Harden blames poor Game 4 on bum ankle
James Harden has an explanation for his poor shooting performance in Houston's Game 4 victory.
In his postgame on-court interview, ESPN's Lisa Salters asked the Rockets guard why he had an off night. Harden said he rolled his ankle in Friday's Game 3 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and lacks his usual level of explosiveness as a result.
"It was pretty tough; we don't make excuses," Harden told a news conference when asked about his health, according to ESPN's Calvin Watkins. "We just try to go out there and get the job done. You build trust, and trust in your teammates all year long. When there's moments like this, guys step up and they did tonight. We have another opportunity in a few days to go out there and win on our home court, and we're going to have to get off to a really good start."
Harden scored just 16 points on 5-for-16 shooting and failed to hit a single 3-point attempt in 39 minutes of action.
Despite Harden's subpar outing, the Rockets extended their series lead to 3-1.