about playing like this, we can safely guess what side of the argument he’d fall on, especially when it comes to having this in your game as you try to win your first MVP award.
